As President Joe Biden acts with urgency, his vision of the powers of the Oval Office is rapidly taking shape, inspired by Democratic predecessors who dramatically expanded the reach of the government to face generational crises.
In a recent meeting with historians and in private conversations with advisers, Biden considered the examples Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson gave in his plans to use executive levers to create opportunities and break down barriers.
Unlike Roosevelt and Johnson, who enjoyed a formidable Democratic majority in Congress, Biden has had to operate without margin for error in fiercely partisan Washington.
Born shortly after Roosevelt’s New Deal and running for his first election in the shadow of Johnson’s Great Society, Biden has always believed in government as an instrument for the good. Now, with the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic collapse it triggered, that philosophy is being put to the test and Biden’s place in history is at stake.
He has opted for memorable rather than gradual actions, willing to cast aside visions of a bipartisan Washington in favor of tangible results that might resonate with Republican voters but not their elected officials.
“The president has spoken out clearly about the democracy crisis and is aware of the factors and forces that could undermine the US experiment if we are not careful to protect it,” said historian Michael Eric Dyson, who attended the recent session. “There was no doubt that the president was concerned about the way we treat our fellow citizens, and it is very clear that the moral trajectory of the United States has made a difference in domestic and foreign policy.”
In his first two months in office, Biden signed a $ 1.9 trillion financial aid bill and proposed a $ 2.3 trillion tax and infrastructure plan and legislative package in the past week. Two-part program aimed at radical reform of the US economy.