The timing of Barack Obama's presidency was clearly advantageous for Obama and the Democrats. He entered in the middle of a recession. Even before he was inaugurated, projections were being made about when the recession would end. Even if these projections were wrong, it's nearly impossible to keep a recession going for four years. Obama could just sit back, do nothing, and take the credit. He could even use the inevitable recovery to secure a second term.
Obama didn't do nothing. He threw trillions of dollars at the economy, and it ended up as one of our worst recoveries ever. Despite the reality, my prediction was validated. Obama and the Democrats were praised for ending the recession, and Obama was easily reelected.
It's looking more and more likely that Joe Biden will become president in the middle of a pandemic. This is a pandemic that was never likely to last the four years typical of a presidency. There are also vaccines that appear to be late in development. Biden can sit back, do nothing, and go down in history as the man who defeated covid-19.
We might start seeing vaccinations prior to Biden's inauguration, but this is not an instantaneous process. We will not be able to get the virus under control in just about a month. Even if the process predates Biden's presidency, Biden will become the face of the nation before we see any obvious improvement.
In addition to the virus, government sanctions have been devastating for the economy. Although the stock market has recovered better than anyone anticipated, there's still a lot of room for improvement in areas such as employment. It's possible that the recession could officially end prior to Biden's presidency, but growth over the next four years should be easy. More than likely, this will be another area in which Biden receives credit regardless of performance.
Like Obama, Biden appears to be entering the White House at an ideal time. He doesn't have to do anything to gain credit for ending a dark period of time in American history. Regardless of his performance, he will make himself and his party look good just by being the face of the nation at the right time.
Because there are a lot of people out there who confuse issues, I should probably clarify a few things. "Regardless of his performance" should not be misinterpreted as a prediction about Biden's performance. This is actually an acknowledgement that he is likely to be praised if he does a good job as well as if he does a bad job. Similarly, the idea that Biden can sit back and do nothing does not mean that he will sit back and do nothing. Finally, acknowledging vaccine development and that it was unrealistic for the pandemic to last four years should not be misinterpreted as an argument in favor of Trump's handling of the pandemic.
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