Thoughts about a new administration

Patrick Corso, Staff Writer

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.’s election as president marked a few historical moments in American history. He is the first candidate in more than a quarter of a century to defeat a sitting president, and his running mate Kamala Devi Harris is the first woman, as well as the first African American and Asian American to be vice president of the United States.

Due to heavy use of mail- in ballots, we did not know who actually won until four days later, when many outlets confirmed Biden’s winning of Pennsylvania and his number of electoral votes rising to 275.

During the time of the election, Instagram removed the ‘Recent’ tab on all hashtag pages to help curb the spread of election misinformation, a move that drew criticism from several users. The tab did not actually return until Dec. 10, 2020, when the Justice Department filed suit against Facebook for antitrust violations.

One of President Biden’s focal points of his presidency is to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, with hopes of administering 100 million doses of the vaccine by the end of April.

As of this writing, over 40 million have been administered, and over the past two days, a record number of vaccines have been distributed. Former President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic was one of the main reasons why voters favored Biden over Trump.

Biden is also the oldest person in history to be elected president, at the age of 77. Due to his age, it is very likely that he will serve only one term, like how most presidents served their terms during the 19th century.

Many voters favored Biden during the election after so many were sick of Trump due to his conduct and temper when he was in office. This was especially true during the first debate back in September, when Biden told Trump to “shut up” after being interrupted multiple times.

Many are glad that Biden reversed many of the controversial orders Trump made during his time, such as attempting to ban immigration from several Muslim-majority countries to helping the U.S. rejoin the World Health Organization.

Biden may have a number of other challenges to tackle, but he is the first to sign a record number of executive orders within the first two days of his presidency.

One of those orders included federal mask mandate on government property, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement. Since Biden is still new to the presidency and is currently in his 18th day, what he will face in the future is unknown at the moment.

We all know that every president has their criticisms, such as his sexual assault allegations during his time as senator and vice president. And as late President Ronald Reagan notes, they may sometimes be a little awkward at times, but they have the power to do their utmost best.

Everyone has their hopes that Biden can succeed in his presidency, unlike his predecessor, who made nothing but Saturday Night Live “great again.”