Here's what 5 US Presidents did on their first day in office: From Donald Trump to Barack Obama

Here's how 5 POTUS' kicked off their first days in office as Kamala Harris skirts around the topic

Vice President Kamala Harris did not give a clear-cut answer on how she planned to spend her first days in office if elected president in November. The Democratic nominee came across the question on her Day One plan during her August 29 interview with CNN's Dana Bash, as per Politico. Harris went through her economic plans and attacked Donald Trump. However, her plans, which include strengthening the middle class through grocery cost reduction and expanding the child tax credit, will require approval from Congress and wouldn't come to fruition immediately. She did not reveal any plans to sign executive orders or reverse any existing policies. In light of this, here is how five former presidents spent their first days in the Oval Office. 

1. Joe Biden

As he entered office in January 2020, President Joe Biden's priority was striking down his predecessor Donald Trump's actions and implementing policies to safeguard the nation amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He signed 17 executive orders, including orders to mandate mask-wearing and freezing debt collection on federal student loans. President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization, reversing Trump's decision to pull the nation out of both. In addition, the Democrat also threw away the former president's orders that halted travel bans from Muslim countries and border wall construction. Stepping away from Trump's opposition to illegal immigrants, he reinforced legal protection for undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children.

2. Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump marked his entry into the White House in January 2016 with a single executive order. On Day One, he ordered the federal agencies to strike down Obamacare "to the maximum extent permitted by law" until it could be revoked. With an agenda to dismantle former President Barack Obama's regulatory policies, he instructed the pending regulations to be halted. In his first week in office, Trump signed a dozen executive orders that included a Muslim ban and the construction of a wall across the US-Mexico border.

3. Barack Obama

Former President Barack Obama did not sign any executive orders on his first day in the White House in January 2009. On the second day, he fulfilled one of his campaign promises, overturning a Bush-era executive order that restricted public access to presidential records. The 44th president also revisited the ethics pledge for Executive Branch personnel, added a ban on lobbying gifts, and prohibited the revolving door of lobbying.

4. George W Bush

During his first week in office in January 2001, former President George W Bush, a Republican, restored the "Mexico City Policy" implemented by former President Ronald Reagan that blocked federal funds to foreign nongovernmental organizations conducting or encouraging abortions. However, he did not sign any executive orders. The "Mexico City Policy" was previously overturned by Bill Clinton when he took office in January 1993. After nine days in office, Bush signed his first executive order, creating an executive department to boost faith-based organizations across the nation.

5. Bill Clinton

Similar to Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, started his tenure by amending the ethics pledge of executive branch appointees. On Day Two, he repealed Ronald Reagan's "Mexico City Policy" through a memo. This reversed the ban on abortion counseling offered by federally funded clinics. He also reinstated research on fetal tissue.