A recent book by Franklin Foer titled “The Last Politician” indicates that to avoid a disagreement with the head of a teachers’ union, President Biden changed the administration’s objective for the number of children returning to school after the outbreak.
It is revealed in the book that President Biden lowered the administration’s target after consulting with the President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten. The objective that the administration of President Joe Biden had set for itself to get more children back into school was reduced to a fraction of what had been pledged during the campaign.
Biden acknowledged that the remainder of the school year would not be completed for thousands of pupils due to the outbreak.
As for the criticism against the head of the teachers’ union, the president acknowledged that he was aware of it.
According to Foer, Biden wants to “gently nudge” the unions toward his aims to avoid a strike. According to Foer, Biden was not planning on using force to bring teachers back into the classroom, preferring to use the first lady as an inspiration to rally support.
The book also describes the tensions in the White House between Vice President Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, who was in the number two, heartbeat away, position.
Some members of the White House staff reported to Biden’s West Wing that Harris had “rabbit ears” for criticism, which was a source of annoyance for those working there. She appeared to be instantaneously aware of any criticism leveled against her anytime there was even the slightest suggestion. She was curious about both the person speaking poorly of her and the content of their criticism. After reading a scathing article about how she had mismanaged her team, Harris took the drastic measure of temporarily isolating a member of her staff whom she believed to be communicating with the media.
