(CNN) As he walked through the front gate of the White House complex last year for the first time as President, Joe Biden declared it felt like "going home."
If the presidency seemed then like a natural fit for a 50-year creature of Washington, today its limits are leading to a reckoning over expectations and ambitions in a country as exhausted, angry and divided as ever.
Biden enters the second year of his term with one of the lowest approval ratings of a modern-day president, depleted of the political capital and sense of confidence that followed him into office.
A sense of normalcy returned to the White House following the whiplash of Donald Trump's presidency, but a string of setbacks -- at home and abroad -- have eroded the air of competence that once surrounded a President and his team, who have spent most of their lives in government and campaigned for the job on a pledge of restoring order.
On most days since January 20, 2021, the President has arrived at the Oval Office early in the morning, peppered his team with detailed questions and tried not to think too much about the man who'd just vacated the building, leaving behind a pandemic, angry divisions and -- inside a drawer of the Resolute Desk -- a lengthy letter for Biden. The President has worked to make the place his own, installing his family's furniture, ordering up chocolate ice cream bars branded with the presidential seal and returning to traditions his predecessor abandoned.
Biden's first year as President
Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, arrive at
his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden pledged to be a president for all Americans — even those who did not support his campaign. "Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation," he said in his inaugural address.
Biden
signs executive orders in the Oval Office after his inauguration. "There's no time to start like today," Biden told reporters as he began signing a stack of orders and memoranda. "I'm going to start by keeping the promises I made to the American people."
Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci was among those in the Oval Office.
"After the chaos of the 2020 election and one of the most unique presidencies in American history, I remember thinking that the next chapter had begun," Vucci said.
The President and first lady are joined by other members of their family as they watch fireworks from the White House on the night of the inauguration. They were looking out at the Washington Monument from the Blue Room balcony.
Biden visits a lab February 11 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
He gave a speech at the NIH that day and announced that by the end of July, the United States would have enough Covid-19 vaccines for 300 million Americans.
"The idea of being inside such an important research facility, where so many different viruses have been studied and stored, made the visit — and the gravity of the pandemic — very real," Reuters photographer Carlos Barria recalled.
One of Biden's first major promises was to administer 100 million doses within his first 100 days in office, a mission that he said was dependent on major production increases and health-care coordination. The administration
surpassed that goal by mid-March, weeks ahead of schedule.
Biden watches coverage of the Perseverance rover
landing on Mars on February 18.
Perseverance, NASA's most sophisticated rover to date, sent back its first images immediately after landing. It will search for signs of ancient life and study the planet's climate and geology before returning to Earth by the 2030s.
"Congratulations to NASA and everyone whose hard work made Perseverance's historic landing possible," Biden said in a tweet. "Today proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility."
The Bidens are joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, as they
observe a moment of silence at the White House on February 22.
There were 500 candles lit to mark the 500,000 Americans who had died at that point from the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The people we lost were extraordinary. They spanned generations," Biden said.
Biden spoke from experience when it came to describing the grief of losing a loved one. He also expressed optimism, telling Americans: "We will get through this, I promise you."
Biden and Harris, joined by White House staff, applaud as they watch the House of Representatives approve a $1.9 trillion economic relief plan on March 10.
The Covid-19 relief package had been Biden's first and most pressing legislative priority since taking office in January.
"This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation — working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country — a fighting chance," Biden said before he signed the legislation. "That's what the essence of it is."
Biden trips as he walks up the steps of Air Force One on March 19.
"I've walked up those steps before, and they are steep and long," New York Times photographer Doug Mills said. "On this very windy day, President Biden started walking up the steps and then a few steps later he began jogging. He stumbled and recovered, then stumbled again and recovered, and then finally fell to one knee and was down on the steps with just his right hand holding onto the railing. He quickly popped back up and finished his climb into the plane.
"I was pretty shocked at what had happened, but given the windy conditions and the slight movement in the stairs, it's completely understandable."
Reporters are spaced out from one another as Biden holds
a news conference at the White House on March 25.
"I remember that everyone was buzzing about this because it was Biden's first formal news conference," Reuters photographer Leah Millis recalled.
Speaking from the East Room, Biden stepped into a swirl of issues that had bubbled up at the two-month mark of his presidency.
Biden gives a challenge coin to Logan Evans, son of the late Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans, as the fallen officer was
lying in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda on April 13. Billy Evans, 41, died on April 2 after a man brandishing a knife rammed his vehicle into a police barricade outside the Capitol.
Biden told Evans' mother: "I have some idea what you're feeling like. I buried two of my children." The President's first wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972. Biden's son Beau died in 2015 of brain cancer.
Logan wore the police hat and clutched a stuffed animal for most of the memorial service, photographer Drew Angerer said.
Biden speaks from the White House Treaty Room on April 14, announcing that he would be
withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan before September 11.
"I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats," Biden said. "I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth."
Biden delivered his remarks from the White House Treaty Room.
"This room, on the third-floor 'residence' level of the White House, was the same room where former President George W. Bush announced the beginning of the war," Associated Press photographer Andrew Harnik said. Because it was a small room, only one news photographer was allowed in, and it was Harnik's turn in the pool rotation. "Almost no one gets access to the residence level of the White House, and it was the first and only time I've been up there," Harnik said.
Biden removes his face mask as he delivers remarks outside the White House on April 27. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just announced new guidance that eased restrictions for fully vaccinated people.
"Coming off a virtual lockdown, this announcement was a huge relief to the nation," Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque said. "I anticipated that the only moment I really needed to illustrate this story was Biden pulling off his own mask. I positioned myself head-on and zoomed in tight on his face to get this image."
The President took the opportunity to once again
urge all eligible Americans to get vaccinated. "The bottom line is clear: If you're vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors," he said. "So for those who haven't gotten their vaccination yet, especially if you're younger, or thinking you don't need it — this is another great reason to go get vaccinated. Now."
Biden greets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with an elbow bump before
his first presidential address to Congress on April 28.
It was a speech unlike any we've seen in modern American history. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, only a limited number of lawmakers were in the chamber.
This was also the first time in history that two women were seated behind the president for a joint address, as Pelosi was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden noted the historic moment during his speech. "Madam speaker, madam vice president. No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words. And it's about time," he said.
Biden picks up a dandelion for the first lady as they walk to Marine One at the White House on April 29.
"Departures and arrivals are so routine, and most of the time nothing happens," Washington Post photographer Demetrius Freeman said. "But this time I noticed (the President) looking down. He then stopped and picked the dandelion and presented it to (the first lady).
"(The President) tends to stick to the routine, but in this moment he showed a very spontaneous, kind moment."
Biden points to his hair on May 3 after a student in Yorktown, Virginia, told him she wanted to be a hairstylist when she grows up.
Biden and the first lady also visited a community college in Virginia
to promote his sweeping economic proposals and how they would benefit schools if signed into law.
He touted his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan as "a once-in-a-generation investment in our families, in our children, that addresses what people care most about and most need: the investment we need to win the competition, the competition with other nations in the future."
Biden and Harris walk together after speaking to the press in the White House Rose Garden on May 13.
This photograph was taken after the CDC
updated their mask guidelines for vaccinated people.
"The mood was optimistic that the end of the pandemic was within reach and some normalcy would be returning to our lives," Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci said. "Unfortunately that wasn't the case, but at the time it felt like the first piece of good news in a long time."
Biden and other world leaders pose for a group photo at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, on June 11. From left are European Council President Charles Michel, Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
The "family photo," when leaders all get together in one place, is "often an occasion where more candid moments occur," Reuters photographer Phil Noble said. "It's a great chance to observe all the body language and interactions between the leaders."
The summit kicked off Biden's
first trip abroad as president. He also traveled to Belgium for a NATO summit and a US-European Union summit, and he later went to Switzerland for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The first lady joins Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as the President inspects a guard of honor at Windsor Castle on June 13.
"This photo was taken as the President walked past the dais during his inspection and stole a quick glance back at his grinning wife standing beside the Queen in what must have been a proud moment for him," photographer Samir Hussein said.
The Queen and the President
held private talks inside the castle, and Biden later said he wished he could have spoken to her longer. "She was very generous," Biden said. He said he did not think she'd be insulted if he said she "reminded me of my mother in terms of the look of her and the generosity."
It was her first one-on-one engagement with a world leader since the coronavirus pandemic began, and it was among her first public engagements since the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April.
A security officer asks the media to step back at the start of the June 16 summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Seated from left are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden, Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The summit, held in Geneva, Switzerland, was the first meeting of Biden and Putin since Biden was elected President.
The library room was a tight fit for the presidents, their security teams and about 15 members of the media, Reuters photographer Denis Balibouse said. He tried to get a wide shot to capture the room's atmosphere. "As there was still some disturbance from the media, the Swiss police asked everyone to leave the room, and that's when I noticed the hand of a Russian security officer in front of my lens and I tried to include it in the frame," Balibouse said.
After the summit, both presidents described the meeting as generally positive but without any major breakthroughs. There were a few modest outcomes, including an agreement to return each country's ambassador to their post and assigning experts to focus on the growing problem of cyberattacks.
Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One and departing Geneva on June 16.
When asked if he seemed overly optimistic, Biden said the press said the same thing about his meetings at the G7 summit: " 'Oh Biden, they're not gonna buy Biden's stuff.' Any of you find that? Did that happen? Any of it? A little bit? Just a little sliver of it?"
Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque said Biden seemed to want to clear the air after his news conference with Putin.
"Because the airplane engines were so loud, Biden got incredibly close to make his points," Lamarque said. "This proximity helped to capture the face of a man who really had something to say."
Biden laughs at a joke made by quarterback Tom Brady, who was visiting the White House along with his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates on July 20. One of Brady's jokes was about those who continue to deny that Biden won the 2020 election.
"Not a lot of people think that we could have won (the Super Bowl). In fact, I think about 40% of people still don't think we won. You understand that, Mr. President?" Brady said to laughter.
Biden responded, "I understand that."
While hosting a virtual meeting with governors on July 30, Biden holds a card that read, "Sir, there is something on your chin."
An aide had handed Biden the card earlier in the meeting, and the President was using the other side of it to take notes.
"In Washington and with the seat of power, the smallest things can often times become big news, and this photograph of a lighthearted and minor gaffe quickly spread across news and social media," Associated Press photographer Andrew Harnik said.
Biden pauses as he listens to a question about the
suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed dozens of Afghan civilians and 13 US service members. The August 26 attack came as the United States and other Western countries were racing to complete a massive evacuation following the
Taliban takeover of the country. The terror group ISIS-K, which rivals the Taliban in Afghanistan,
claimed responsibility for the bombing.
"I would imagine that when Biden looks back at his first year in office, this will stand out as his toughest day," Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci said.
Biden watches a carry team move a transfer case containing the remains of US Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on August 29. Nikoui, 20, was one of the
13 US service members killed in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport. All were being brought back to US soil.
"Everyone in attendance was silent and still," Associated Press photographer Carolyn Kaster recalled. "The only sounds were quiet instructions of the carry team, boots walking down the large aft metal ramp and across the tarmac, and the grief and weeping of loved ones and children. It felt like they would never stop coming off the plane."
A moment of silence is held at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. It was the 20th anniversary of the
9/11 terror attacks, and people across the country were pausing to honor the victims and reflect on the day.
In this photo, from left, are former President Bill Clinton; former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former President Barack Obama; former first lady Michelle Obama; the Bidens; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Bloomberg's partner, Diana Taylor; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"Any time we get so many important current and former political leaders in one place, it kind of creates its own atmosphere," said Chip Somodevilla, a photographer with Getty Images. "I think that's exactly why this group of powerful people didn't step into the spotlight but stood behind and below the stage instead."
Marine One, carrying President Biden, flies over "In America: Remember," a public art installation on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on September 20.
The installation, a concept by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, paid tribute to all the Americans who died because of Covid-19. It included more than 650,000 small plastic flags, some with personal messages to those who died.
"Looking back on the photograph, I think about how it was one of the few ways to literally place the President with a visual representation of the pandemic's toll," said Los Angeles Times photographer Kent Nishimura, who took the photo from the observation deck of the Washington Monument. "As Marine One disappeared into the distance, I wondered to myself, what does the President do when he's flying out over the District? Does he look out the windows? Did he ever see the installation? I wondered what he thought about looking at all of those flags, representing all those lives lost. Surely it must weigh on him."
Biden
receives his Covid-19 booster shot at the White House on September 27. It was just days after booster doses were approved by federal health officials.
"We know that to beat this pandemic and to save lives ... we need to get folks vaccinated," Biden said ahead of his shot. "So, please, please do the right thing. Please get these shots. It can save your life and it can save the lives of those around you."
Anna Moneymaker took the photo of the President for Getty Images. "It was remarkable how subdued the process was, with him even taking a few questions from reporters as he sat there getting his shot."
Biden visits the Capitol Child Development Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 15.
He was there to promote his
Build Back Better Agenda and highlight the importance of investing in child care. He warned that if Congress does not act to invest in children, the United States will face slower economic growth for generations to come.
"This is the first administration I've covered as a photojournalist, and one thing that has stood out to me from the beginning is how much time President Biden takes to engage with the people he meets while traveling," said Sarahbeth Maney, who took this photo for The New York Times. "I think this photo shows a little slice of that."
Biden gives Pope Francis a challenge coin during
his trip to the Vatican on October 29. Between them is Italian translator Elisabetta Savigni Ullmann.
Challenge coins originated in the military, and
this one included the insignia of a Delaware Army National Guard unit that Biden's son Beau served in.
Biden said during his visit that coins are given to "warriors and leaders" and that the pope is "the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met."
Biden, a devout lifelong Catholic, met with the Pope for 90 minutes and said he discussed "a lot of personal things" with the pontiff. It was the fourth meeting between Francis and Biden, but their first since Biden became President.
Biden jokes about which reporter to call on for a question as he speaks at the White House about a bipartisan infrastructure bill on November 6.
"President Biden was in an upbeat mood after the passage of his bipartisan infrastructure bill," Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon remembered. "Reporters were shouting questions over one another to the President as he had said he would take one more question. He good-naturedly covered his eyes and smiled while pointing to the White House pool reporters to select a question to answer."
Biden signs
the infrastructure bill into law during a November 15 ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.
The $1.2 trillion legislation focuses on infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
"This moment was the pinnacle of what (Biden) spent the first year of his presidency working on: Infrastructure," photographer Al Drago said. "It was toward the end of a long and cold day in Washington, and the wind was whipping in a winter-is-coming kind of November way."
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a
virtual meeting with Biden on December 7 amid
escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. According to the White House, Biden told Putin that the United States is prepared to launch strong economic measures should Russia invade Ukraine.
The Kremlin has denied that it is planning an invasion, and it has argued that NATO support for Ukraine — including increased weapons supplies and military training — constitutes a growing threat on Russia's western flank.
Biden speaks with a person holding an American flag as he tours tornado damage in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, on December 15.
Dozens of people were killed after a
tornado outbreak flattened homes and businesses across eight states in the Midwest and South. Many of the victims were in western Kentucky.
"As (Biden) walked down this street, a young girl stood with an American flag not far from where her house once stood," New York Times photographer Doug Mills said. "President Biden asked how she and her family were doing. She explained that her house was destroyed but her family was OK. I could not believe the devastation. It went on as far as you could see."
The President announced that day that the federal government
would cover 100% of the costs of emergency work for the first 30 days. That coverage includes shelter, debris removal and the cost of overtime for law enforcement and emergency personnel.
Biden speaks from the US Capitol's Statuary Hall on January 6 to mark the one-year anniversary of the
Capitol riot. It has now been more than a year since supporters of Donald Trump breached the Capitol, attacking officers and destroying parts of the building in what was a stunning display of insurrection.
In his remarks, Biden forcefully called out Trump for attempting to undo American democracy. "For the first time in our history, a President had not just lost an election. He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob reached the Capitol," Biden said. "But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again."
This photo was taken by Jim Watson, who works for the wire service Agence France-Presse and was also in Biden's press pool when the riot was taking place last year.
"I felt incredibly lucky that I was with him both days recording each historic event," Watson said. "This photo, to me, is proof that our democracy has survived and moved on from that day but has not forgotten it."
The 12 months Biden has been in office did come with major victories. He successfully guided passage of trillions in new funding to combat the coronavirus pandemic and rebuild American's crumbling infrastructure through Congress. He has appointed more federal judges than his recent predecessors, overseen a boom in hiring, a drop in poverty and orchestrated a nationwide vaccination campaign.
Yet for all that, the country remains fractured and irritable. A "malaise" has sunk in as the pandemic persists, his vice president conceded in an interview this month. Americans are misbehaving on airplanes, in school board meetings and at grocery stores. So entrenched is the anger that one father felt comfortable blurting out a coded derogatory phrase about Biden when he was speaking to the President on the phone last Christmas Eve -- while his own son watched on.
"There are successes that he's had, but people do not feel it and you can't persuade people to feel better. You can't jawbone that," said David Axelrod, a senior adviser in former President Barack Obama's White House and a CNN senior political commentator.
Unlike Trump, Biden is not actively stoking the anger. But his inaugural speech pledge to "end this uncivil war" remains unfulfilled.
Biden's trademark personal style -- wielded over breakfasts in Delaware, inside caucus rooms on Capitol Hill and across the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office -- hasn't brought around holdout Democrats to some of his boldest ideas, let alone many Republicans.
RELATED: Battered White House searches for a Biden comeback scenario
Overseas, a full-blown conflict now looms with Moscow just six months after coming face-to-face with the Russian leader in an old villa in Geneva. And after declaring "independence from the virus" on the South Lawn in July, Biden is contemplating Covid's permanent presence going forward.
On a personal level, just adjusting to life in the White House has been a struggle. By his own admission, Biden finds the place stifling and regularly spends three nights a week elsewhere.
Blame game
Even as top advisers and longtime friends of Biden try to help reset a floundering presidency, recriminations have quietly surfaced inside the West Wing about the fundamental causes of the challenges.
A considerable share of finger-pointing is aimed at deep divisions among Democrats and how some top officials have sought to accommodate progressives in hopes of keeping peace inside the party.
"Over the last year, the White House has allowed the left to hijack and misinterpret the rationale for Biden's election," said one former Democratic official in regular touch with the President, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about the West Wing. "He was not elected to transform the country."
White House chief of staff Ron Klain, a longtime Biden adviser, is at the middle of those internal tensions. He is seen by some observers as pushing his own agenda or being too quick to side with demands from liberals, which raises expectations that ultimately lead to disappointment.
When Democrats clinched their razor-thin majority in the Senate, following the Georgia runoff victories for Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, those expectations skyrocketed far beyond what the narrowly divided Senate has been able to deliver. The expected failure of voting rights legislation is only the latest example.
President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media as he leaves a meeting with the Senate Democratic Caucus to discuss voting rights and election integrity on Capitol Hill on January 13.
"They pushed for everything you would have thought they would have done if they had 58 or 60 Democrats," one lawmaker told CNN, who lamented how Biden's first year is ending with a focus on what he didn't accomplish rather than what he did.
"Either your message is wrong, or your approach is wrong. Something is wrong."
At the center of the White House challenges, though, is Biden himself and what even many longtime admirers describe as unremarkable and uneven performances. Several members of Congress who speak with Biden frequently told CNN that his grasp of details is impressive, but how he communicates that publicly is often anything but.
Heading into a tumultuous midterm election year, where Democrats are already bracing for the prospect of losing control of the House and possibly the Senate, the White House said Biden will spend more of his time communicating directly with the American people, rather than trying to negotiate deals in Congress.
That promise, however, rings familiar. The administration has repeatedly promised that Biden would spend more time on the road selling his plans, yet he has traveled less than most recent predecessors.
"There should be some really significant issues that we should be able to come around and coalesce around and get done. And I think we can. I think we can get it done. And we need the President, we need the administration to lead the way. They're in charge. The buck stops there. There is no doubt about, and we need to get things done. We're not doing good enough," said Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat who is running for Senate in the state.
"The President is the President, and there is no question that he bears some responsibility for it. But there is also Congress and the Senate, and the Republicans are MIA. They're worthless," Ryan said on CNN.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday hailed the legislative successes and the economic strides, despite coming into office under what she described as "an incredibly difficult circumstance."
"You don't get everything done in the first year," Psaki said. "The work is not done. The job is not done, and we are certainly not conveying that it is."
Confronting Covid
As his second year begins, advisers tell CNN that Covid-19 and its messy fallout is the biggest weight on Biden -- the one challenge he believes could reverse his fortunes or forever damage his presidency.
Biden has made significant strides, particularly in getting hundreds of millions of Americans vaccinated. But millions still refuse to get shots, a persistent source of frustration for the President.
"This virus has fooled us multiple times," one senior health official told CNN. "Nobody expected Delta to just blow us away. And then to have Omicron come out of nowhere, it's a big, big surprise."
RELATED: Biden vowed to fix testing. But he didn't plan for Omicron.
Still, the President has maintained the same mentality throughout. He has repeatedly advised his team that while outsiders will quickly point out any of their missteps, "you should keep your head down and keep working."
"He's not panicking. He's not blaming anyone," the official said.
Trillions of dollars in Covid relief funds helped alleviate some of the economic stresses of the pandemic, but even Biden has admitted the influx of cash into the economy may have driven up consumer prices. Inflation triggered by a Covid-related mismatch between supply and demand remains a drag on the President's approval ratings.
President Joe Biden removes his mask before speaking about updated CDC mask guidance on the North Lawn of the White House on April 27, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Biden's poll numbers began taking a southward turn over the summer, when it became clear his celebrations of a waning virus were premature. Mask recommendations returned, shutdowns persisted and the once-hopeful feeling disappeared. Confusing messaging from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been a source of constant irritation in the West Wing.
In other ways, the pandemic has altered the normal rhythms of executive branch life. Unable to travel as extensively as he'd once hoped, Biden has taken to conducting events from an elaborate stage-set built in a White House auditorium where participants can beam in on video-chat. He has traveled abroad only twice, a slower pace than his predecessors.
Ordinarily the West Wing and its adjacent offices are a hive of activity, where at any single moment meetings could be unfolding on dozens of pressing topics. But even a year into his presidency, Covid has left some staffers still working at home. Those who are selected for a meeting with the President himself must arrive well beforehand to undergo testing by the White House Medical Unit. What once could have been a 30-minute block of a Cabinet secretary or lawmaker's day becomes more of an ordeal.
"You know what it takes to go meet with the President?" said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra last month. "It's just a pain. And you knock out so much of your day. You've got to get tested, what is it, an hour and a half before you can see the President, you got to hang around there. So, the actual physical one-on-one, not as often."
Calls for a reset
Growing anxious ahead of this year's midterm elections, many Democrats have issued various calls for a strategy reset -- on Covid, the economy and communications. Some have privately questioned whether Biden -- whose public schedule sometimes contains only a few events per week -- is doing enough to promote his accomplishments and break through to voters.
Biden's speeches often rely on the same lengthy passages, recited verbatim from a teleprompter. When he does leave Washington, his events have tended to adopt a familiar look: a tour of a factory or plant, a speech to a group of unionized workers and up to an hour of shaking hands afterward. His top-visited state, aside from Delaware where he travels home on weekends, was Pennsylvania.
At moments, the nation's oldest President shows his age. After he reminisced about working with noted segregationist Strom Thurmond in a speech about voting rights last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed perplexed: "None of us have a lot of happy memories about Strom Thurmond," she said afterward.
Questions persist about whether he plans to run again in 2024. And missteps by his vice president, Kamala Harris -- whose allies believe she is both underutilized as a political asset and overexposed to difficult issues -- have led to deeper introspection about the future of the Democratic Party.
After urging from party strategists, Biden has lately begun drawing sharper contrasts with Republicans and speaking out louder about the corrosive lies peddled by Trump. The President has begun staging more events meant to highlight the benefits of what he has been able to accomplish, like passing the largest public works bill in decades.
President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, July 28, 2021, after traveling to Pennsylvania to speak on the economy.
Heading into the new year, the White House has drawn up executive actions on issues like police reform for Biden to act where Congress won't.
And White House officials and Democratic lawmakers are beginning to quietly plot a way forward on Biden's sweeping spending agenda, including potentially splitting it into pieces.
Biden has stood accused by some progressives, including his onetime rival for the Democratic presidential nomination Sen. Bernie Sanders, of failing to pursue an agenda focused on real-world economic issues. It's a charge that stings for the President who still makes a point in meetings of asking how policy proposals will affect pipefitters and construction workers in his Pennsylvania hometown, and angrily scolds advisers for using jargon those people wouldn't understand.
His top aides insist Biden's achievements have been squarely focused on improving conditions for the working class.
"I would not say that the Democratic Party has turned its back on the working class. We have had historic successes in the first year of the Biden presidency, the passage of the American Rescue Plan, to give one example, has cut child poverty in this country almost in half," said Susan Rice, Biden's domestic policy adviser, last week on CNN. "We have put very important supports in the pockets of the American people at a time when the pandemic has made their economic prospects perilous."
Managing expectations
In many ways, Biden's first year was defined by expectations getting away from him: about the trajectory of the pandemic, the durability of Trump and the ability of a governing veteran to find solutions to any of it. At junctures throughout the year, Biden appeared caught by surprise when challenges arose that, at least in retrospect, were not surprising.
When the Taliban swiftly took control of Afghanistan in August, Biden said it happened quicker than anyone expected -- despite intelligence warnings painting a grim picture following a complete American withdrawal.
President Joe Biden pauses as he listens to a question about the bombings at the Kabul airport that killed at least 12 U.S. service members, from the East Room of the White House in August 2021.
When France erupted in anger following his deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, Biden said he thought someone had given Paris a heads up that their own agreement to provide conventional subs was off -- even though no one had.
When Biden said in June that inflation would "pop up a little bit and then go back down," he was discounting warnings from veterans of Democratic administrations of a more serious trend -- one that continues six months later.
And when testing shortages at the start of the latest Covid surge caused mile-long lines, Biden said he wished he'd thought of ordering millions more tests earlier -- even though health experts have been warning for months of a looming shortage.
Repeatedly appearing caught off-guard by events undercut Biden's promise of restoring competence to government and predictability on the world stage and led to accusations he was being poorly served by his team. It belied a President who, behind the scenes, solicits a wide range of opinions on critical issues and engages a panel of advisers inside and outside government. The process has sometimes delayed critical decisions, giving the impression of indecisiveness.
After the harrowing Afghanistan ordeal, there were calls to fire his national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Others have urged Biden to replace his Covid response coordinator Jeff Zients. After publicly sinking prospects for quick passage of the Build Back Better plan, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia vented frustration at White House staff he said drove him to his "wit's end."
Whether Biden plans to replace anyone in the new year remains to be seen; he is a known deliberator and hasn't executed any major personnel changes since taking office. The advisers he continues to rely upon most -- chief of staff Ron Klain and senior advisers Mike Donilon, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti -- have worked for him for decades.
But that doesn't mean there aren't voices advocating for changes in the West Wing.
"If I was down [this much] in my ratings, I'd have a new chief of staff," one prominent Democrat who speaks regularly with Biden said.
A struggle to adjust
The pandemic has not been the only factor contributing to an uneasy transition to White House life. After spending eight years haunting the West Wing, Biden had only been upstairs to the private presidential residence once during his time as vice president.
When he moved into the executive mansion last year, staff crowded him at awkward hours, including in the early mornings. Someone was always just outside the door or walking quietly through the hallways. It was a way of life Biden wasn't accustomed to -- and did not enjoy.
Attempts to make the place feel more like home had mixed results. Some of the furniture from his home in Delaware made its way to the White House. Books and family photographs adorn shelves and tables that previously held antiques from the White House collection. But the family German Shepherd Major was dispatched permanently to a friend's house after a series of nipping incidents (a new puppy, Commander, arrived late last year).
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, look at their new dog Commander, after speaking virtually with military service members to thank them for their service and wish them a Merry Christmas, from the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC.
Over the course of the year, Biden and the first lady requested some changes. No longer are chefs or Secret Service agents posted in the private kitchen on his third-floor residence during breakfast hours; instead, he can wander in wearing a bathrobe and pour himself a bowl of Special K cereal before lifting weights in the residence gym.
Waiting for him in the morning is a notecard with his schedule for the day, which Biden marks with checks as each meeting is completed, and a stapled-together compilation of daily news clips called "The Bulletin." He packs it all in a worn leather briefcase to carry with him downstairs to the office.
A focus on the familiar has extended beyond the White House. When Biden met Putin in Geneva last summer, an aide made sure to bring along a bottle of orange Gatorade, the President's preferred drink. And even when he is traveling, Biden places daily phone calls to his grandchildren, who remain at the center of his personal life.
The third time was a charm in Biden's quest for the presidency, with a triumph in 2020 after falling well short in the campaigns of 1988 and 2008. The question that many of his longtime admirers raise in quiet conversations is whether Biden still approaches the job and, in fact, Washington in the same way he might have decades ago.
There's little question that the outcome of his second year -- and his ability to spark a turnaround, as many presidents before him have -- will help shape how Biden answers the biggest question of all, likely by this time next year: whether he will run again in 2024.