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Biden’s first 100 days in numbers, from executive orders to vaccines

President will reach his 100th day in charge on Thursday, 29 April

James Crump
Tuesday 27 April 2021 12:02 EDT
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Joe Biden marks 200m Covid vaccine shots delivered

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Joe Biden will pass the 100-day mark as US president on Thursday, as he starts to implement his policies and outline his goals for America in a post-Trump world.

US citizens will know more about what Mr Biden’s goals for the country are on the evening of his 99th day, as he will deliver a speech in his first joint address to Congress as president.

During the address, the president will update Americans on the current condition of the nation, discussing the health of the economy, policies and proposals for the next year, alongside the achievements his administration has already met in its first 100 days.

Mr Biden initially held working with Congress as he made it clear that he would not start implementing policies until a coronavirus relief package had been agreed, which was finally achieved in March.

Since then he has mainly focused on vaccinating American citizens, but has started to work with Congress to shape the country.

Due to the Capitol riots on 6 January, where five people died and several more were injured, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mr Biden has had plenty to deal with despite only being president for three months.

But what has Mr Biden achieved in his first 100 days? Read about his presidency in numbers below.

230 million vaccines administered

Even before he was inaugurated as president, Mr Biden made it clear that he wanted to set and achieve ambitious goals for the amount of US citizens vaccinated in his first 100 days.

He initially promised to have 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots administered by his 100th day in office, but this target was officially reached on just his 58th day, prompting him to double the goal to 200 million.

Mr Biden also set 1 May as the day when all US adults would be eligible for a vaccine, but moved that up to 19 April as the rollout continued successfully.

Since then, coronavirus vaccinations have continued apace, with the US having now administered 230 million doses nationwide, surpassing even Mr Biden’s modified target.

Of that figure, more than 140 million people have received their first dose, while close to 96 million people are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, equating to around 29 per cent of the US population.

41 executive orders

The amount of vaccinations do not represent the only impressive number in Mr Biden’s first 100 days, as he is signing executive orders at a faster pace than any president since Harry Truman in 1945, towards the end of the Second World War.

Despite running on a platform of unity, Mr Biden has so far skipped Congress more than 40 times, signing 41 executive orders in his 100 days in charge.

Several of those orders were focused on the ongoing pandemic, while he also revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, signalling a greater emphasis on tackling climate issues during his administration.

By 100 days of his time as president, Mr Trump had signed 33 executive orders, while Barack Obama signed 19. However, the most executive orders signed by this stage of a presidency was 99 by Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933.

62 orders reversed from the Trump administration

The number of executive orders signed by Mr Biden is high, but he has been even more trigger-happy when it comes to reversing policies of his predecessor.

In his 100 days in charge, Mr Biden has reversed 62 of Mr Trump’s administration’s 219 orders, according to the American Presidency Project, compared to just the 12 his predecessor cut from Mr Obama’s presidency.

Of his 41 executive orders, 19 of those have been to reverse Mr Trump’s policies, including recommitting the US to the Paris Climate Agreement and stopping the construction of the US-Mexico border wall.

11 bills signed

In his first 100 days as president, Mr Biden has so far signed 11 bills into law, including the $1.9 trillion (£1.36 trillion) coronavirus-relief package he signed in March to help the country amid the ongoing pandemic.

Mr Biden has signed fewer bills than Mr Trump and Mr Obama in their first 100 days, as they signed 28 and 14 respectively. However, Mr Biden’s figure is greater than George W Bush’s, who only signed seven in his first 100 days.

Despite only signing 11 bills, Mr Biden has focused his early presidency on vaccinating US residents and agreeing the coronavirus relief bill.

36 appointees confirmed

Since being inaugurated on 20 January, Mr Biden has had 36 of his nominees for government positions confirmed to their roles.

Of the 171 nominees so far chosen by Mr Biden, 88 are still being considered by the Senate, while 47 are awaiting a formal nomination.

Although Mr Biden’s 36 confirmations are more than Mr Trump’s 25 and Mr Bush’s 33 at the same point in their presidency, it is far lower than Bill Clinton’s 45 and Mr Obama’s 68, according to a study by The Washington Post in collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service.

Mr Biden’s Cabinet is the most diverse in history, with 10 women, four Hispanic Americans, six Black US residents and the first Native American person to hold a Cabinet post.

The president has also made 11 nominations to the federal bench. However, he will have to nominate a lot more if he is going to match the historic 220 by Mr Trump by the end of his presidency.

67 inaccurate statements

In his first 100 days as president, Mr Biden has made 67 inaccurate claims, a figure that is much lower than Mr Trump’s 511 in his first three months in office, according to a study by The Washington Post.

Of his 67 inaccurate claims, 21 of Mr Biden’s have come from remarks, 17 from interviews, 16 from news conferences, 9 from prepared speeches, and one coming from a tweet.

While for Mr Trump in his first 100 days, 127 inaccurate claims came from remarks, 117 from interviews, 99 in tweets, 63 during prepared speeches and 56 from campaign rallies.

Although Mr Biden was critical of Mr Trump’s inaccurate comments during 2020’s campaign trail, he has made inaccurate statements throughout his first three months, most notably around the new controversial Georgia Election law.

Mr Biden claimed that the new voting law bill would shorten polling hours, but voting hours were expanded and the opportunities to vote early were actually increased as part of the legislation.

592 tweets

Tweets at all times of the day and night became normal during Mr Trump’s time in office, but Mr Biden has focused more on using speeches to get his message across.

Mr Biden has so far posted 592 tweets in his first 100 days, which equates to around six tweets a day.

This figure is surprisingly greater than the 489 tweets that Mr Trump posted in his first 100 days, however the amount he tweeted increased dramatically over the rest of his presidency.

Before Mr Trump’s account was permanently suspended in January 2021, he posted more than 26,000 tweets, averaging around 18 a day.

Mr Biden is unlikely to reach that figure however, as his Twitter use is generally about official government business, while Mr Trump’s ranged from policies to his own personal thoughts and feelings.

Due to a busy start to his time in the White House, the 46th president’s first 100 days are not the best indicator of what the rest of his presidency will be like, but it hints at Mr Biden’s main interests, including the climate and diversity.

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