Joe Biden's Done More Good in a Week Than Donald Trump Did in Four Years

Joe Biden’s Done More Good in a Week Than Donald Trump Did in Four Years
FRESH AIR
Of course, Trump did virtually no good. And yes, it’s early days. But there are specific things about this administration that give ample reason for hope.
David Rothkopf
Published Jan. 28, 2021 5:03AM ET


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None of this was preordained. The Biden team inherited what is likely to be viewed as the greatest public health crisis in U.S. history (we will probably pass the death toll for 1918 flu epidemic sometime this spring), the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, a political crisis that included a coup attempt against the U.S. government, a crisis linked to America’s institutional racism, and the profound and deepening climate crisis. The outgoing administration also actively worked to impede the transition—more so than any of its predecessors in our history.

Nevertheless, the new president and his team continued to build on the discipline and effectiveness of their well-run political campaign. Despite provocations and attacks, they never took the bait from their conspiracy-theory and big-lie promoting opponents. They remained focused on the work at hand and confident in America’s political institutions.

In fact, Biden’s calm certainty that American democracy would survive the demented and corrupt onslaught of attacks from the leaders of the opposition and from the threatening network of right-wing extremists and white supremacist groups deserves more note than it has gotten. Biden was the steady hand, not just a politician but a man who understood both public service and the foundational concepts on which our system depends.

The result was not only unmistakably restorative; it was a commitment to the basics of doing the work, a return to once quotidian, recently neglected, notions of good governance. Nor was it simply a rhetorical shift or one that occurred simply within the confines of the White House.

As reported in a recent story by David Sanger in The New York Times, within days the Biden team had filled over 1,000 top jobs in the administration—a full quarter of all those open to them to fill. They also began to remove appointees put in place by the previous administration, some who had been put in jobs they hoped would preclude their removal, to serve as “moles” or as a kind of wannabe “deep state” for their patrons.

To those who understand how Washington works, it is a stunning start under the worst of circumstances. Much credit must go not only to the president and vice president but to the extremely capable team they have put in place led throughout this period by long-time Biden adviser and now White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. Management is often the most undervalued skill set among our political elites. Not this time.

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I should add that the Biden team stands out among the pool of potential Democratic nominees to these jobs not only by virtue of their experience and because they are regarded to be among the smartest members of the Democratic policy community. Also, as a former senior member of the Obama administration said to me, “[Biden] didn’t pick many assholes. The asshole quotient is very low in this group. They will get along and they won’t try to blow each other up.”

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