Four years ago today, Joe Biden took the oath of office and made a series of promises: “I will defend the Constitution. I will defend our democracy. I will defend America.” Those words came just weeks after the January 6 riot at the Capitol, but the idea that Biden, the Washington mainstay, would restore the “norms” so often flouted by his predecessor was arguably the very reason American voters elected him in the first place.
The Quiet Lawlessness of Joe Biden
He was elected to restore norms but has done more damage to the rule of law than any other president.

Illustration by Declan Garvey/The Dispatch. (Photo of Joe Biden in the Oval Office on January 15, 2025, by Mandel Ngan via Getty Images.)



