Democrats have a tradition on souring on Presidents of their party in real time despite their records of accomplishments when those Chief Executives follow predecessors who are the parties versions of dream leaders.
Take Harry Truman.
Constantly criticized for not being on the same level or aura as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it would take one or two generations for people and historians to acknowledge that the Man from Missouri had presided over the end of the Second World War and opening years of the Cold one with strength, vision, and decisiveness.
The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the recognition of Israel, the creation of N.A.T.O., the Berlin Airlift, the Fair Deal which included a call for Americans to get universal and affordable health care, the GI Bill, the Point Four Program, the racial integration of the armed forces, and the intervention in Korea which told the Communist Bloc that collective security were not just words and appeasement on a grand scale would no longer be tolerated.
Those were all Truman achievements that helped shape the modern United States and International Order.
Take Lyndon Johnson.
Like Truman, thrust into power after the tragic death of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, the actual master of the art of the deal initiated monumental Great Society and War on Poverty legislation that resulted in Civil and Voting Rights, Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, Job Corps, food stamps, housing assistance, the first Black person (Thurgood Marshall) on the Supreme Court, and the beginnings of the environmental movement that Nixon would finish.
While his domestic record was clearly superior to Kennedy, Johnson, because of the myth of Camelot, the backlash from street riots in America’s streets, and the war in Vietnam that he intensified after inheriting the mess from Eisenhower and Kennedy, clouded his substantial legacy of helping shape programs that Americans rely on today and treasure.
Take Jimmy Carter.
Presiding in a time of energy inflation that started in the Johnson Administration that was caused by postwar prosperity, OPEC flexing its muscles, and the Iranian Revolution, Carter also had a record of accomplishments that included the creation of ten million jobs, the creation of the Departments of Energy and Education, and peace between Egypt and Israel.
Unfortunately, his rigid personality along with the Iranian Hostage Crisis and rising inflation made people yearn for the return of the Kennedy mantle, divided the Democratic Party, and brought on the Ages of Reagan, Bush, and Trump which over the last 45 years, through four Republican Presidencies, has sought to undo every progressive measure embraced by Republican and Democratic Presidents since the end of the Gilded Age.
Fast forward to 2025 and consider the below record of former President Joe Biden.
- A record number of Minority and Women Judicial Appointees to the Bench including the first Black Woman to the United States Supreme Court.
- Close to 17 million jobs were created. In fact, there is no month in the Biden/Harris Administration where there was negative job growth. There was no recession during the Biden/Harris years.
- Overseeing the end of the Coronavirus Pandemic with the American Rescue Plan which distributed vaccinations, helped fund schools and public safety.
- A cabinet and White House team where no one has a criminal record and no one was pushed out due to scandal.
- Major investments in clean energy programs.
- A Bipartisan Infrastructure program that is delivering results across all parts of the country.
- Expanding the Obamacare/Affordable Care Act Health Marketplaces.
- Standing up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and expanding N.A.T.O.
- The CHIPs and Science Act is a boon to American Manufacturing.
- Reducing prescription drug prices for seniors.
- Rising wages.
- Falling inflation.
- Falling illegal border crossings as a result of the President having to take Executive Action after Republicans obstructed bipartisan immigration reform and torpedoed, at Trump’s request, a border security deal.
- Falling crime rates except for Donald Trump’s legal issues.
- The first gun safety legislation in 30 years.
- Increased health care protections for veterans.
- Record numbers of small business start-ups.
- The expansion of the Child Tax Credit until Republicans and Joe Manchin took it away.
In virtually all vital metrics, the Biden/Harris Administration had a record that the country had not seen from a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson and they left the country better off than when they found it.
In terms of the number of accomplishments, it surpasses Barack Obamas who Democratic Party faithful still fawn over and invite to speak at campaign events despite his legislative effectiveness largely diminishing after his second year in office.
It is important to recognize that History, like the title in the late David McCullough’s last published work, and how accurately it is recounted and taught, does matter.
Unfortunately, several members of the Democratic establishment have ignored the importance of history and succumbed to MAGA inspired talking points that Biden/Harris mismanaged the influx of illegal immigrants, the spiking of inflation, and the assertion that the 46th President was not up to the job.
Anybody compare Biden’s deportation numbers to Trumps lately?
They appear to be similar although Biden never had ICE kidnap people off the street, including American Citizens, without due process and shove them into domestic concentration camps.
How about the recent inflation figures?
Unlike Biden, whose inflation was mostly caused by the immediate getting back to work stage following the Coronavirus and was falling to acceptable levels, Trump created his inflationary bump with his tariffs that have been passed onto the American Consumer.
How about those pictures of Trump dosing off at official functions? Never mind when he talks he lies when he is not rambling incoherent statements.
Since the time he has left office, there have been several leading Democrats who have defended the Biden/Harris historical record.
Two days after Biden left office, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego penned an op-ed thanking the 46th President for all he did in infrastructure, Inflation Reduction, and the CHIPS and Science Act.
In June, when CNN’s Jake Tapper’s hit job on Biden, Original Sin, came out, former President Bill Clinton and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett rushed to his defense.
Recently, the divisions on the Biden legacy have surfaced again after appearances by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Meet the Press and Senator Ruben Gallego at a Crooked Con event in early November.
In his interview with Kristen Welker, Newsom said he stood by his support for Joe Biden, saying:
“I’ve been privileged to our relationship with the president. I spent almost two hours with him in December right before during the transition in the Oval Office. And my experience. His expression gave me no pause, no doubt. Let me finish. I was proud to stand there, Proud to make the case for 15.4 million jobs. Proud to make the case for the CHIPS and science act, the industrial policy that was worker centered. Proud to make the case for an infrastructure package that actually delivered a real bill and is delivering real jobs all across this country. Proud to stand tall as he was a counter preventing point to President XI and what they’re doing in low carbon green growth and how they’re going to dominate the future as it relates to Green Energy, and he was a counter preventing point. I was proud of the fact that he supported 400 bipartisan bills that did more for vets and has started to address the issue of gun violence. I was proud of that legislative package of accomplishments.”
“The one exception as it relates to the interaction I had with him that gave me pause was the fundraiser in Southern California…All of us were a little taken it back, but we also were mindful that he had been to Europe twice In about a week and for the grace of God, go any of us with jet lag and being exhausted. That person came back on that debate night and that…”
“…He was going to make the right decision. And so, for me, it wasn’t my job to go out there. My job was to let him give him the space…I have a different approach to all this… So many of the attributes of my father… Reminds me of Joe Biden… He was going to make the right decision. He did…But the bottom line I was proud and continue to be proud to make a case for his record, and certainly in contrast to the record of this President… I think my focus was frankly situational. It was making sure Donald Trump didn’t get back into office to experience everything that we’re experiencing today, and there was no interaction (with Biden) I had that suggested otherwise.”
It is a pity Welker has never, as far as this writer knows, had the guts to publicly question Republicans if they had similar concerns about Mr. Trump’s capacity to serve.
To be fair, the great majority of Trump’s first term cabinet, including his first Vice President and second Chief of Staff, was screaming from the hill tops in saying that the twice impeached 45th White House Chief Executive was, based on their historical experience, not fit for a return trip to the Oval Office and the people, fueled by a politically terrifying education and historical illiteracy gap, ignored them.
On the flip side, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego came onto the receiving end of Biden loyalist bashing when he, at a Crooked Con event, mocked the political decision to tout the Biden/Harris Infrastructure Act.
In his comments, which the above excerpt were taken after he began:
“Let’s not lie to ourselves Because the big lie around infrastructure is this is really going to get people jazzed, and I remember talking to the Biden people and talking … and saying “No, it’s not…It’s not going to get people excited because it’s going to take forever to get built, and no ones going to know who did it. I’m sure you think that’s the case, but lying to yourself does not mean that lie is actually going to come true… It was just really crazy…We lie to ourselves to believe that’s actually going to effectively actually change the the politics. It was crazy to see.”
This is an Instagram post Gallego made in January, 2025 touting the Infrastructure Law.
Following the condemnation of Gallego for his remarks, he did post a response, stating:
“That is not all what was said. We both said it was a good thing but that it wasn’t what was going to drive people to the polls. I told Democrats, House leadership and Senate leadership that. While running with Biden, Harris in Arizona I actually saw it not working in the field.”
Coming to Gallego’s defense, Third Way Executive Director Kate deGrutyer commented to Blog for Arizona:
“I think it was an important accomplishment to pass a big infrastructure bill but it is undeniable that the Biden Administration did not capitalize on the opportunity. Clearly, the President was not able to get out and leverage the bully pulpit of the presidency to get his message out there. We have to acknowledge that reality. But his administration also squandered the opportunity to show what government could do and I will give you two examples. We saw how important broadband was during COVID and the law included $40 billion to get more people connected. But three years later, not one person got internet access from those funds. Another big priority was to build out a national network of chargers to support the adoption of electric vehicles. But just 56 charging stations were built in three years. Democrats made big promises and Americans did not witness any tangible results. We need to write a new story. One where government succeeds in making life better and fix problems that frustrate voters. Voters have heard big promises for a long time. We’ve got to make results a much bigger part of the conversation.”
Ironically, columnist and CNN pundit Fareed Zakaria articulated a similar position to deGruyter in a recent column, calling for Democrats to demonstrate that they can provide both good and smart government, writing in his concluding remarks:
“…Democrats too often appear like dithering technocrats.
Americans do not hate government; they hate government that doesn’t work. They will support ambitious programs if they believe they will be implemented competently — as they did with the New Deal and the interstate highways. But when government seems incapable of building housing, fixing schools or balancing budgets, even sympathetic voters lose faith.
If Democrats want to rebuild that faith, they must rediscover the lost art of competence. And they can prove it to the entire nation by governing well in the places — big cities — where they’re in charge. Fix the schools before promising new subsidies. Change housing rules before asking for rent freezes. And tear down the scaffolding.
American liberalism once stood for a confident creed — that smart policy, executed by capable hands, could make people’s lives better. Americans want that but they watch Democrats in action and ask, like Casey Stengel more than 60 years ago about the hapless New York Mets, ‘Can’t anyone here play this game?'”
While these are important and relevant factors that need to be considered when assessing what has worked and what can be improved in developing future policies, recruiting future candidates, and devising future effective governing strategies, it is essential to recognize and celebrate the positive historical achievements of your leaders and elders statesmen, especially when the list of accomplishments clearly supplants the list of mistakes.
One last point showing that “History Matters” is Senator Gallego’s point that “No one is going to know who did it” is the below picture.
Or this one.
The title of the late David McCullough’s book “History Matters” is on point here.
Donald Trump and his Project 2025 MAGA Fascist soulmates clearly understands this.
That is why they are spending their time rewriting history and taking credit for a law the man who regularly boasted about infrastructure week but had nothing to do with the passage of the actual legislation.
Democrats need to reconcile and band together with regard to the successful Biden/Harris Legacy.
It is a proud one to boast about.
Democrats need to stop pounding on their own.
MAGA Republicans do not seem to have that problem and they, without reservation, back their man, despite his impeachable, criminal, and incompetent managing of the country.
Biden did not commit impeachable offenses.
He did not commit treason.
He and his team managed the nation well.
Historians, in the latest polling, ranked Biden 14th and Trump 45th, dead last.
It is about time Democrats unite and celebrate Joe Biden the way historians already have and stop dumping on him.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.