Good Beginnings

President Joe Biden’s first month in office has been a good one for the United States and a promising one for the world.

After four years of irrational leadership under Donald Trump, President Biden has brought sanity and probity back to the White House.

During his first month he signed a number of Executive Orders reversing many of Trump’s more egregious policies.

President Biden began the process to return the United States to the Paris Climate Change Accord, returned the country to the World Health Organization, halted funding for the controversial wall along the border with Mexico, and reversed Trump’s ban on entry into the United States from a number of Muslim countries. 

His objective has been to create the impression of hitting the ground running in his administration’s first hundred days. In doing so, he has let Republicans know that he will seek consensus but will also go ahead without their support if necessary.

Most importantly, however, his administration kept out of the impeachment proceedings against his predecessor. 

This is important for a number of reasons. First, it does away with any notion that the Biden administration is engaging in a sort of witch hunt of the previous one. Second it marks a difference between the Democrat led House and the White House that could allow relations between Republicans and the White House to embark from a less negative footing. – a requisite for cooperation in achieving a legislative package on programs designed to address the COVID 19 crisis.

Democrats also seem to have taken in the White House’s need for speedy Senate approval for cabinet and sub-cabinet officers. These might have dragged on had Democrats pursued myriad investigations related to the impeachment process that they knew they had little chance of winning.

The Democrats have fulfilled their mission. Their prosecution of the impeachment produced enough elements for criminal charges to be brought against the former president.

The Republicans were not going to allow the Democrats to impeach the former president even though they admitted, from Mitch McConnell down, that Trump’s behaviour and statements led directly to the coup attempt of January 6th.

This for two reasons: first, Republicans need Trump’s base if they are to mount a winning campaign to regain the Senate in the 2022 mid-term elections. Second, any Republican who votes against Trump will face the former president’s vindictive and well financed, long arm come primary time and risk losing their seats.

Returning to the first month of the Biden administration, the President’s first calls to foreign leaders underscored his intention to deal realistically and firmly with adversaries while rebuilding trust and friendship with key allies.

His administration also created a new sense of confidence in the management of the pandemic after a year of confusion and ineptitude. He appears to be gaining some public confidence by retaining Dr. Anthony Fauci who was side lined for much of the Trump administration despite his undisputed expertise in pandemic management.

Biden also reversed his predecessor’s megalomanic leadership style of policy via Twitter and by naming the professional and articulate Jenn Psaki as his spokesperson. He also has named a cabinet of professionals with a wealth of experience, expertise, and apparent personal probity lacking in the last administration. 

Through style and substance President Biden has put his imprint on the presidency early on. 

It remains to be seen if he will take the bold steps needed to address the myriad challenges facing the United States domestically and internationally. This will depend upon his ability to harness his slim majority in the House and Senate to do his bidding as legislators on both sides of the aisle look towards the 2022 mid-term elections and gauge the limits of their own political mobility.

Edición: Laura Espejo