America in Better Shape Than Any Newly Elected President Since Bush in 2001

President-elect Donald J. Trump has painted a bleak picture of the nation he is about to inherit, describing it as a "disaster" and a "laughing stock." However, by many traditional metrics, the America that Mr. Trump will inherit from President Biden is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since George W. Bush came into office in 2001.

For the first time since that transition 24 years ago, there will be no American troops at war overseas on Inauguration Day. New data reported in the past few days indicate that murders are way down, illegal immigration at the southern border has fallen even below where it was when Mr. Trump left office, and roaring stock markets finished their best two years in a quarter-century.

Jobs are up, wages are rising, and the economy is growing as fast as it did during Mr. Trump's presidency. Unemployment is as low as it was just before the Covid-19 pandemic and near its historic best. Domestic energy production is higher than it has ever been.