A divided democracy, Covid-19, climate change, economic depression, and racial injustice, Joe Biden hit his one-year mark with his administration. How and what did the Biden-Harris administration fight through in this rough first year. 

“I’m never going to raise the white flag and surrender. We’re going to beat this virus. We’re going to get it under control, I promise you. ” said president Biden at a November 2020 Cleveland rally. Since January 20th, 2021, there have been over a half-a-billion vaccines given according to New York Times, resulting in a 72% result in the US vaccination rate. In an age of a Covid country, rises of new variants like delta and omicron have spread across the world and in the US. Although 72% of the US population is vaccinated, over 700,000 new daily cases average according to NPR. With the country still surging with fresh cases daily, the Biden administration has enforced mandatory vaccines on businesses, and mask mandates across the US that have been causing a huge hit of controversy among US citizens. The US Supreme Court later removed the mandates.

The Biden administration made a huge switch from the far-right Republicans that were in office before him. In Biden’s first week in office, he issued 22 executive orders. What are these orders doing today, what are they improving and have they kept that promise? 

Biden has referred to climate change as “The number one issue facing humanity.” His viewpoints have been straightforward, with his administration leaving the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office and joining the Paris Climate agreement a month later. In April 2022, President Biden pledged to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% by 2030. The administration is aggressively fighting climate change. 

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was unlawfully killed under the hands of law enforcement, and sparks of protest took place around the US. How has the Biden administration continued the fight on racial inequality? “Those eight minutes and 46 seconds that took George Floyd’s life opened the eyes of millions of Americans and millions of people around all over the world,” Biden said at a press conference according to NPR.

The murder of George Floyd helped far-right white nationalists spark the fire of racism in the US. 

On January 26th, 2021, President Biden signed 4 executive orders aimed at weakening systemic racism. The executive orders aimed to increase the sovereignty of Native Americans and to combat violence and xenophobia against Asians, whom former President Trump blamed for the spread of Covid-19. 

Activists continue to protest for an end to systemic racism and racial equity making a question, is the administration doing enough?

With wages and prices rising, inflation is on the rise with 2020’s rates averaging 1.2, 2021 ended with a 4.7 average inflation rate according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The US was affected heavily by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it took the jobs of millions and unemployment skyrocketed. Recovering from the epidemic was a challenge for the new administration in office – coming into office as the covid pandemic was at its highest point. President Biden’s approval rating for Covid-19 and the Economy hit an all-time low in the month of December 2021, with the main topic being citizens’ unhappiness with the administration’s way of handling the economy and the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

With American business making a remarkable comeback from the Covid-19 pandemic and employment adding more than half a million jobs in October of 2021 according to the Washington Post, citizens still continue to disapprove of Joe Biden’s status on the Economy, With 68% still saying the economy is worsening according to ABC News. Over the winter, gas prices were one of the biggest tick-marks against the Biden Administration, as fuel prices crested record highs. Biden’s 2022 started off dreadfully, and the skyrocketing cost of energy is causing economic anxiety to be on the rise, and Biden’s approval rate plummeting. 

President Biden finished 2021 with ups and downs – the administration is coming out of the first year in office – 2022 is looking to be a huge year for the administration and president. The administration will have to fight rising inflation, and new Covid-19 variants, but with the rising costs of living and with the employment rate on the rise, 2022 will be a colossal year for the administration to endure.