In its vastness, geometry, and abundance of marble, Washington's national mall is America's

forum, a place to stir the heart of citizens and leave visitors in no doubt that they're

treading on hallowed territory.

By contrast, the Oval Office, at least since Joe Biden moved in, is more like a family

shrine.

The new president has decorated it with devotional art that reflects America's polytheism.

The report traits of three founding fathers, Hamilton, Jefferson and Franklin, the progressive

saints Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Sosa Chavez will get busts.

A piece of rock brought back from the moon completes the reliquary.

Surveying all this is the Democratic Jupiter.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's portrait stares back at the current occupant of the famous

Resolute Desk from above the hearth.

Roosevelt set the standard for what a president could achieve in his first hundred days,

and how he might go on to transform a country.

Might Joe Biden himself join the Pantheon of the Great?

This is Chex and Balance.

I'm John Prado, the economist's US editor.

Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.

Today, how well has President Biden done in his first hundred days?

Joe Biden is acutely aware of the hundred days test.

He's consulted historians on how FDR began transforming America in his first months as president,

and he set his own frenetic pace.

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