28 TIME January 31/February 7, 2022
LAST OCTOBER, PRESIDENT BIDEN WENT TO CAP-
itol Hill to meet with the Democrats in the House
of Representatives. Party members had been feud-
ing over his proposed legislation, and leaders be-
lieved only the President could rally them together.
Instead Biden stunned the caucus by sending them
back to the drawing board. As he was leaving, a
member approached him and pleaded, “Mr. Presi-
dent, we need a plan.” Biden didn’t answer, accord-
ing to a source familiar with the exchange.
Three months later, the fate of Biden’s social-
spending and climate package is more uncertain
than ever. The pandemic he promised to bring to
heel rages out of control. Infl ation is at a four- decade
high, canceling out rising wages. The border is a
mess. Violent crime continues to climb. His ap-
proval rating has sunk to the low 40s. In the eyes of
many Americans, “it’s just been one disappointment
after another,” says Iowa-based nonpartisan pollster
J. Ann Selzer. “Joe Biden was supposed to be the ex-
pert at dealing with all of these issues. What is it that
he’s done right? Other than getting infrastructure
passed, what has he done that’s come off really well?”
One year in, there’s a growing sense that the
Biden presidency has lost its way. An Administra-
tion that pledged to restore competence and nor-
malcy seems overmatched and reactive. Biden
has been caught fl at- footed by not one but two
COVID-19 variants. He has repeatedly failed to
close the deal with the Senate he boasted of mas-
tering. The former chair of the foreign relations
committee has presided over escalating tensions
with Russia and China as well as a chaotic pull-
out from Afghanistan. The consequences to Amer-
ica’s credibility abroad could be lasting, says Ryan
Crocker, former U.S. ambassador in Kabul. “What
could be more damaging to internationalism in this
country than an internationalist who is perceived
as having just completely screwed the pooch?”
Defenders argue that Biden is managing as well
as anyone could. Taking offi ce in the shadow of
Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection, he faces
a country riven by pre- existing divisions and an
opposition that views him as illegitimate. Biden
racked up early successes rolling out vaccines and
relief funds, they note, and hasn’t gotten suffi cient
credit for his bipartisan infrastructure bill. “For
all this progress, I know there’s a lot of frustration
and fatigue in this country,” Biden said of the pan-
demic at a Jan. 19 press conference, the second he
has conducted on U.S. soil since being inaugurated.
“We’ve been doing everything we can.”
Yet in a period of historic crisis, the President
has been a shrinking fi gure, giving fewer interviews
or press conferences than his predecessors. Voters
widely question his capabilities. Privately, top Dem-
ocrats acknowledge the public is losing faith in his
leadership. “What people don’t see is an overarching
plan,” a senior Administration offi cial tells TIME.
One major party donor predicts a midterm wipe-
out. “When they f-cked up Afghanistan, they oblit-
erated the competency thesis, and I don’t know
how he comes back from that.” If you want a friend
in Washington, get a dog, the old saying goes, but
Biden can’t even get that right: Major, a rescued
German shepherd featured in Biden’s campaign
ads, was rehomed last month after injuring the
President and biting two staff ers.IF BIDEN HAD one job coming in, it was to get the
pandemic under control. He campaigned on a plan
to tackle the virus with sound science and serious
policy rather than Trump’s denial and quackery.
Upon taking offi ce, he installed an experienced
team and got vaccines out to millions of Ameri-
cans in a matter of months.
But the pandemic response is now in a rough
place. Omicron, while milder than previous vari-
ants, has sent cases surging. Hospitals are fl ooded,
and businesses and schools struggle to remain open.
In other countries, rapid tests have long been avail-
able free or cheap, but here they remain scarce and
pricey. Data collection is a patchwork, leaving poli-
cymakers reliant on foreign sources for information.
Top scientists voice frustration. “The Adminis-
tration has done really well on vaccines,” says Dr.
Céline Gounder, an epidemiologist at New York
University who advised Biden’s transition, “but theNATION
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