Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election provides an opportunity to reflect on his record. True, he’s still the president, and much can happen in the next five months. But we can say with confidence that his record is solid, and history is likely to judge him positively.
Biden’s one-term domestic accomplishments have been significant, especially considering he’s been working with a divided Congress. He and the Congress have made big investments in infrastructure, energy, climate and technology and presided over the strongest pandemic recovery in the developed world.
But his foreign policy record is every bit as important. After the chaos of the Trump years, Biden focused his experience and expertise to work once again to make America a leader of a rules-based international order. His reliance on alliances and institutions was essential in responding to the most serious foreign-policy challenge of recent years: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
America’s standing in the world improved as a result. A Pew Research Center survey of 34 countries found that nearly all had more confidence in Biden than in Trump.
Biden’s record hasn’t been perfect, of course. But he took office at an extremely challenging time. The worst pandemic in a century had killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and devastated the world economy. Supporters of Donald Trump had attacked the Capitol and tried to block the transfer of power. The “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq dragged on.
Trump, as president, criticized our allies and cozied up to dictators. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, the World Health Organization and the Iran nuclear deal. He derided NATO, raising questions about America’s reliability. Biden, in his first month in office, boldly declared, “America is back.” He insisted that diplomacy was at the center of our foreign policy and set out to repair alliances and “engage with the world again.”
If there’s a mark on Biden’s foreign policy record, it’s arguably the withdrawal of the last American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. The U.S. failed to anticipate how quickly the Taliban would take over, and evacuation became rushed and chaotic. It’s true that Trump set the timeline for the withdrawal; but Biden, as president, was responsible for its execution.
Immigration has been another challenge. Critics blamed Biden for chaos at the Mexican border as migrants surged from Venezuela, Cuba and other countries. He’s tried to strike a balance between immigration’s benefits and its perceived costs. Early this year, he negotiated a major immigration reform bill, but Trump loyalists in Congress killed it for political reasons.
The highlight of Biden’s foreign policy has been rallying international support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion. He worked with allies and a divided Congress to provide aid that enabled Ukraine to fight the Russians to a deadlock. He led the way to strengthen NATO, adding Finland and Sweden as members and restoring its claim to be the world’s most successful military alliance.
Biden is a longtime friend of Israel. His support after the brutal attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, was forceful and immediate. But the U.S. has become somewhat isolated as Israel’s counterattacks have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, and left over a million homeless. Biden has tried to promote compromise but with limited success.
His faith in diplomacy paid off, however, with a complex prisoner exchange that freed several Americans from Russian jails this month. According to news reports, Biden was personally involved in completing the deal, which required cooperation by multiple countries.
Biden said upon taking office that his foreign policy would prioritize “America’s most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.” He’s done his best to keep that promise, and the world is better off as a result.
Lee Hamilton is a senior adviser for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years. Send comments to [email protected].
