I’ve always liked Joe Biden. I still do. But nobody can say his legacy wasn’t tarnished by the end of his term.
The good part was he inherited a country at war with itself and restored a sense of normalcy, if only temporarily. He inherited the peak of a pandemic and saw us out of it. He successfully led the largest legislative agenda in a couple generations. In hindsight, he probably overplayed his hand in this respect.
But the greatest failure was keeping the White House under Democratic control. By aiming for a second term, and not letting go of that goal until too late, he probably helped elect Donald Trump. I would have liked to see a little restraint, a little selflessness or at least the self awareness to bow out before he was 78 years old.
But for me personally, the greatest stain on his legacy was pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. I imagine it was unsettling for Joe Biden as a father to see Matt Gaetz nominated to lead the Justice Department, and consider the implications that has for your son. But once you throw your chips in with democracy, respecting historical norms and common decency, you have to stick with it. You can’t go back on that later.
By pardoning his son, Biden failed to trust “small d” democracy. He did not trust the people to do what is right. This after playing the democracy card time and again over the years. This was the greatest disappointment for me personally. I didn’t like the other pardons either, but they at least were for public servants like Anthony Fauci and the legislators who investigated January 6.
All those pardons give Trump wide leeway to pardon his own friends and family, or maybe even himself, for real crimes. The mass pardoning on a case-by-case basis of all the January 6 rioters was easier to sell because of Biden’s precedent.
“Small d” democracy voters like me don’t want to see that.
Expat Chronicles 