Biden in crisis mode as specter of one-term Carter haunts White House

President urged to act more forcefully to deal with rising inflation, gun violence and dire supreme court rulings

At an Independence Day barbecue, crises cascading around him, Joe Biden declared that he had never been more optimistic about America than I am today".

Of course there were challenges, grave ones, the US president told the military families assembled on the south lawn of the White House. And the nation had a troubling history of taking giant steps forward" and then a few steps backwards", he acknowledged.