Biden aims to do what presidents often can’t: Beat inflation

By PAUL WISEMAN, CATHY BUSSEWITZ and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — LBJ tried jawboning. Richard Nixon issued a presidential edict. The Ford administration printed buttons exhorting Americans to “Whip Inflation Now.’’ Over the years, American presidents have tried, and mostly floundered, in their efforts to quell the economic and political menace of consumer inflation. Now, President Joe Biden is giving it a shot. Confronting a spike in consumer prices that’s bedeviling American households, Biden on Tuesday ordered the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the U.S strategic petroleum reserve. The move is intended to contain energy costs. It was just the latest step Biden has taken to show he is doing everything he can to combat inflation as gasoline and food prices, in particular, have imposed a growing burden.