After just two weeks in office, President Biden has already signed a multitude of executive orders all aimed at benefiting the American people. From battling COVID-19 to preventing climate change, every order that Biden has enacted thus far is not only a step forward in his presidency, but a reverse of the harm that the Trump administration has brought upon our country over the last four years. 

On Jan. 21, President Biden signed a memorandum to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, an international accord that aims to solve the climate crisis. In 2017, Trump announced that the U.S. would pull out of the agreement, placing a threat on our environment as well as on our global relations. Even on his first day in office, knowing that President Biden is prioritizing how the U.S. deals with climate change alongside repairing international relations that have been disrupted, highlights the importance of repairing what the Trump administration had sought to dismantle. 

On Jan. 25, President Biden reversed the ban that the Trump administration had originally placed on transgender people serving in the military. This is not only an important action in undoing what the Trump administration has enacted but a continuation in granting people their basic human rights. For years, people within the LGBTQ+ community have faced discrimination. Having a current president who understands the importance in ensuring that people can obtain the occupation of their choice regardless of gender identity and/or sexual orientation is representative of the much-needed unity that Biden aims to bring to our country.

On Jan. 28, President Biden signed an executive order lifting the restrictions put in place by the Trump administration on international abortion access and resources. This fulfills Biden’s campaign promise to reverse the ban on the U.S. government’s funding for nonprofits that perform abortions abroad, also known as the Mexico City Policy. The limitations that the Trump administration placed on abortion jeopardized the control that women have over their bodies. Seeing President Biden put his promises into action both domestically and abroad is a reflection of his role as a president for all groups of people. 

In addition to these executive orders, Biden has also appointed Jeffrey. D. Zients, former head of the Obama administration’s National Economic Council, as the COVID-19 response coordinator. By appointing a COVID-19 coordinator, which Trump didn’t do, Biden has made it clear that tackling the pandemic is one of his main focal points this year. Biden also overturned Trump’s executive order to deport unauthorized immigrants, fostering his value on keeping families together who have been living in this country for years.

As Biden continues to sign executive orders daily, he has revealed a pattern with the stroke of a pen: his main goal is to be a president for American democracy as a whole, no matter the differing political, racial, or economic backgrounds. During the past four years of the Trump administration, our democracy has been threatened and divided. Biden is already doing a vast amount in ensuring that the American people and marginalized groups are granted the rights they deserve. Biden’s idea presented in his inaugural address that, “together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division,” is something I believe he is already bringing to life and will continue to promote throughout his presidency.