WEBVTT - Why Do We Talk About the First 100 Days?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Boglebaum here. The minute that Joe

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<v Speaker 1>Biden assumed presidency of the United States, the clock started

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<v Speaker 1>taking on his first hundred days in office. Well before

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<v Speaker 1>he was elected. Biden was promising decisive action in his

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<v Speaker 1>first hundred days to combat the COVID nineteen pandemic, rebuild

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<v Speaker 1>the economy, and address racial injustice and inequity. But why

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<v Speaker 1>the fascination with the president's first a hundred days? After all,

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<v Speaker 1>we've elect presidents for terms of one thousand, four hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and sixty days, So what's so important about these first

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<v Speaker 1>three months in change? Blame f DR for the article.

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<v Speaker 1>This episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Ladd, Associate professor of Public policy and Government at

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<v Speaker 1>Georgetown University. He said, we started using the term first

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred days after Franklin D. Roosevelt first a hundred days.

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<v Speaker 1>FDR's first a hundred days were so productive that we've

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<v Speaker 1>talked about it ever since. FDR came to office in

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<v Speaker 1>ninety three. In the depths of the Great Depression, he

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<v Speaker 1>signed seventy six pieces of legislation in his first hundred days,

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<v Speaker 1>including fifteen major overhauls and new programs. He took the

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<v Speaker 1>US off the gold standard, revamped the banking system, and

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<v Speaker 1>created jobs through the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee

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<v Speaker 1>Valley Authority. No president since has even come close to

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<v Speaker 1>FDR's productivity. Kennedy passed twenty six bills, Reagan just nine,

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<v Speaker 1>Obama only eleven, but that hasn't shaken the fixation on

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<v Speaker 1>the first hundred days. It remains a benchmark of political

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<v Speaker 1>efficiency and a convenient measure of a new president's power.

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<v Speaker 1>A study showed that before the nineteen fifties, the average

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<v Speaker 1>number of laws passed during a president's first hundred days

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<v Speaker 1>was forty six, compared with sixteen for later time periods.

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<v Speaker 1>In his first undred days, Biden has spearheaded some bold initiatives,

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<v Speaker 1>including signing a one point nine trillion dollar pandemic recovery package.

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<v Speaker 1>He's also doubled the goal his administrations set for COVID vaccinations,

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<v Speaker 1>surpassing two hundred million vaccinations by his first hundred days

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<v Speaker 1>instead of the original goal of a hundred million. He's

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<v Speaker 1>also called for all US troops to be pulled from

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<v Speaker 1>Afghanistan by September eleventh of this year. Biden has also

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<v Speaker 1>signed a historic sixty executive orders, memos, and proclamations, the

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<v Speaker 1>most by any president at his first hundred days, a

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<v Speaker 1>third of which were direct reversals of executive orders signed

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<v Speaker 1>by his predecessor, Donald Trump. Most of those reversals undid

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<v Speaker 1>Trump era policies on immigration, the environment, and equity. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>Biden revoked Trump's executive order that separated migrant families at

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<v Speaker 1>the US Mexico border. In an article for five thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight dot com, political scientist Julia Azari noted that presidents

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<v Speaker 1>often enjoy a honeymoon with Congress during their first hundred days,

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<v Speaker 1>making it easier to push the new White Houses legislative agenda,

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<v Speaker 1>and the effect is strongest for presidents who confront divided government.

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<v Speaker 1>One possible explanation for the hundred day honeymoon is that historically,

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<v Speaker 1>most incoming presidents enjoyed high approval ratings with voters. In

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<v Speaker 1>those less divisive times, Senators and representatives from the opposing

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<v Speaker 1>party would cross the aisle, is a nod to presidential

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<v Speaker 1>popularity and more importantly, to assuage voters back home. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>even though President George W. Bush won the two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>election by the slimmest of margins. He was popular enough

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<v Speaker 1>that conservative leaning Democrats helped pass his tax cut package

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<v Speaker 1>early in his tenure. Trump had no such luck, and

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<v Speaker 1>Biden hasn't either. The lad said popularity matters less now

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<v Speaker 1>because there are a lot fewer conservative Democrats and liberal

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<v Speaker 1>Republicans than they're used to be. Plus, Trump and Biden

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<v Speaker 1>were significantly less popular than previous incoming presidents. Trump's approval

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<v Speaker 1>ratings at his inauguration were in the high thirties at

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<v Speaker 1>the hundred day mark it stood at. Biden's approval rating

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<v Speaker 1>was on his hundred day mark significantly lower than Barack

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<v Speaker 1>Obama or Ronald Reagan sixty eight percent at the same

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<v Speaker 1>point in their first terms in office, and beside Trump,

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<v Speaker 1>the only other president with a lower approval rating at

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred days than Biden was Gerald Ford at forty

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<v Speaker 1>eight percent. The bipartisan honeymoon of the past appears to

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<v Speaker 1>be over. Not one Republican member of Congress voted for

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<v Speaker 1>Biden's pandemic relief bill, for example, and as of this writing,

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<v Speaker 1>it's unclear whether Biden has the votes to pass its

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<v Speaker 1>ambitious two trillion dollar Infrastructure Plan. Another reason why moral

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<v Speaker 1>legislation often gets passed by in the first a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>days often has to do with the political changing of

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<v Speaker 1>the guard. When the White House in Congress are finally

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<v Speaker 1>controlled by the same party, previously defeated bills get a

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<v Speaker 1>second chance at life. President Bill Clinton signed the Family

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<v Speaker 1>and Medical Leave Act within days of taking office. He

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<v Speaker 1>could act so swiftly because the same bill had previously

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<v Speaker 1>been passed by Congress and vetoed by President George H. W. Bush.

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<v Speaker 1>The same thing happened with the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,

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<v Speaker 1>which President Barack Obama signed into law nine days after

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<v Speaker 1>his inauguration. If President stands, then Biden's most substantial legislative

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<v Speaker 1>moves will come well beyond the somewhat arbitrary hundred day mark.

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<v Speaker 1>President Lyndon B. Johnson didn't sign the Voting Rights Act

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<v Speaker 1>until seven months into his term, and Obama didn't enact

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<v Speaker 1>the Affordable Care Act until more than a year into

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<v Speaker 1>his first term. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>why do we care about the first hundred Days? On

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff works dot com, written by Dave Rooms. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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