The following are 20 significant accomplishments of President Joe Biden's administration, covering legislation, economic policy, infrastructure, healthcare, foreign affairs, and social policy.
I've focused on concrete legislative achievements, measurable outcomes, and consequential policy changes, rather than campaign promises or subjective assessments.
Economy, Jobs, and Infrastructure
1. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (2021): Signed a roughly $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, including approximately $550 billion in new federal investments in roads, bridges, public transit, broadband, water systems, and the electrical grid.
2. CHIPS and Science Act (2022): Enacted legislation providing approximately $52.7 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research, encouraging major investments in American chip production.
3. Inflation Reduction Act (2022): Signed legislation making the largest federal investment in clean energy and climate initiatives in American history, while also reforming prescription drug pricing.
4. Historic Job Creation: Presided over an increase of approximately 16 million nonfarm payroll jobs between January 2021 and January 2025, although much of the early growth reflected recovery from pandemic-related job losses.
5. Low Unemployment: Oversaw an unemployment rate below 4% for 27 consecutive months, the longest such stretch since the 1960s.
6. Manufacturing Investment: Used tax incentives, subsidies, and industrial policy to encourage hundreds of billions of dollars in announced private-sector investments in semiconductor factories, electric vehicles, and battery manufacturing.
7. Expanded Broadband Access: Secured $42.45 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program to expand high-speed internet infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
8. American Rescue Plan (2021): Enacted a $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery package that provided direct payments to households, supported state and local governments, and helped accelerate economic recovery.
Healthcare and Social Policy
9. Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiations: Authorized Medicare to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers for certain expensive prescription drugs for the first time.
10. Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors: Capped Medicare beneficiaries' insulin costs at $35 per month and established a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket limit for Medicare Part D prescription drugs beginning in 2025.
11. Expansion of Affordable Care Act Coverage: Expanded federal health insurance subsidies, helping Marketplace enrollment reach approximately 24 million people for 2025 and contributing to historically low uninsured rates.
12. Student Loan Forgiveness: Approved more than $180 billion in student loan relief for over five million borrowers through existing forgiveness programs and administrative reforms, notwithstanding the Supreme Court's rejection of his broader forgiveness initiative.
13. PACT Act for Veterans (2022): Signed bipartisan legislation substantially expanding healthcare and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and other hazardous substances during military service.
14. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022): Signed the most significant federal gun safety legislation in decades, strengthening background-check requirements for certain younger purchasers and funding mental health and school safety programs.
Sources:
The White House+3
Foreign Policy and National Security
15. Strengthening NATO: Helped secure the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, substantially expanding the alliance in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
16. Support for Ukraine: Organized and sustained an international coalition providing military, economic, and humanitarian assistance that helped Ukraine resist Russia's invasion and preserve its independence.
17. Restoration of International Climate Cooperation: Rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement in 2021, restoring American participation in the principal international framework for addressing climate change.
Government, Democracy, and Civil Rights
18. Electoral Count Reform Act (2022): Signed bipartisan legislation clarifying the vice president's limited role in counting electoral votes and making it more difficult to overturn presidential election results through congressional objections.
19. Historic Federal Judicial Appointments: Appointed 235 federal judges, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
20. Social Security Fairness Act (2025): Signed bipartisan legislation repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, increasing Social Security benefits for millions of retired public employees and their spouses.
Sources:
Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library+3
Overall assessment: Biden's most enduring accomplishments are arguably the infrastructure law, CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare drug-pricing reforms, and expansion of NATO. These produced significant statutory or institutional changes that extend beyond his presidency.
The economic record is more complicated: strong employment growth and investment occurred alongside substantial inflation, and some policies—particularly pandemic stimulus—remain contested in terms of their net economic effects.