What happened?
On 29 April 2021, Joseph R Biden completes 100 days in office as the US president. He was sworn in as the 46th President on 20 January 2021, after a difficult campaign.
Earlier, on 28 April, he addressed the US Congress for the first time, as the President. In his address, he said: "America is moving. Moving forward. And we can't stop now… We're in a great inflection point in history. We have to do more than just build back. We have to build back better."

What is the background?
First, the focus on hundred days. Though many would consider 100 days as a short period to analyze/critique the achievements/challenges of any government, this has been a tradition in the US. Since the days of Franklin D Roosevelt, the US has always been analyzing the performance of the new President in terms of focus, number of bills passed and its effectiveness, who was appointed as a part of the President's team, their background and their utility, and what has been the primary international focus. Each President had their own immediate priorities to focus on – internal and external – ranging from the domestic economy to foreign policy challenges. For Biden, there was an additional challenge – COVID 19 and its fallouts on the US.

Second, Biden's scorecard in the first hundred days as the President. Internally, Biden had to first deal with the legal and political challenges emanating from Trump's refusal to accept the 2019 election result and the latter's poisonous narrative that the election was stolen. Besides, Biden had to address the economic decline, coupled with COVID-19 fallouts. He announced the bill immediately after becoming the President and succeeded in pushing the ambitious bill with USD 1.9 trillion to pass in the US Congress. The bill, now a law, aims to provide benefits for the jobless, direct payments to Americans, infuse funds for the state and local governments, and importantly, address the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in March, he has introduced another plan for USD two trillion to boost the US infrastructure, create jobs, and provide home care. While the first one was aimed at being a rescue plan, the second one is a long term strategy to strengthen the American economy. Finally, within the US, Biden also had to deal with the racial divide; it was an unfortunate coincidence. His first hundred days also witnessed the George Floyd murder trial, and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Fortunately, the murder trial resulted in the jury finding police office Derek Chauvin guilty, and Biden made a few positive statements aimed at healing the racial divide.

Third, Biden, the builder vs Trump, the destroyer at the international level. The first thing that Biden did immediately after entering the office is to get the US back into climate change negotiations. President Trump announced in 2017 to withdraw from the Paris agreement; however, Biden made climate change his priority, announced the US' return, and made John Kerry the US Special Envoy on Climate Change. He also hosted the Climate action conference in April 2021. Besides the climate change agreement, the Biden administration is also looking towards engaging with Iran on the JCPOA. On Indo-Pacific and in building trans-Atlantic partnership, initial statements from Biden has been positive so far.

Fourth, the challenges – immediate and long term, while discussing the first hundred days. China and Russia pose two big challenges to Biden; his first hundred days have not given a clear road map on how he is likely to pursue these two relationships. On Afghanistan, he has made a bold statement on the complete withdrawal of the American troops before 11 September 2021. In the Middle East, from Syria to Yemen, the regional situation is not easy for Biden to address.

What does it mean?
First the intent, irrespective of the challenges. Biden's first hundred days provide a positive intent – both internally and externally. It may still be early to make a finite argument, but the intent should hint at a positive momentum for the US under Biden. 

Second, his initial responses so far, hint at the return of the US to take the global leadership and fulfil its responsibility, as against Trump's withdrawal plans to make the US great again.