Biden's presidency is transformative

Despite his age, or maybe because of it, Joe Biden has been the most clearheaded and effective US president of this century

- Prashant Jha

Each American President in this century, by virtue of his actions, and in some cases, inaction, left an imprint which will resonate for decades.

George W Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, strengthened the American national security state at the cost of civil liberties and launched the most successful health care programme for the prevention, care and treatment of AIDS. He also emboldened the Christian Right, strengthening the ideological foundations of the Right-wing.

Barack Obama helped the country recover from the worst economic crisis since 1929, reformed America's health care system, got out of Iraq, killed Osama bin Laden, backed the Arab Spring, and did a deal with Iran. By his very presence in the White House, he represented the deepening of American democracy.

By his presence, rhetoric and actions, Donald Trump challenged all conventional norms of American democracy. He inaugurated the period of America-China competition, changed the old Washington consensus on globalisation and trade by recognising the crisis of manufacturing in the United States (US) and leveraging economic anxieties, forged an unlikely accord between rivals in West Asia, and scared most neighbours, allies and partners by telling them not to rely on the US. He also packed the Supreme Court with ultra-conservatives and showed that peaceful transfer of power was no longer a given in the world's oldest democracy.

The 46th American president has been in office for a little over 30 months. The very nature of the office, and the power of the US, means that any occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ends up making decisions with tremendous consequences, for good or bad. But on balance, Joe Biden may well go down as the most clearheaded, effective and transformative American president in the first quarter of this century.

Here is why.