(Washington) He invoked the “guardian angels” of unity, he was overtaken by the demons of America: in one year, the optimist, the good-natured Joe Biden turned into a darker president, who battle to save at least some big promises.
Posted at 8:05 a.m.
On January 20, 2021, on the sunny steps of the Capitol, the just invested 46and President of the United States assured that America would, quoting Abraham Lincoln, “embrace its guardian angels”, and that he would put “all his soul” to “reunite” it.
On January 6, 2022, a completely different Joe Biden speaks, alone in the overwhelming setting of the hall of statues of the same Capitol, a year after the assault launched by a raging crowd of supporters of Donald Trump.
“I won’t let anyone put the knife to democracy’s throat,” he said. “I did not seek this fight” against political violence and authoritarian temptations, but “I will not run away”.
” Nothing ”
No more question of praising the dialogue with the Republican opposition or treating his predecessor with contempt. “The goal of the former president and his allies is to disqualify anyone who votes against them. It’s that simple. The facts will no longer be worth anything. Your vote will no longer be worth anything, ”attacks the president, a few days later.
The change in tone is undeniable for this 79-year-old Democrat who usually prefers anecdotes to invective, an accomplice tone to a great diatribe.
However good-natured he may be, the president is not popular: the polls give him around 42% favorable opinions.
And according to a survey by Quinnipiac University, 58% of Americans believe that democracy will not resist the divisions of the country, which is more than ever haunted by violence: that of political attacks, social or racial inequalities, deaths by overdose or by firearm.
Joe Biden has pledged to turn the page on the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, to secure middle-class prosperity, to restore America’s international prestige.
Very big promises for a president without real parliamentary leverage: in the Senate, the Democrats have only 50 + 1 vote (that of Vice-President Kamala Harris) against 50 for the Republicans.
“Cohabitation President”
Joe Biden “made a political miscalculation” by saying he had “a real majority of government” instead of “posing as a ‘cohabitation president’, which he is, in fact”, analyzes Corentin Sellin, associate professor of history and chronicler of the site Les Jours.
The mandate had however started well: rapid adoption of a recovery plan, drop in unemployment, jump in vaccination against COVID-19, enthusiasm of the allies of the United States.
Joe Biden plays with his personality, unlike that of his Republican predecessor.
He has an easy joke and hug, family dramas have endowed him with an obvious empathy. Alongside his wife Jill Biden, he cultivates the image of a benevolent grandfather: a swing for the grandchildren under the windows of the Oval Office, a dog, mass on Sundays and ice cream in the freezer.
But his presidency goes off the rails in the summer of 2021. In July, Joe Biden prematurely declares “independence” in the face of COVID-19, when the Delta variant is already spreading.
Then he is slow to react when the withdrawal from Afghanistan turns into chaos. The Americans are stunned by the fall of Kabul, Joe Biden is entrenched in the Camp David residence.
The adoption of a historic infrastructure investment plan, with some Republican votes, gives it some air in the fall.
But Americans are weary of the pandemic, which is rolling in wave after wave. They are undergoing a surge of inflation that the White House has been trying to minimize for a long time.
Xi and Putin
And all the experience of Joe Biden – senator for more than 30 years, vice president eight – cannot save two great projects from parliamentary wreckage.
It must freeze in December, because of a single recalcitrant Democratic senator, an 1850 billion social and environmental spending project. Same scenario in January, for a vast reform supposed to protect the access to the vote of the African-American voters, mainly Democrats, and which de facto restrict laws of certain Republican states of the South.
The same states which, with the blessing of a Supreme Court that has become very conservative, are also challenging Washington on the right to abortion.
Outside, Joe Biden makes a point of keeping an open line of communication with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
But his team sometimes seems caught cold by the provocations of China or Russia, or by the protests of allies who consider themselves neglected, even cheated, when France is blown a huge contract for submarines.
“Everything revolved around a return to normalcy, a hope for dialogue across partisan divides, and a priority given to the major crises, namely COVID-19 and the economy”, analyzes Lara Brown, political scientist at the George Washington University. But that “optimism, combined with popular hope that all of these issues would be fixed, has caused (Joe Biden and his administration) to fall into hubris.”
Few successes, many frustrations
Economy, foreign policy, fight against the pandemic and political divisions: on all these subjects, Joe Biden has made great promises, and accumulated immense frustrations. Overview one year after his inauguration.
COVID-19
For a few months, the promise of effectiveness of the new Biden administration seemed to be kept, with a rapid increase in the rate of vaccination.
But Joe Biden prematurely declared on July 4, for the national holiday, “independence” in the face of the virus. The Delta variant then surged, then Omicron, arousing immense weariness among Americans.
Only 46% of them now approve of his health policy, compared to 69% at the start of his mandate.
His calls to get vaccinated and wear the mask are violently criticized by many Republicans. And the Supreme Court just struck down a vaccine or test requirement the White House wanted to impose on big business.
Economy
Joe Biden has promised the American middle class to guarantee them jobs and a certain serenity in the face of globalization.
For this, he opened the floodgates: 1900 billion dollars at the start of his mandate to revive an economy weighed down by the pandemic. Then 1.2 trillion in spending on decrepit infrastructure in the United States.
But Joe Biden failed to pass an $1.8 trillion social and environmental spending plan, due to lack of real Senate control.
And if the unemployment rate continues to fall, inflation soars, reaching a level not seen since 1982. A generalized phenomenon at the international level, pleads Washington.
Social reforms
Joe Biden has promised to appease America and consolidate its democratic institutions. Of all his commitments, this is the most difficult to keep.
The Democrat, who benefited during his campaign from the support deemed decisive by figures in the African-American community, promised them to complete the fight for civil rights.
He wants to harmonize voting procedures at the federal level, to block the way for southern states which in fact restrict access to the ballot box for minorities. But, in a scenario reminiscent of the failure of his social agenda, two Democratic senators are blocking the road to this project for the time being.
These failures irritate the most left fringe of his party. His projects are considered too interventionist by the most centrist Democrats.
As for the Republicans, they are under the still immense influence of Donald Trump, and the majority adhere to his baseless statements on a fraudulent election of Joe Biden.
A recent anecdote illustrates the tone taken by the political debate. During a very innocent telephone exchange devoted to Christmas, the president heard a father throw “Let’s go Brandon”, which has become a roundabout way of saying “Fuck Joe Biden”.
“America is back”
“America is back” on the international scene, repeats Joe Biden.
It’s true, in large part: the United States has returned to the table of major discussions on the climate, on trade or on the Iranian nuclear program.
The president has also endeavored to repair ties with the traditional allies of the United States, undermined by Donald Trump.
But his handling of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has been criticized. And France took it very badly to see itself blow a gigantic submarine contract.
Joe Biden, who wants to frame his foreign policy around the rivalry with China, has so far managed to keep at least one line of communication open with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But this “eye to eye” diplomacy, which he also applies with the Russian Vladimir Putin, was not enough, for example, to thwart the tensions around Ukraine.