Biden (#14) vs. Trump (the worst, #46)

Biden is considered by historians one of the best Presidents in history; Trump is considered literally the worst. Up for a rematch.

By Luis Fierro Carrión (*)

Twitter: @luis_fierro_eco

A recent poll of historians ranked President Joe Biden 14th out of the 46 presidents the United States has had since 1789. It determined that former President Donald Trump was the worst president the country has ever had, below even those who had been placed in last place previously, James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson (the former for leading the country into civil war; the latter for being corrupt and for misrebuilding after that war).

I would argue that Biden deserves to be in the top 10, and that he has been the best President of the last 80 years (since Franklin Roosevelt). Some achievements:

- He inherited a country in the middle of a pandemic and in economic recession. It is currently the G7 country whose GDP per capita has grown the most, exceeding the pre-pandemic level by 8.2%.

- Unemployment has remained below 4% for 25 months in a row; 15 million jobs have been created during his administration. During the Trump administration, 3 million jobs were lost, the worst performance since the Great Depression and Herbert Hoover (1932).

- Core inflation has fallen below 2% in the last 6 months. Other inflation indicators, such as one that does not consider the estimated rent for homeowners (HICP), is also at less than 2%.

- real wages (adjusted for inflation) have risen substantially since before the pandemic, the only G7 country where this has happened (in Canada real wages have stagnated, in the others they have fallen).

- The incomes of the lowest quintiles have increased the most (reducing inequality). This is in part because many states and cities have raised the minimum wage (especially in places where Democrats govern; Republicans have opposed raising the federal minimum wage).

- Biden is the first President to pass climate change legislation. Electric vehicle sales now account for 10% of the total.

- there was a record in production of both fossil fuels and renewable energy; for the first time in 65 years, the U.S. is a net exporter of energy.

- Passed the first significant infrastructure law since 1956.

- Passed the first law to boost the high-tech and green industry

- 800,000 manufacturing jobs created, reversing the collapse under Trump (177,000 factory workers were lost under Trump)

- concluded the 20-year "endless war" in Afghanistan

- strengthened NATO and its support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. With the support of the U.S. and other NATO countries, Ukraine has regained more than half of the territory it lost since February 2022.

- The percentage of people without health insurance is the lowest in history at 8%.

- Eliminated student debt for 4 million families.

- The crime and homicide rate has been reduced in 2023; for example, the homicide rate dropped by 12% in 2023.

In comparison, Trump lost jobs; more than a million people died from his mishandling of the pandemic; he appointed Supreme Court justices who rolled back rights, such as the right to an abortion. He tried to prevent the peaceful transition of power by launching a coup d'état. He has been charged with 91 crimes; He was found guilty of sexual assault and fraud. He increased the fiscal deficit and the public debt by $8 trillion. He separated immigrant children from their families; prevented people from entering for religious reasons. He faced two impeachments, one for restricting arms shipments to Ukraine to pressure President Zelensky to fabricate evidence of Biden's non-existent crimes; and the second for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Now Trump says he would proclaim himself a dictator; that he would create concentration camps and deport millions of immigrants; and that he would ban abortion at the federal level.

(*) Translation of my column published on March 15, 2024, in “El Universo” newspaper of Ecuador:

https://www.eluniverso.com/opinion/columnistas/biden-14-vs-trump-el-peor-46-nota/

Average job creation per month. Biden vs recent Democratic and Republican Presidents. Source: Simon Rosenberg/Bureau of Labor Statistics