President Biden gave an address to a joint session of Congress on April 28, commemorating the end of his first 100 days in office and stating his plans for the rest of his presidency. The President talked on a plethora of topics, but the majority of his speech focused on his administration’s response to the pandemic, his work on the border crisis, and America’s place in the world. But how well did the President and his administration really do in his response to the pandemic, immigration, and foreign policy?
Pandemic Response:
Throughout his campaign, President Biden promised a response to the Covid-19 Pandemic that would put President Trump’s to shame, and so far he has done just that. Even before inauguration day the Biden Administration set a goal of vaccinating 100 million people, a lofty goal considering the vaccine had just started being administered. However despite this, the U.S. vaccinated 100 million people on Biden’s 59th day in office, and just a week later, the President announced his plan to double his goal to 200 million shots by his 100th day. “I know it’s ambitious,” Biden said at a press conference announcing the plan. “I believe we can do it.” And so on Wednesday, April 21st, on the 92nd day of his presidency President Biden announced that the U.S had administered 200 million shots, completing President Biden’s goal with 8 days to spare.
In his address to Congress, President Biden commended his administration’s effort in vaccinating the nation saying “our progress these past 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history has been one of the greatest logistical achievements — logistical achievements this country has ever seen.”
Immigration:
Now President Biden made many promises during the election cycle but he has only been able to keep some of these promises within his first 100 days, one of the biggest being emptying the cages of children in the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Biden promised that he would end the caging of children at the United States-Mexico border however this promise has been largely unkept. In fact, President Biden has reopened facilities run by President Trump in Carrizo Springs, Texas where children were kept in cages. The Biden administration promises these new facilities are nowhere near as crowded or dangerous as the facilities run by President Trump yet many congressmen are growing weary of President’s Biden’s facilities such as congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay – no matter the administration or party,”
However the Biden administration continues to vehemently deny these claims In a statement to reporters, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “To ensure the health and safety of these kids, HHS took steps to open an emergency facility to add capacity, where these children can be provided the care they need while they are safely — before they are safely placed with families and sponsors.”
Foreign policy:
As soon as President Biden took office he started working to mend relationships that had become frayed as a result of the Trump administration and much of the Biden foreign policy has been working to undo Trump’s America First policies. Immediately after taking office President Biden rejoined the Paris climate and recommitted America to Nato and other European allies.
However, despite Biden’s commitment to multilateral relations, he has shown that he is not afraid to show American muscle when needed. In mid-February, President Biden authorized an attack over Syrian Airspace in retaliation for rocket attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, killing over 20 people. Critics of this move say that Biden bombed Syria for political gains citing Biden’s jump in approval ratings while supporters say that the move showed that the newly elected President was not to be played with when it comes to defending American interests.
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Conclusion:
Biden’s first 100 days have come with good and bad decisions, polling data ups and downs, and even policy turns and twists. After the end of these 100 days, President Biden now has just over 3 years to fulfill the remainder of his promises.
