On January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn into Washington DC and confirmed as the 46th President of the United States. Hours after his inauguration, he got straight to work, signing a total of 17 executive orders. Some of these include canceling construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and border wall, requiring masks in federal buildings, and rejoining the Paris climate accord. He’s made a number of immigration policy reversals along with some environmental protection changes. He’s also made a great push towards racial and gender equality.

Biden didn’t slow down on day two, signing seven executive orders focused on improving our safety during the pandemic. He has established a Covid-19 pandemic testing board along with a Health Equity Task Force. In his first five days alone, he’s signed a total of 35 executive orders, all which promote health, safety, gender and race equality, environmental protections, and financial aid to the less fortunate. 

Biden focused on doing right what Donald Trump did wrong during his four years. He completely abandoned Trump’s environment plans and introduced a policy of his own. He also extended the special enrollment period (SEP) to May 15 2021. Not only that, he wants to completely remove Trump’s name from all conversation and media. “I’m tired of talking about Donald Trump, don’t want to talk about him anymore,” Biden said at the Wisconsin town hall event. “For four years, all that’s been in the news is Trump. The next four years, I want to make sure all the news is the American people.”  

Trump has denounced the use of masks several times throughout the pandemic, giving his followers the idea that masks aren’t necessary or effective for fighting covid. President Biden, however, made sure to wear a mask during his first appearance behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. A symbol of hope for the future.

He has also promised the country that we will be “back to normal” by the end of this year. How he’s going to do this, we’re not sure, but all we can do is put our faith in him and follow Covid-19 guidelines. 

In summary, Biden’s goal in his first month was to restore the nation’s stability after four years of disarray.  This has been a strong start to his presidency, but there’s still a lot of work to do if we truly want to make America great.