The Evolving Trump Legacy in Light of a Biden Administration

When you think of the time Donald Trump spent as President, you most likely fall into one of two camps. Roughly half the nation supported or even loved the guy while the other half either disliked or flat-out couldn’t stand him. So, it was no surprise that at the end of his term, he had a lot of people who claimed he did a fantastic job while having a similar number saying the exact opposite.

The funny thing is that as time goes on, we gain a different and more relevant perspective of events and history. Like anything else, in the moment people often tend to jump to an opinion quickly. While this is human nature, this is not one of the best qualities we as people have to offer. Many times an event or news story is much more nuanced than people tend to accept. We can easily fall into the trap of joining popular opinion or making up our mind too quickly. It often takes weeks, months or even years to filter though all elements of something.

With about 9 month of a Biden administration now in the books, people are starting to see the stark contrast between the two presidents in more than just policy. Of course, the policies were going to be very different. Everyone expected this. However, seeing the effects of actions and inactions is something that is significantly less foreseeable.

Under the Biden administration, we had the failed pullout in Afghanistan, arguably one of the worst disasters in U.S. foreign policy actions in the history of our country. If not that, at least since the Carter administration’s flop with the Iran Hostage Crisis. The Southern border has been in shambles and there was even a tent city of more than 15,000 causing chaos along the border of Texas. Prices are increasing due to inflation, small and even big business are having a hard time getting people to work for them. Despite questionable vaccine mandates, there have been more cases and deaths from Covid-19 under Biden in his first 9 months than in all of the time under the previous president. School boards are forcing a racially divisive curriculum on students and shutting parents out of the decision making process.

The fact is, while republicans has been hard on Joe from the start, and democrats have given him a pass on virtually everything, independents, who make up the highest percentage or any group, have drastically shifted their opinions. According to a poll by Quinnipac University, the president still has an 80% approval rating from democrats. Republicans have it at a dismal 4%. But the key factor is those all-important independents who score him at just 32%. That averages out to a pitiful 38%.

When you factor in the objective and tangible stats under Trump, you get some of the following. America gained 7 million new jobs. The 3.5% unemployment low was the lowest in a half century. Nearly 7 million were lifted off of food stamps. Minority employment and homeownership grew to new highs. The government created nearly 9,000 opportunity zones. The nation reached a new level of energy independence. The vaccine for Covid-19 was developed in record time. The list goes on and on.

It seems that with each new day of the Biden administration, the positives from the Trump era are increasingly outweighing the negatives both perceived and manufactured. His tenure in office is becoming more recognizable for what it is. For anyone who is honest about it, personality notwithstanding, Trump should go down as one of the better presidents in our nation’s history. Even if you won’t argue that he was the best, or in the top few, any reasonable person will at least admit that.