The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden

Leading historians offer the first look at Biden’s four years in the White House

The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden presents a first draft of history by providing insights into how this one-term president fits within the broader historical forces shaping the United States in the twenty-first century. Acclaimed political historian Julian Zelizer brings together some of today’s leading scholars to give balanced and strikingly original assessments of the major issues of the Biden years, from education and reproductive rights to the economy, labor relations, climate policy, race, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the culture wars.

These incisive essays trace the full arc of Joe Biden’s presidency from its early successes to the setbacks that ultimately consumed it. His domestic legislative achievements were hailed by some as the most momentous of any American presidency since the Great Society while his foreign policy ably met the challenges posed by the nation’s great power rivals. Yet by late 2024, Biden’s legacy was in tatters, overshadowed by immigration, inflation, the war in Gaza, and the president’s obvious physical decline.

Written in a clear and accessible manner, The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden moves beyond the day-by-day journalistic coverage to provide the first comprehensive scholarly account of the Biden administration’s achievements and eventual downfall.

With contributions by Kathryn Cramer Brownell, Mara Cristina Garca, Joel K. Goldstein, Michael Kazin, Daniel C. Kurtzer, Joyce Mao, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Timothy Naftali, Ekaterina Pravilova, Noah Rosenblum, Paul Sabin, Timothy Stewart-Winter, Sean H. Vanatta, John Witt, and Mary Ziegler.

Author Biography

Julian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. A columnist for Foreign Policy and the author of “The Long View” on Substack, he is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and editor of numerous books, including Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich and the Rise of the New Republican Party and The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment (Princeton).