Biden's last laugh

The outgoing president's policies may do more to jumpstart U.S. manufacturing than Trump's economic measures

President Joe Biden poses with union members building an Arizona semiconductor plant in March, 2024. (White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Joe Biden leaves office Monday as a solitary, unpopular president, all but repudiated by many in his own party. And yet even a leading conservative thinker gives Biden credit for some policies adopted by Congress under his leadership.

Here’s CNN’s poll:

Americans broadly view Biden’s four years in office more as a failure than as a success, with his administration doing little to turn around persistent negativity about the state of the country generally or about its economy.

Overall, 36% of US adults say they approve of the way Biden handled the presidency, matching his previous low mark in CNN polling during his term, with even fewer rating his performance positively on immigration (31%), foreign affairs (32%) or the economy (33%). His strongest issues in terms of approval ratings still prompt net-negative results, with less than half saying they approv…