Despite hopeful comparisons to the renowned leadership of FDR, Joe Biden’s presidency has largely been seen as a mere hiccup in the ongoing experience of the Trump Era. Both leaders may have taken the country’s reins in times of economic turmoil and significant unemployment rates, and both may have overseen significant financial legislation meant to fill citizens’ wallets and physically rejuvenate the nation, but there, the parallels end.
While Biden aspired to make a transformative impact, pulling our nation from the murky depths of the pandemic and Trumpism toward a golden age of success, it’s more likely that his term in office will merely be perceived as a blip on the Trump Era’s radar. It’s a disappointing fate shared by other single-term commanders-in-chief, who rarely grace top ten lists of impactful political figures, disappearing amid the shadows of more distinctive presidencies.
For instance, George H.W. Bush’s term is frequently overlooked, wedged in between Reagan’s and Clinton’s more transformative reigns. Biden’s fate seems predetermined to be even grimmer. By the moment Trump finally hangs up his political gloves in 2029, he will have spent over a dozen years as the main protagonist of American political narrative, relegating Biden’s achievements to mere footnotes.
In a curious twist of irony, Trump’s 2020 election loss, paving way for non-consecutive terms, has inadvertently extended his influence even beyond that of two-term presidents of significant sway. So much so that even when Trump was not the one in the Oval Office, his presence still permeated the air, often overshadowing Biden’s efforts from the prestigious political rostrum.
Biden clinched the 2020 Democratic nomination with the promise of restoring status quo, human decency, and even some predictability to the nation, an offer that seemed just right amidst a deadly pandemic that shook the globe. Doubts about his aging frailty pushed Democratic voters to demand, and Biden to imply, that he would be a one-time flag bearer to ‘introduce a new generation of democratic leadership.’
The formidable health crisis of 2020, coupled with the political tumult marked by an attempted violent upheaval of election results on January 6, positioned Biden as a stabilizing force. A transitional figure tasked with the vital assignments of wiping away the vestiges of COVID and Trump’s erratic stewardship. Should he have delivered on these, he could have firmly carved his name among the most impactful single-term presidents.
Assuming he had stayed true to his veiled commitment of not pursuing re-election, a true and vigorous Democratic primary could have been set in motion, igniting a rainbow of promising contenders. An array of potential nominees from gubernatorial seats, Senate quarters, and within the administration could have sparked an energetic and grueling primary season.
History has shown that when Democratic candidates are provided with the opportunity to establish themselves with the American public, refine their stance through debates, and engage with voters during the primaries, they stand a better chance of winning. Barack Obama and Biden himself reaped the benefits of such a schema. When Democrats crown a nominee prematurely, however, they tend to lose touch with the popular pulse of prospective voters.
In retrospect, maybe it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. History isn’t generous towards incumbents during inflationary times. Nevertheless, opting for a Democratic candidate other than Biden or his second-in-command, Harris, could have been a strategic ploy, potentially dodging the incumbency stigma and capitalizing on Trump’s persistent unpopularity.
Regrettably, Biden’s dogged determination to seek another term in order to solidify his FDR-like legacy, despite disastrous internal poll results, coupled with his refusal to abandon ship until the very last moment has, in all likelihood, doomed not only the Democratic chances in 2024 but also doomed us all to four more years of unchecked Trump.
His intransigence, his clinging to power when all signs pointed to withdrawal necessitates, may have signed the fate of his legacy. One could even argue that it was on account of this stubbornness that his ultimate legacy may well be the reputation of having paved the way for Trump’s return.
In the grand plotline of American politics, Biden’s tenure remains not as the transformative era he aspired for, but just as filler space dominated by Trump’s louder narrative. His presidency, from his quest to replicate FDR’s legacy to his last-minute exit, is littered with missteps; from ignoring the general sentiment against a second term to the persistence of his infamous ‘bland, folksy, middle-of-the-road approach’.
Far from eliciting echoes of FDR’s resounding era, Biden’s presidency is set to be remembered, if at all, as something of a speed bump on the Trump Express. He embarked upon an audacious journey marred by trying global circumstances and contentious internal politics, aiming for transformative leadership, only to be overshadowed by the long-reaching arm of Trumpism.
At the end of his reign, Biden finds his legacy clouded, marred even, by the echoes of an indomitable Trump Era that refuses to fade. His unyielding persistence for a second term may have unwittingly facilitated the return of Trump and, consequently, re-determined the course of American political history.