Formicola's work represents a useful chronicle of the presidency of Joe Biden in its dealing
with two of the “Catholic issues” in our national debates, and it is a first step in the study of the complicated relationship between the second Catholic president of the USA and the Catholic Church in the USA.

Journal of Church and State

Jo Renee Formicola offers an important and thoughtful new book on the complicated leadership and governance of President Joe Biden, America's second Catholic President. Her book features two detailed case studies on abortion and immigration covering the period from June 2022 to May 2023, with a focus on how the administration responded to the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision on abortion and to the court's Title 42, “Remain in Mexico” decision. Professor Formicola finds that President Biden has struggled with Church teachings and that his decision-making approach has done little to implement effective and robust policy solutions. She presents a careful, balanced, and critical assessment of President Biden's approach to these two critical and contentious policy issues.

Paul Christopher Manuel, Mount Saint Mary's University, Georgetown University

In this thorough research, with the painstaking skill of a seasoned academic, Dr. Formicola masterfully x-rays the regrettable absence of statesmanship as exemplified by President Joe Biden through his intransigence, and those of his political constituency, toward abortion and immigration. This is an important contribution to political science, political theology, Church-State relations, and Catholic Social Teaching.

Father Valentine Iheanacho, University of the Free State, South Africa