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21 April 2021updated 23 Jul 2021 5:26am

Joe Biden’s first 100 days have been action-packed, but on foreign policy he is moving more slowly

One cutting example is that children are still being locked away in jail-like facilities at the US-Mexico border. 

By Emily Tamkin

It was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in a radio address in 1933, who introduced the concept of a president’s first 100 days as a significant unit of time. He also set the benchmark for productivity during it, passing 15 major pieces of legislation to haul the US out of the Great Depression, all while keeping the nation abreast of developments with his “fireside chats”.

With respect to domestic policy, Joe Biden’s first 100 days will likely be remembered as one of the more action-packed, too, especially compared with those of his predecessors. Barack Obama passed an $800bn stimulus package on his 29th day in office in response to the 2008 financial crash, but arguably his signature achievement – the Affordable Care Act, partially reforming America’s iniquitous and inadequate healthcare system – didn’t happen until his 428th day. Donald Trump managed to get a Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, confirmed in his first 100 days, but could not, as he had pledged, repeal and replace Obama’s healthcare plan in his first 100 days (or ever).

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