Editing Joe Biden (section)

== Legacy ==
When Biden left office in 2025, journalists and even many Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure—due to [[Age and health concerns about Joe Biden|age and health concerns]], public frustration over inflation, and the defeat of his vice president, Kamala Harris, in the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]] by Donald Trump.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/politics/394712/joe-biden-president-legacy-inflation-manchin|title=The president who could not choose|date=January 14, 2025|access-date=January 16, 2025|website=Vox|first1=Dylan|last1=Matthews}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' called the conclusion of Biden's presidency a "tragedy", particularly because Biden was succeeded by Trump after previously defeating him.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/jan/18/biden-presidency-legacy-trump-election|title=An American tragedy: how Biden paved the way for Trump's White House return|first1=David|last1=Smith|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=January 18, 2025|date=January 18, 2025|quote=To admirers, Biden will remain one of the most consequential one-term presidents in US history - to detractors, he was undone by a fatal flaw.}}</ref> 

Biden's life has been marked by tragedy, including the death of [[Neilia Hunter Biden|his first wife and daughter]] in a car accident after [[1972 United States Senate election in Delaware|his election to the Senate in 1972]] and the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015. [[NBC News]] called Biden's life "one of the great tragedies of American politics."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-ends-5-decades-public-life-one-greatest-tragedies-american-p-rcna183989|title='One of the great tragedies of American politics': Biden ends 5 decades in public life|date=January 16, 2025|access-date=January 16, 2025|first1=Natasha|last1=Korecki|first2=Carol E.|last2=Lee|first3=Jonathan|last3=Allen|agency=[[NBC News]]|quote=Biden leaves behind a complicated legacy of legislative wins, economic gains and a trail of fractured relationships and grievances within his own party.}}</ref>

Journalist [[Ronald Brownstein]] of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' compared Biden to [[Jimmy Carter]], who [[Death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter|died on December 29, 2024, and whom Biden eulogized on January 9, 2025]]. Biden's presidency was overshadowed by the [[2021–2023 inflation surge]], much as the [[1970s energy crisis]] and [[stagflation]] overshadowed [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|Carter's presidency]]. Both men were Democrats and served a single term as president, with Carter losing reelection in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] to [[Ronald Reagan]] and Biden's party losing in [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]] to Donald Trump.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Brownstein |first1=Ronald |title=Why 'Late Regime' Presidencies Fail |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/coalition-collapse-biden-carter/681254/ |access-date=January 9, 2025 |magazine=The Atlantic |quote=The coalition collapse that doomed Biden follows a grim precedent set by another Democratic leader: Jimmy Carter.}}</ref> 

[[Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election|Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election]] was compared to [[Withdrawal of Lyndon B. Johnson from the 1968 United States presidential election|Lyndon B. Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 presidential election]], with Johnson's vice president, [[Hubert Humphrey]], losing in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]] to [[Richard Nixon]] and Biden's vice president, [[Kamala Harris]], losing in 2024 to Trump. Johnson and Biden were both initially popular but saw their approval ratings decline throughout their presidencies as both faced protests and criticism over foreign policy issues<ref>{{Cite news |title=Anti-war protests, a Chicago DNC: Is it 1968 all over again? Some historians say no |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1250917132/1968-anti-war-protests-dnc-chicago |access-date=2025-05-19 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-22 |title=Biden's job ratings decline amid Covid surge, Afghanistan withdrawal in NBC News poll |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/biden-s-job-ratings-decline-amid-covid-surge-afghanistan-withdrawal-n1277368 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>. Johnson and Biden also previously served as vice president, under John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/12/harris-team-election/680844/|title=Why They Lost|date=December 2, 2024|website=The Atlantic|first1=Ronald|last1=Brownstein|access-date=December 4, 2024|quote=The Harris-campaign leadership believes that the Democrats narrowed the gap on Trump that Biden left—but not by enough.}}</ref>

A December 2024 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans thought Biden's presidency was below average or poor, 26% average, and 19% above average or outstanding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/654878/americans-think-history-rate-biden-presidency-negatively.aspx|title=Americans Think History Will Rate Biden Presidency Negatively|date=January 7, 2025|publisher=Gallup|first1=Jeffrey M.|last1=Jones|access-date=January 10, 2025}}</ref> Gallup found that Americans largely offered negative assessments of Biden's presidency on economic, national, and international issues. Of 18 issue areas Gallup tracked, a majority of Americans said the U.S. lost ground in six, including the economy in general, immigration, and the country's position in the world. A plurality found that the U.S. declined in six other areas, including national infrastructure and energy, education, and trade relations with other countries. Americans perceived standstills in climate change and black people's situation, and were divided between standstills and declines in their perception of health care, national defense, and taxes. A plurality felt the U.S. made progress in only one indicator under Biden: the conditions of [[LGBTQ people|gay, lesbian, and transgender people]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/655112/americans-little-progress-key-areas-biden.aspx|title=Americans See Little Progress in Key Areas Under Biden|date=January 14, 2025|publisher=Gallup|first1=Megan|last1=Brenan|access-date=January 15, 2025|quote=More think the U.S. lost than gained ground in a majority of economic, national and international areas}}</ref>

=== Scholarly rankings ===
The [[Siena College Research Institute]]'s 2022 survey [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States#2022 Siena College|ranked Biden]] 19th out of 45 presidents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scri.siena.edu/2022/06/22/american-presidents-greatest-and-worst/|title=American Presidents: Greatest and Worst|publisher=[[Siena College Research Institute]]|date=June 22, 2022|access-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref> The 2024 ''Presidential Greatness Project Expert'' survey ranked Biden the 14th best president.<ref name=bc/>