I'm Margaret Tulliv. Welcome to Axios Recap, where we dig into one big story.

Today's Friday, November 5th, and we're that they can actually get big things done.

They're reeling from that huge election night for Republicans at the start of this week,

which had disastrous implications for Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

But now, two major spending packages that could be the pillars

of President Biden's legacy are finally moving. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package and the

build-back better package, which is poised to dramatically expand social spending.

Now, the pandemic and its impact on the economy have given

President Biden that rare opportunity to spend so big that it could expand the programs that

all Americans come to rely on day after day, like FDR or LBJ or Eisenhower. But is it really

on point to compare Biden's agenda to Roosevelt's New Deal of the 30s,

or Dwight D. Eisenhower's notion of an interstate highway system, or Lyndon Johnson's great society?

To get a fuller sense of how Biden's policy agenda really fits into American history,

and how historians and Americans might someday think about this current moment.

We're joined by Julian Zelizer, Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton.

Now we're joined by Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton,

and a prolific presidential historian who's written

and edited 22 books. Hi, Julian. Hi, it's nice to be with you. So it seems pretty clear now

that President Biden is at least going to get to sign a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package into law

and maybe that bigger, build back better package that will greatly expand social spending.

What's the precedent for this kind of massive infusion?

How does it compare in American history?

...