Alyson Atkins

One polemic that united Americans across the so-called political spectrum is the contempt we all held for President Joe Biden’s first year and a half in office. Progressives were angry about Biden’s lack of concessions made to the progressive movement within the DNC; centrists were angry that nothing was getting done despite having a corporate centrist of a president; and conservatives were angry with gas prices, inflation, and the idea that Biden is somehow a radical socialist who is uprooting U.S. institutions in favor of far-left policies (a delusional notion disseminated in quite ironic fashion, indeed). However, we’ve witnessed a categorical paradigm shift in President Biden’s tenure over this past year, particularly in the last few months.

Nobody is claiming that Biden’s presidency is—or ever will be—perfect, but today we will explore ten important American accomplishments we have witnessed over the past few weeks and months (some of which Biden played an integral role, while in others he played a minor part). Granted, progressives are still far from satisfied with his contentious presidency, but he is no longer a disaster. This is particularly apt when it comes to circumnavigating the roadblock that is Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, two Wall Street and special interest beneficiaries who blocked virtually all major DNC initiatives early on in the debacle of the 50-50 split Senate we’ve suffered through since January of 2021.

Alas, this November election season couldn’t be more quintessential to crystallizing the agenda that Democrats collectively settled on, so we need to stay focused on nominal Democratic accomplishments (rather than wading in incessant cynicism). For without a majority in the U.S. House, an ominous fate which seems likely at this point, Democrats will face even more roadblocks as Republicans continue to actively obstruct virtually every single Democratic initiative—even when that means voting against bills that will ameliorate, for example, the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic on our economy. Why? McConnell and McCarthy will do whatever it takes to tank public belief in President Biden, and they’re willing to try to tank the economy in the process if it means victory in the midterms. So, without further adieu, let’s highlight ten major accomplishments by Biden’s administration as of August 16th.

1. Gas Prices Fall for 63 Straight Days
2. The Historic Inflation Reduction Act
3. Biden Virtually Ended the Drone War
4. The Fastest Economic Recovery Ever
5. Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.5%
6. First Big Gun Legislation in 30 Years
7. Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
8. Joe vs. SCOTUS Ruling on Abortion
9. SCOTUS Judge Jackson Confirmed
10. U.S. Helps Ukraine Push Russia Back

This is just a small condensation of the many things Biden has accomplished—but these ten prove to be a consequential sequence of events, nevertheless. Gas prices, which soared in response to both the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have now fallen for nine consecutive weeks and continue to fall. Meanwhile, the inflation reduction act symbolizes a historic achievement in economic, climate, healthcare, and bureaucratic legislation. As for drones, the ostensibly incessant spree of drone strikes U.S. presidents oversaw from the dawn of Obama’s presidency all the way through Trump’s presidency has encountered a decisive end—with the number of known U.S. drone strikes plummeting (plus, of the few that our government continues to oversee, the Biden administration can now tout its successful drone strike killing of ISIS’s leader a month ago in July). Meanwhile, the economy continues to roar in virtually every known economic facet aside from GDP—an understandable drop given the large-scale implications of Covid-19. Furthermore, while the pandemic of gun violence continues in this country, Congress and President Biden have acted accordingly, passing the first major bill to curtail mass shootings in a whopping three decades. As for infrastructure, a crumbling facet of the bureaucracy that Trump (despite his promises) did absolutely nothing to address, Biden’s bipartisan bill will take steps to rebuild our logistical systems. And although Trump did much to tarnish the Supreme Court with the judges he jammed through the nomination process, Biden successfully nominated the amazing Ketanji Brown Jackson. Finally, while experts across the board speculated that Ukraine’s capital Kiev would fall within a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine back in February, the U.S.-backed Ukraine defensive has proved formidable, thus symbolizing a major boost not only for Ukraine but also for the entire world.

Note: This article was co-written by Alyson Mueller and Luke Atkins.