Biden embraces comparisons with Roosevelt

US President Joe Biden has been lauded for his efforts to stabilise the country in the first 100 days of his presidency, and now the 78-year-old wants to transform the nation.

In lyrical rhetoric designed to contrast with the coarseness of his immediate predecessor, Mr Biden embraced comparisons with the late former president Franklin D Roosevelt as he addressed a socially-distanced Congress and outlined many sweeping plans.

On Wednesday (Thursday morning, Singapore time) in Washington, DC, Mr Biden spoke of inheriting a country with "the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War". He celebrated the distribution of 220 million vaccine doses to date, robust economic growth and improved relations with allies as evidence that "America is on the move again" and that "America is back".