Reshaping America? An examination of Joe Biden's first 100 days as US President | DW Analysis

The 100-day marker, which was first used during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been the standard to gauge a president's immediate progress. President Joe Biden entered office in January with the goal to tamp down a raging pandemic, fix a broken economy that left millions unemployed and reestablish the trans-Atlantic relationship.

President Biden's first major promise was to ensure that he would administer 100 million shots in his first 100 days. Once seen as an overly ambitious goal, he passed that mark after 58 days in office. In March, he raised the target to 200 million shots in arms, which he reached seven days before the 100 day-mark. In the US, 29% of the population has been fully vaccinated and over 40% have at least been given one shot.

Biden has had to walk a tightrope when it comes to foreign policy. The stormy relationship that the Trump administration had with longtime allies has been more fluid since he entered office in January. Biden has put an emphasis on reconnecting with the US's previous allies, like the EU. Biden's remarks at the Munich Security Conference and Secretary of State Antony Blinken's two separate trips to Brussels to meet with NATO allies have been an indication that they are making serious attempts to reconnect the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Biden moved quickly by sticking to his promise to reenter the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which President Trump announced the US would withdraw from in 2017. As part of the pact, Biden has committed the US to cutting greenhouse gases in half by 2030. However, it is below the commitments made by the European Union and the United Kingdom. For Biden to achieve any of his climate goals, it will be up to whether a divided Congress can pass his multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill that is making its way through the Capitol. The plan will see investment in electric vehicles and clean-energy technology.

The first weeks of Biden's presidency were focused on an economy that was in danger of collapsing due to the coronavirus pandemic. With unemployment and jobless claims at record highs, he was able to push through — without Republican support — the trillion-dollar rescue plan, which sent $1,400 (€1,150) checks to the pockets of each American household. Due to the vaccination rollout and the implementation of the American Rescue Plan, the job market added nearly 1 million jobs in March, bringing down the unemployment rate to 6%. Last April, the unemployment rate was hovering around 14%. Still, the employment numbers are still below pre-pandemic numbers and there are concerns about inflation rising as a result of the rescue plan, and the American people are likely to start holding the president accountable going forward.
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