President Joseph Biden’s strengths and weaknesses
Jahanbakhsh Izadi
Expert on U.S. affairs
U.S. President Joseph Biden, 80, on Tuesday formally announced he is running for re-election in 2024. Many, including his fellow Democrats, predicted that Biden would not run in the upcoming elections due to his age. If Biden had not announced his candidacy for president, the Republicans would have welcomed it.
Two important points about Biden’s candidacy are noteworthy: one is the concern over his age, and the other is his presidential record.
When Biden ran for president in 2020, it was generally believed that he would become president for only one term, and that he would enter the race mostly to defeat Donald Trump. Running a big country like the U.S. requires an agile and energetic president. Some experts even suggested that due to his age, Biden could not complete one full term as president.
He is presently the oldest president in U.S. history. During his campaign, many inferred that he was nominated for only one term. He has not adhered to his unwritten and imagined promise, and it seems that the syndrome of wanting to continue in the seat of power has affected him. It seems that Biden’s Achilles’ heel during the presidential election campaign will be his age.
Despite criticisms that are raised about Biden’s performance, he has a 50-year record in Washington, and he can be considered a successful president. If he had not had a successful performance, both he and his party would not have decided to pit Biden against the Republicans.
During his presidency, the economy has grown; Biden has established a relatively good interaction with Congress and has advanced his agenda in a bipartisan manner; he handled the COVID-19 crisis successfully and has spent a lot of money to repair the country’s infrastructure.
In the international arena, he has brought some dignity back to the U.S. since the presidency of Donald Trump. Therefore, in terms of his record and performance, there doesn’t seem to be any major obstacle.
Biden is also the incumbent president, which always gives strength to the party in power. Some Republicans thought they would compete with a new, lesser-known candidate from the Democrats; but the announcement of Biden’s candidacy was a surprise to them.
Now, the Republicans must bring forth a strong candidate to compete with a relatively successful, yet old, incumbent president.