On November 4th, 2020 Former Vice-President Joe Biden got elected as the 46th president of the United States. On January 20th, 2021 he was sworn into office with his vice president Kamala Harris. He ran on a campaign full of promises about what he would and wouldn’t do as president. Here are his 5 biggest promises:

COVID-19 Pandemic
Biden promised to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and continuously bashed Trump for not doing enough about it. One of his goals was a 100 day mask mandate both indoors and outdoors. Despite this, less than a week into his presidency he admitted there was nothing he could do to combat the virus and that the pandemic will be around for a few more months at the very least.

No Ban on Fracking
He made multiple claims, including in the presidential debates, that he wouldn’t ban fracking which is the removal of natural gases from the ground. This was big for him as it certainly helped him win states in the Midwest with big parts of the workforce in the fracking industry such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. Not even a week into his term, he already is showing signs of going against his promises and restricting fracking by stopping the Keystone Pipeline from being built, putting thousands of union workers out of a job.

Immigration and a Protected Border
One of Donald Trump’s main campaign promises was stricter laws on both legal and illegal immigration. In order to combat this, Biden ran with a “Nation of Immigrants” rhetoric that the Democrats like to use so much. He claimed that he wants to ensure the dignity of immigration while still protecting our borders.

Foreign Policy
Biden claimed to have shifted away from the whole foreign intervention idea that many neoconservative and neoliberal politicians of the past few decades have been obsessed with. He claims that he wants to put national issues first and not focus on the rest of the world’s problems. He also claimed that he will be an effective leader to take on China. Last week, under the administration of Biden, a convoy of 40 American military vehicles entered Syria, a place where president Trump has been lowering US presence for the past four years.

Healthcare
Biden stated that he would like to expand Obamacare instead of trying to replace it with a new affordable healthcare system. He estimates that the new plan would ensure about 97% of Americans with a medicare-like health system. This would cost an estimated 2.25 trillion dollars over the next ten years according to a non partisan source.