It has been two full years since Joe Biden was sworn in to become the 46th president of the United States, and those two years have flown by. Whereas then we were at the height of the pandemic, now restrictions are looser and many have gone back to life without masks and social distancing, and things have more or less returned to normal. Since his election, there have been many issues and controversies surrounding his administration, so here the Shield looks to provide an unbiased take on what many consider to be a controversial first two years of a presidency. 

His first 100 days in office, as like many presidents who have preceded him, were filled with executive orders, and attempting to enact many campaign promises. The biggest one of these orders was reversing a Trump administration border policy, which caused less deportations and overall more humane treatment of illegal immigrants, but in turn caused a surge in the numbers of illegal immigrants coming from the Southern Border. The border has been regarded as the biggest challenge Biden has faced, and the second has been a rise in inflation. Though prices have consistently been going up over the years, the prices we have seen, especially in the food industry, are exponentially larger than what they were a couple of years ago. Gas prices have also been at high concern, though many attribute that to oil executives who have seen record profits since the pandemic restrictions began to loosen. Despite facing major issues, the Biden Administration still has seen some general public support in regards to infrastructure, social issues, and attempts to reduce greenhouse gas images. Other domestic issues faced by Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, have included the overturning of Roe v. Wade, another surge of mass shootings, and issues of his own with classified documents being found at his private home in Delaware. This similarly happened to Donald Trump, with his documents being discovered at his property Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Lastly, his appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court marks the last major decision and issue faced domestically by Biden and his cabinet. 

Looking outside of the borders of the United States, there have been several major international crises. There has been the war in Ukraine, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, anti-government protests in Iran, a new wave of Chinese aggression towards American and her allies, and the ongoing issue between Israel and Palestine. Though many on the homefront support Biden’s attempts to aid the Ukrainians, giving them weapons and financial aid, some are starting to question how much money we as a nation are putting into a foreign war, despite the Russian enemy the Ukrainians are valiantly fiending off. Many have also began to wonder would Biden stand up to China if they were to attack Taiwan in the same way he has in Ukraine. It is hard to tell, but the Chinese aggression and hostility, which has included cyber attacks and spy balloons, as well as mobilization of forces near Taiwan, is a frightening sight for Americans of all sorts. Chinese missile testing has increased tensions, and unfortunately for basically everyone on Earth, it seems as the tensions between two global superpowers will continue to rise. Just like the US and China, tensions between Israel and Palestine have not settled down. Israel, a long term ally of the United States, and Palestine have been locked in constant conflict for a very long time. While Biden shares the sentiment of many Americans, which is hoping for a two-state solution, allowing the two to coexist, both the leaders of Israel and Palestine have remained firm on their beliefs, which is their nation is in power and the other does not exist. Staying in the Middle East, protests in Iran have shaken up the global geopolitical landscape, as constant riots and protests over the deaths of innocent young women at the hands of state police threw the nuclear power into chaos. Many western nations, including the US, have marked their support for the protestors, but this in turn has caused a rise in tensions between NATO and Iran. Lastly for the foreign issues, many have criticized Biden’s handling of the Taliban overthrowing the Afghan government. Many claim they abandoned Afghanistan too quickly, and left too many men behind. Bomb attacks at airports where citizens were evacuating killed at least 13 US service members, and overall many have claimed this crisis was handled poorly by Biden. 

So in sum, the Biden Administration has dealt with its fair share of issues, controversies, and crises over the first two years. Has it by any means been a perfect two years? Absolutely not. But has it been the worst two years in American history? Also, no. Typical to modern American politics, it seems as though Republicans are heavily anti-Biden and this trend is similar for Democrats, though they support him instead. The main promise of Biden’s campaign was a less divided nation, and sadly, that has not really been achieved yet. But with two years on Biden’s term to come, who knows what will happen in America.