Was Biden a good president? I'll pull the latest assessments — reviewing his record, achievements and criticisms.
Was Joe Biden a good president is a subjective question, and evaluations of his 2021-2025 presidency are sharply divided between public opinion, expert assessments, and partisan views.
Public Opinion: Largely Negative at End of Term
Public polling at the end of Biden's term showed low approval:
•As President Biden prepared to leave the White House, only a quarter of the public view him as a great or good president. Overall, about 3 in 10 think Biden's presidency was average.
•In his final weeks, 39% approved of his handling of his job as president.
•Across his four years, Gallup reported that Biden averaged 42.2% job approval, placing him as the second-lowest average in Gallup's post-World War II history, and his third-year average of 39.8% was second worst among prior presidents elected to their first term.
•His 13th-quarter average of 38.7% ranked near the bottom of presidential quarters historically (277th of 314).
The partisan divide was extreme:
•Half of Democrats say Biden was a great or good president, compared with only 10% of independents and 4% of Republicans.
•A vast majority of Republicans view Biden as a poor or terrible president (82%) along with 56% of independents and 13% of Democrats.
Pollsters also noted he fared worse than his immediate predecessors on legacy questions: 36% described Trump as great or good as he left in 2021, and about half described Obama that way.
Biden entered office with majority support, but his approval ratings declined significantly during his presidency, particularly over concerns about inflation and immigration.
Historian / Expert Opinion: More Positive
Scholarly assessments have been significantly more positive than public polls:
•The 2024 edition of the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey of 154 historians and presidential experts has Biden in 14th place, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan, while rating him in the top third of U.S. presidents.
Pollsters noted that Biden's ranking was unusually high for a presidency without military victories or institutional expansion.
Accomplishments Cited by Supporters
Supporters point to major legislation and policy actions:
•As president, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. He signed bipartisan bills on infrastructure and manufacturing.
•Biden proposed the Build Back Better Act, part of which was incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022.
•His administration's achievements include the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment Act, and the Chips and Science Act.
Other achievements often cited include:
•Appointing Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, reentering the Paris Agreement, supporting Finland's and Sweden's bids to join NATO
•Responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and authorizing Ukrainian aid, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and expanding affordable health care, and investments in rebuilding the nation.
Former President Barack Obama credited Biden with helping transform a "reeling" economy into the world's strongest recovery and passing landmark legislation to rebuild infrastructure and address climate change.
Criticisms Cited by Opponents
Criticisms focused primarily on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, and age:
•Inflation surged to levels that had not been seen in four decades, hitting families very hard at the gas pump and grocery store.
•Despite significant wage increases, rapid job growth, and greatly reduced unemployment, public worries regarding inflation contributed to a common perception that Biden was mismanaging the economy. By the end of 2023, the country's inflation rate had declined to 4.1 percent, but Biden's approval rating (according Gallup polls) was only 39 percent, the second lowest of any modern U.S president.
•His immigration policies, which were often criticized as dangerously lenient, led to record-breaking border crossings, and over half feel Biden negatively impacted cost of living and immigration during his presidency.
•Biden's numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and amid soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation's southern border with Mexico.
•Biden withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan pursuant to the 2020 Doha Accords negotiated by Trump, and the Taliban swiftly retook control.
•Concerns about Biden's age and health persisted throughout his presidency. He is the first president to turn 80 years old while in office. After his performance in the first presidential debate, intensifying scrutiny from both political parties about his age and health led him to withdraw his candidacy for reelection in 2024.
•Only 22% think Biden kept the promises he made while campaigning for the presidency.
Bottom Line
•If measured by legislative output and alliance management, supporters argue Biden was effective and consequential, which is reflected in the historians' 14th-place ranking.
•If measured by public approval, perceived economic management, and border policy, polls show a majority of Americans at the time of his departure viewed his presidency as below average or poor.
Historians often caution that presidential legacies take years to settle, and Biden's ranking so early is unusual. Public judgment in 2024-2025 was far more negative than expert judgment.