The Greatest Presidential Team Ever. *so far

Two hundred and three days since they were inaugurated under the watchful eye of a nation reeling from an attempted coup detat by Trump’s militia, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala D. Harris can easily be considered the greatest presidential tandem in American history.

Outrageous? Hyperbole? Clickbait?

How about honest? 

That’s right, honest, because if we are honest and factor how they came into office, the country they inherited, and where the country was headed on January 20th, it becomes clear that we are witnessing the most important president and vice president team in U.S. history.

And a case can be made that the dynamic duo are already the greatest presidential tandem after only 203 days in office.

The typical list of top presidents always looks backward because historians believe we need the distance of time to properly evaluate the efficacy of presidents and their administrations because decisions made today can take years or even decades to show themselves to be good, great, awful, or damning.

I am in agreement that the gift of time provides additional insight, consideration of factors known and unknown at the time a president was in office, and time for sober analysis by learned women and men who traditionally study, research, and write about presidents and their administrations.

And you know what else? It is possible to understand greatness at the time it is happening. To recognize great art while an artist is living, and to celebrate unique and unparalleled greatness when we first witness it.

We do it all the time in sports, and in fact we have a pop culture reference for it: G.O.A.T.

Started by Muhammed Ali, who proclaimed himself “The Greatest Of All Time” while he was still ascending the rankings of greatest boxers of all time, the term is now used to recognize great athletes and other public figures while they are still performing.

We just witnessed it with American gymnast Simone Biles, who is so far ahead of and better than her domestic and global competitors, that those who follow the sport can unequivocally and accurately proclaim her to be the greatest gymnast of all time.

We do it with Serena Williams who has spent decades dominating women’s tennis – all tennis in most ways – so much so that even when she loses, she is the lead sports story.

We did it with Joe Montana and we now do it with Tom Brady. We did it with Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Usain Bolt, Pele and, of course Michael Jordan.

And we do it in other professions, too, from Meryl Streep, Michael Jackson, and B.B. King, to Aretha Franklin, Pablo Picasso, and Frida Khalo. We have done it with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Houston, Mia Hamm, Celia Cruz, and Harriet Tubman.

It is possible to recognize greatness contemporaneously and it is time to recognize President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the greatest results any presidential tandem has ever had in such a short time.

Their unique transition to the presidency already sets them apart from their predecessors, except for Abraham Lincoln, who also was elected and inaugurated during secessionist violence and (threats of) civil war. And in Biden-Harris’ case, they and the rest of the country watched Confederates, white nationalists, Trump, and other racist flags take over the Capitol while the “World’s Greatest Military” and “World’s greatest Law Enforcement and Spy Apparatus” were too busy playing Best Fiends to give a damn. 

It is also important to note that even before the January 6th GOP-led white nationalist insurrection, the same forces attempted to illegally steal the election after their dictator-wannabe lost by more than seven million votes. 

They dragged the country through the mud and muck of lies, dark money, Russian and other nefarious foreign influences, and a weak and ineffective press, which all led to the American election process being the laughingstock around the globe.

Biden-Harris kept their message on-point and in-synch and set about doing the work necessary – and away from the media – to form a government that would set them up for the success we are now seeing.

Getting into office and getting inaugurated was not guaranteed, but they did it. And once in office, they inherited a broken country that was frayed at the military and spy edges, that had shed tens of millions of jobs, and that was in the midst of a global pandemic that had been so badly mismanaged by the outgoing criminals that there was real uncertainly as to whether the country could recover during a single administration.

Two hundred and three days and we are celebrating unparalleled new administration success.

The economy was teetering, the border issue was out of control, large and small businesses were closing, schools had been closed for over a year, and the already sick health care system was in the midst of collapse under the strain of the unwillfully and the willfully sick.

Once in office, President Biden and MVP Harris took immediate and definitive actions to stabilize the economy, reestablish foreign relations, and provide guidance and clear pandemic instructions to the citizens, businesses, schools, and allies. 

They signed over 60 executive actions that were aimed at curbing the pandemic, and undoing the idiotic actions of the former guy, including the travel ban on Muslim countries, canceling the Keystone pipeline, ending federal use of private prisons. There were 24 reversals of Trump policies, and actions on immigration, equity, housing, environment, health care, labor, and the census.

They chose the most diverse and qualified cabinet in history and set about rebuilding the government piece by piece while also building the case for investigation of the previous traitors who they replaced.

The team surprised everyone by signing into law Juneteenth as an official federal holiday, and despite some folk downplaying the new law, its significance matters and will matter to coming generations. They canceled $500M in student loan debt, halted evictions due to the pandemic, and the work on the economy and jobs have so far led to the creation of four million jobs, more jobs than the former guy created in four disastrous years. 

And just this week, the team oversaw the passing of the largest infrastructure bill in American history by keeping their promise to work with Republicans and far-left candidates to craft a bill that will benefit American workers, small businesses, children and the elderly, and city and rural Americans.

And they have had more judges confirmed at this time in the administration than any of their predecessors. 

Their list of accomplishments are plenty and you can see them for yourselves.

Some will stick to the George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and Barack Obama, and even Ronald Regan as best president, and a reasonable case can be made for all. 

But what truly sets Biden-Harris apart and above all their predecessors is the second name in the administration: Harris.

Vice President Kamala Devi Harris is the only woman to hold the office. Adding her contributions to the Biden-Harris results strengthen their case for top administration. And adding her individual contributions firmly take them to the top.

President Biden smartly recognized the unique strengths and incredible abilities of his V.P., by quickly assigning her to oversee… everything that mattered. 

From police reform, jobs plan, infrastructure, borders, domestic security, foreign relations, and more, MVP Harris seemed to be everywhere during the first 200 days.

And where she went success followed. 

And jealousl from silly media lightweights, whisper campaigns from Republicans and followers of Bernard Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and ignorant editorials from cable and network television news and entertainment shows who continue to show their ignorance and inability to cover a female vice president, much less a Black-Southeast Asian woman as vice president.

Once everything is taken into account: a contested election, an insurrection, a pandemic, a failing economy with millions unemployed, a broken intelligence community, border malfeasance, and broken foreign relations, it becomes clear that Biden-Harris inherited unprecedented challenges that would have broken every other administration, except perhaps the Obama-Biden one, who also inherited a disastrous economy on the brink of collapse.

The job is not done, of course, and there remain challenges ahead for the remainder of the year and term. The team will need to continue to deliver results and plan to market their successes to the electorate leading to the 2022 midterms. If voters were honest, they would elect even more Democrats to office so that more advances can be made – advances that benefit everyone, not just the wealthy or those who pretend they will be wealthy one day.

But life isn’t fair, Republicans voters aren’t smart, and 2022 will be as difficult as any midterm in modern history because we will be dealing with all the usual nonsense added onto shenanigans by the insurrection party and their president in exile who see the midterms as another referendum on him, his family, his followers, his time in office and, mostly, his chances of staying out of prison.

But if we have learned anything since January 20th, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver on more promises and exceed even more expectations.

If they can do that, they will not only be the greatest presidential team of all time *so far, but the greatest presidential team, period – no asterisk necessary.

© 2021 by Myron J. Clifton. All Rights Reserved. 

Myron J. Clifton is slightly older than fifty, lives in Sacramento, California, and is an avid Bay Area sports fan. He likes comic books, telling stories about his late mom to his beloved daughter Leah, and talking to his friends.  

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