The 46th President of the United States: Joseph (Joe) Robinette Biden Jr.

Kaleigh Reynolds

January 20, 2021, will always be a day to remember, a day wherein many people’s eyes history was made. Joe Biden became the 46^th President of the United States at age 78, making him the oldest president, while Kamala Harris become the first woman Vice President to be a person of color. Since becoming president last month, Biden has been hard at work in executing the promises he made to the American people during his campaign.

According to the History Channel on the day of his inauguration, Biden addressed the country’s challenges saying, “Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now…To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity.” This image of unity comes weeks after the capital was stormed with protestors.

The challenges that Biden hopes to guide the American people through are laid out in executive orders he has issued. One issue he pledges to fix is the racial wealth gap. According to a 2019 Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the gap is anything but small. The average median wealth for a white family is $188,200, while for Black families that number is only $24,100 and $36,100 for Hispanic families. Biden signed four executive orders relating to the issue. “We need to make the issue of racial equity not just an issue for any one department of government; it has to be the business of the whole of government,” Biden said when signing the orders.

While executive orders like the ones regarding racial wealth may look pleasing to the eyes of an American, there are several orders that have been issued that to 10.5 percent of the U.S. population is doing more harm than good.

As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34.2 million people of all ages or 10.5 percent of the U.S. population suffer from diabetes. In last year’s presidential debate, Trump stated that he issued an order which would significantly lower the cost of insulin. “I’m getting it for so cheap it’s like water,” he said.

However, in USA Today, as Biden took office on January 20^th, his White House chief of staff, Ronald Klain, announced a regulatory freeze of “any new and pending rules.” The freeze on insulin rule is effective until March 22. This is a common tradition among incoming presidents, to ensure that any unfinished polices left by prior administration align with the incoming one. That still however doesn’t negate the fact that many Americans were counting on this policy to take place sooner rather than later.

As 46^th President of the United States, Joe Biden is laying forth the issues he plans to change or fix that he promised the American people he would during the election. One of those issues he promised to fix was to put an end to the spread of COVID- 19.  With Covid related deaths increasing daily Biden has mandated mask-wearing and social distancing on all federal properties. Although he lacks the authority to mask mandate nationwide, he encourages the American people to wear them. Biden also created a position for a Covid-19 response coordinator, who will advise the president and oversee the distribution of vaccines, tests and other supplies.

Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris may be doing things that at first glance can cause a lot of fear to arise in the American people, but Joe Biden also said, “fear never builds a future, but hope does.” The future is unknown, but place hope in the presence of fear and these next four years will be just fine.