The Reality of Presidential Broken Promises

Graphic by Madeline Barber

Upon the conclusion of every presidential term, the nation contemplates the previous four years and the political environment in which we have resided. Each person takes to the most reputable news source and looks at the policies each president set out to enact and which ones came to fruition. Depending on who each citizen voted for and who was elected, the president is either criticized for his policies or praised for them. It seems inevitable that certain aspects of a president’s platform will be abandoned once elected. Yet, the two most recent presidencies have a similarity that is overlooked: the inevitable breaking of promises made on the campaign trail. Presidents capitalize off of some kind of platform that will draw a certain demographic in, but when the time comes for political action, they do not follow through, or worse — they approve of policies that directly contradict those promises. False political advertising and empty promises go beyond party lines to defy the very nature of democracy and will continue to do so if voters do not remain diligent and hold these presidents accountable.

Broken promises from presidents are not a new trend. Politicians have been making bold, heat-of-the-moment claims ever since they have been given a platform to do so. However, there seems to be an alarming increase in the number of broken promises in the past two elections. Presidential candidates entice people to vote for them by making dramatically appealing promises. Once in office, however, we find that elected presidents often go back on these promises. Either they prioritize other issues, face unforeseen circumstances that put these issues on the back burner, or, in most cases, simply never intend on fulfilling their promises at all. There are ways to attempt to hold newly-elected presidents accountable — using their first one hundred days in office as an indicator of their success is one such way. Despite these efforts, presidents are still able to go back on some of their promised changes because we do not hold them accountable. This issue is not specific to one political party – by examining the broken promises of the two most recent presidencies, it becomes clear that most politicians, regardless of their party affiliation, are willing to falsely advertise on certain issues if it means getting them in office. 

The only new element to a president’s failure to fulfill campaign promises is the stronger likelihood of the accused getting called out. In 1988, George H. W. Bush infamously said, “Read my lips: No new taxes.” By 1990, Bush agreed to a tax increase as part of a budget deal negotiated with Congress to help with the economic state of the country. The tax increase was deeply unpopular with many of Bush's supporters, who felt betrayed by his broken promise. Bush’s broken promise is a prime example of presidents making promises they cannot keep, either because they underestimated the difficulty of doing so or because the state of the nation prevented it from happening. This instance also presents a time when constituents became politically active in an effort to see the change they wanted to see. Some conservative activists formed a group called "Americans for Tax Reform," which pledged to oppose any politician who voted for a tax increase. Constituents took to protesting for or against changes made by the elected president. 

 One of Trump’s most notorious campaign platforms was his promise to “build a wall” – that is, construct a literal wall on the border between the United States and Mexico in an effort to stifle the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. On top of this, he promised that Mexico would pay for it, not America. While the Trump White House National Archive claims that Trump “kept his promise” on this issue, it only takes one search from any other reputable source to see that compared to the strong oath that Trump took, very little was actually accomplished during his presidency. Following the end of his term, Trump made a farewell video that contained misleading facts and statistics. He said the wall was successfully built, with over 450 miles of border barriers. However, only 47 of those miles were constructed out of nothing, with the other 400+ being replacements for existing barriers. Moreover, the construction of the wall was funded solely by the US government, with no money coming from Mexico, as Trump promised. Regardless of how much you hone in on the details, one thing is clear: the wall that Trump promised was not achieved. A large portion of Trump’s support came from right-wing voters who were in support of the construction of a wall. It is dangerous for voters to get drawn into big, flashy claims a candidate makes with no guarantee or plan of how they will accomplish it, and politicians will continue to make such claims if people do not hold them accountable. 

More recently, the Biden administration approved the Willow Project, which allows an energy company, ConocoPhillips, to drill for oil in a reserve on Alaska's Northern slope, anticipating the production of almost 200,000 barrels of oil each day. During his 2020 campaign, a key component of President Biden’s campaign surrounded environmental justice and explicitly stated that he did not support the drilling of oil on federal land. Much of his popular support was due to the stance he took and the promises he made to better the earth. The Willow Project is in direct opposition to these initial promises and will do serious damage to the climate goals Biden set in place. Additionally, the trust voters place in their elected officials is weakened when they vote for someone thinking they will uphold their promises. When Biden not only broke this promise but approved of a project that directly contradicted that promise, people questioned their voting choice and the value of their vote as a whole. In order to repair this relationship, presidents must avoid making promises that they do not have an intention of keeping, and constituents must remain diligent in acknowledging this politically false advertising.

We have entered an era with more accountability; young people are more likely than ever to take to social media and other platforms to hold anyone accountable for their actions, including the President of the United States. It is an unfortunate yet inevitable fact that once elected, a president will not be able to complete every intended goal they set out on their campaign trail. However, something that can change is how we, as voters, respond to these broken promises. When word got out that Biden was going to approve the Willow Project, petitions were sent out, especially amongst the younger generations, that garnered about 4.5 million signatures, asking for the removal of this project. People all over the country protested the project, gathering together both physically and online. Ultimately, the petition failed, and the project was still approved, demonstrating the difficulty of halting policies passed on a federal level. Despite this failure, the strong support against Biden’s broken promise demonstrates a promising future for political activism and holding our presidents accountable.

There are many instances of people using their collective voices for change, and whether or not they have been successful, they have demonstrated a promising future for political activism. Recent studies have shown that Gen-Z is more involved with social and political causes than all preceding generations. The satisfaction with the country’s politicians has reached a low point, and most young people are not fooled by big, arbitrary promises that a presidential candidate might make. As a result, young people are taking matters into their own hands and igniting change in politics. Future Coalition is a perfect example of what can come from a unified, passionate group of individuals. With the goal of working on the climate crisis, gun violence prevention, gender equity, and more, Future Coalition encompasses a network of youth-led organizations that work directly in the communities to assume the responsibilities that come as an inevitable result of false presidential promises. Citizens have stepped up both in terms of accountability and activism in a way that, despite the inevitability of these broken promises, fosters hope for the future of political promises.