As we near the end of the US presidential campaign, one of the questions many are asking is — what will Joe Biden’s legacy be? In many ways, his legacy will be defined by the outcome of this election.
If Donald Trump wins, it will be a reflection on Biden’s presidency. This is especially true since Biden had made his decision to run again in 2024 a mission to keep Trump out of the Oval Office.
Ultimately, the 81 year old Biden was forced to step aside and make way for Kamala Harris as it became painfully obvious that his health would not really allow him to be the kind of leader America needs.
The fact that it took so long for him to step down made him look self absorbed and out of touch with reality. However the fact that he ultimately did the right thing also shows his pragmatic side.
There is no doubt that in his decades long career in American politics, Joe Biden has had a distinguished run.
The way that he has handled his personal struggles — from the untimely death of his wife and infant daughter, to his son Beau’s death at the age of 46 from brain cancer — Joe Biden has been graceful under pressure. He represents a different time in politics, when civility and decency were still valued.
Biden's mixed record
Today, in an increasingly polarised America, the brashness and crudity of Trump may not hold him back from a victory, in fact they could propel him to one. Domestically, Biden has a mixed record. His administration did well on jobs, adding nearly 15 million jobs in the first 3 years of his term.
The news agency AP quotes Harvard University economist Jason Furman, a top aide during the Obama administration, who said Biden “came into office when the economy was in the throes of Covid-19 and helped to oversee the transition out of it to an economy that is now growing faster than any of its peer economies, with less inflation than they have.”
Access to more affordable health care access too was another major win. But immigration, especially illegal border crossings from Mexico, remained a problem area, and that’s quite clear in the way that it has become such a hot-button issue in this campaign.
Genocide of Palestinians
However perhaps Biden’s biggest failure was on the foreign policy front especially on Israel. America’s ties to Israel are well known.
Yet nothing justifies the Biden administration’s lack of will to take a stronger stand against Netanyahu as he launched a virtual genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Any criticism of Israel subsequently has really not been more than a slap on the wrist.
American military supplies to Israel continue. The moral bankruptcy of the US has been on naked display. The messy withdrawal from Afghanistan, whose citizens (women in particular) have been left at the mercy of the Taliban, is another big black spot on Biden’s term as President.
From America’s point of view, Biden’s strong support for Ukraine against Russia and the strengthening of Nato are plus points.
However, the war in Ukraine is far from over and the Middle East conflict is threatening to blow up and become bigger. Neither of these two conflicts is looking at a resolution anytime soon and the United States is a big player in both.
Perhaps history will judge Joe Biden more kindly. But for now, his legacy is mixed both within America and in the rest of the world.
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