Americans have largely united around supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia, as the fear of a larger war has shaken people in the U.S. and around the world. Biden started last night’s speech by discussing the situation in Ukraine, as the country is defending itself against an invasion from neighboring Russia. Biden touted the extent to which the U.S. has helped to unite a wide collection of allies — including NATO, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and even neutral Switzerland — against Russia and particularly its leader, Vladimir Putin. Biden highlighted the various economic sanctions that the U.S. and the world are imposing on Putin and the Russian economy in order to force them out of Ukraine.

While focusing on economic sanctions, Biden acknowledged that U.S. efforts were not strictly economic. “Together with our allies, we are providing support to the Ukrainians in their fight for freedom,” Biden declared. “Military assistance. Economic assistance. Humanitarian assistance. ” The acknowledgement of military aid to Ukraine necessitated Biden to clarify that, while U.S. military forces have deployed in NATO countries, just in case Russia makes moves against one of the members of the alliance, ”our forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.” In other words, while the U.S. is helping the Ukrainian people in their fight, we will not be fighting Russia directly over Ukraine and are not looking to enter a war with Russia.

Is the American economy doing great, or is it in crisis? The answer seems to depend on who you ask. Biden took time to highlight his achievements during his first year as president, focusing on the economic recovery that the country has experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking about his America Rescue Plan, Biden stated that the bill assisted millions of Americans, pointing out that it “helped put food on their table, keep a roof over their heads and cut the cost of health insurance.” He also pointed out that his first year saw 6.5 million new jobs created, the most in any one year in American history, and that his Infrastructure Law will create even more jobs and benefit the economy in numerous ways.

Biden also acknowledged that the economic recovery has come along with rising inflation, causing the prices of goods to go up around the country. “I get it,” the president said to people having trouble paying their bills. “That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control.” Saying that we have a choice to make, Biden argued that “one way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer,” but he promised that he has “a better plan to fight inflation” by enabling the country to produce more goods, which will presumably drive prices down while keeping people employed. “I call it building a better America,“ Biden said, referencing his Build Back Better agenda that has stalled in recent months.

Is it possible to go back to normal after COVID? And are we putting ourselves in danger by trying to do so? After talking about the economic impact of COVID, Biden directly addressed the ongoing pandemic. He acknowledged how “tired” people are after two years and promised that “we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines.” He pointed to relaxing mask mandates and other easing of restrictions, but pledged that the fight against COVID would continue. To that end, Biden laid out a four-point strategy, including continued focus on vaccines and treatments; preparing for new coronavirus variants; ending school and business shutdowns and continuing to share vaccines with the rest of the world. The plan reflected the desire of many Americans to get back to “normal” and the danger of complacency creating a worse situation, even if these two goals don’t necessarily match.

As Blavity previously reported, the Biden administration has not achieved its promises on police reform, failing to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. At the same time, critics of the administration have also pointed toward rising crime rates and violence as ways of criticizing that reform agenda. On these issues, Biden again attempted a balancing act during the State of the Union. Beginning with a discussion of murdered New York Police Department officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, Biden attempted to pledge to both fight crime and promote police accountability at the same time. Part of this strategy involved highlighting the Dominican heritage of the two slain officers. Biden also highlighted reforms that have already been implemented, such as policies from the Department of Justice that “required body cameras, banned chokeholds and restricted no-knock warrants for its officers.“

On the issue of defunding the police, a platform that has riled up Republicans and split Democrats, Biden made it clear he did not side with the most progressive wing of his party. “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police,” Biden said, getting Republicans in the room to stand up and applaud. “The answer,” he continued, “is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”

Presumably realizing that this message will be unpopular with some of his constituents and especially among Black voters who were crucial in electing him into office, Biden immediately followed this section of the speech with a renewed call for Congress to pass voting rights protections like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He also noted his pick of Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court, ignoring the ridiculous opposition raised against her nomination and instead focusing on her qualifications and her reputation as “a consensus builder” who has support from both Democratic and Republican sources.

The Biden administration has not made significant progress on immigration reform, even as Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials have called for increased undocumented crossings at the southern border. Combining the two related issues, Biden proclaimed that “if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the Border and fix the immigration system.” He promised that “we can do both.” His plan to do so involves cooperating with Mexico and Central American countries to fight human trafficking and host refugees while also providing paths to citizenship to millions of people who are currently in legal limbo.

Biden’s speech touched on a number of other issues, such as abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and violence against women. His goal of balancing various interests and political agendas concluded with his proposal for a “Unity Agenda for the Nation” focused on issues such as the opioid crisis, mental health care, supporting veterans and battling cancer. The idea of bringing unity to a nation so divided on everything from basic science to fundamental civil rights is certainly a long shot, but Biden’s speech laid out an agenda to try to get the country closer to common ground. As we head into a new round of elections this year, we will see how close Biden gets to achieving this goal.