Who was running the country when biden was president

1. Who formally held executive power: the president and vice president

The Constitution vests executive authority in the president; during the 2021–2025 term Joseph R. Biden Jr. was the president, sworn in on January 20, 2021 and leaving office January 20, 2025, and Kamala Harris served as vice president throughout that period ^{[6] [1]}. That pair were the publicly recognized leaders who signed executive orders, negotiated policy and directed the administration’s priorities ^{[7] [6]}.

2. The Cabinet and top advisers who advised and ran agencies

Biden’s Cabinet comprised the vice president plus the heads of the 15 executive departments and selected cabinet‑level officials such as the White House chief of staff, DNI, U.S. trade representative and EPA administrator; the White House explained that these officials advise the president on subjects related to their offices ^{[4] [5]}. Official listings and archival pages document the Cabinet structure and the administration’s stated goal to staff agencies with leaders reflecting the country ^{[4] [5]}.

3. Scale of staffing: thousands of appointees, many non‑confirmed

Reporting and trackers show the administration made roughly 1,300 nominations overall, with more than 1,000 high‑level officials sworn into non‑Senate‑confirmed roles on Inauguration Day; about 1,250 positions required Senate confirmation, producing a large leadership layer across agencies that operationalized Biden’s policies ^{[2] [3] [8]}. These figures matter because much of day‑to‑day governance is carried out by subcabinet officials, agency leaders and career staff who implement presidential direction ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Policy levers and visible actions taken under Biden’s name

The presidency produced measurable actions—executive orders, legislation negotiated by the administration (for example the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 is summarized in archival material), and major program launches—showing where authority was exercised and by whom ^{[7] [6]}. Federal program choices, refugee admissions and economic indicators are among the administration’s trackable outputs discussed in post‑term analyses ^{[9] [6]}.

5. Where power can be diffuse: acting officials, confirmations and turnover

Sources note that many roles can be filled by acting or interim officials under vacancy statutes and that appointment timelines varied; the administration used acting officials at times while nominations proceeded, and some positions experienced turnover ^{[2] [8] [5]}. This diffuseness means that “who was running” includes both political appointees and career officials executing policy between Senate confirmations ^{[2] [3]}.

6. Opposition, oversight and competing narratives about who was in charge

Congressional oversight, independent trackers and public reporting cast different lights on responsibility for specific outcomes—House investigations or fact‑checks can highlight particular agency decisions or program delays—so assertions that “Biden was solely running X” must be read alongside documentation of agency actions, program management and legal constraints ^{[2] [9] [10]}. For example, program implementation timelines (like broadband rollout) receive scrutiny that attributes both to administration choices and to multi‑level execution challenges ^[10].

7. Limitations of available reporting and what’s not covered

Available sources catalog titles, appointment counts and headline actions but do not provide a single canonical list answering every descriptive or normative question about “who ran the country” day‑to‑day; detailed chains of command for every decision, internal deliberations, or the full roster of 4,000 political appointments are not fully enumerated in these excerpts ^{[2] [3]}. For claims beyond titles and appointment counts, available sources do not mention internal, undocumented decision‑making or private influence unless explicitly reported ^[2].

In short: formally, Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris led the executive branch; operationally, leadership was exercised through a 15‑department Cabinet, dozens of cabinet‑level advisers and roughly 1,300 political appointments plus many non‑confirmed officials who together ran the federal government’s day‑to‑day functions during 2021–2025 ^{[6] [4] [2]}.