Joe Biden

What was the formative period of Joe Biden's life like from 1942 to 1965?

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born on November 20, 1942, at St. Mary's Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden (née Finnegan) and Joseph Robinette Biden Sr. He was the oldest child in a Catholic family of mostly Irish descent, with a sister, Valerie, and two brothers, Francis and James.

What's Life Like Behind Closed Doors for Joe Biden?

Joseph Sr. had been wealthy and purchased a home in Garden City, New York, in 1946. However, after suffering business setbacks around the time Biden was seven years old, the family lived with Jean's parents in Scranton for several years. As Scranton fell into economic decline during the 1950s, Joseph Sr. struggled to find steady work. In 1953, when Biden was ten, the family relocated to Claymont, Delaware, initially residing in an apartment before moving to a house in nearby Mayfield, Delaware. Later, Joseph Sr. became a successful used-car salesman, enabling the family to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.

How did Joe Biden's early years of sports and young adulthood shape his future?

At Archmere Academy in Claymont, Biden played baseball and was a standout halfback and wide receiver on the high school football team. Despite being a poor student, he served as class president in his junior and senior years, graduating in 1961. Biden briefly played freshman football at the University of Delaware in Newark before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science in 1965. Notably, Biden has mitigated his stutter since his early twenties.

What path did Joe Biden take from 1966 to 1973, marked by marriages, law school, and an early career?

Biden married Neilia Hunter, a student at Syracuse University, on August 27, 1966. Despite her parents' initial reservations about marrying a Catholic, they exchanged vows in a Catholic church in Skaneateles, New York. The couple had three children: Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, Robert Hunter Biden, and Naomi Christina "Amy" Biden. Biden earned his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. During his first year, he failed a course due to plagiarism, but the grade was later removed. He graduated 76th in a class of 85 with relatively poor grades. In 1969, he was admitted to the Delaware bar. After law school, Biden clerked at a Wilmington law firm headed by prominent local Republican William Prickett in 1968. Initially identifying as a Republican, he disagreed with incumbent Democratic Delaware governor Charles L. Terry's conservative racial policies and supported liberal Republican Russell W. Peterson, who won the election that year. Although local Republicans tried to recruit Biden, he registered as an independent due to his dislike for Richard Nixon, the Republican presidential candidate at the time.

Will a Lifelong Passion for Public Service Translate to Effective Leadership in the White House?

In 1969, Biden practiced law, initially as a public defender and later at a firm led by a prominent local Democrat who appointed him to the Democratic Forum, an organization aiming to revitalize the state party. Following this experience, he re-registered as a Democrat. Concurrently, he co-founded a law firm with another attorney. While corporate law did not appeal to him, criminal law was underpaid. To supplement his income, Biden managed properties. In 1970, Biden ran for the fourth district seat on the New Castle County Council, campaigning on a liberal platform that included support for suburban public housing. He won the general election, defeating Republican Lawrence T. Messick, and took office on January 5, 1971. Serving until January 1, 1973, Biden opposed large highway projects, arguing they might disrupt Wilmington neighborhoods. Biden did not publicly express support or opposition to the Vietnam War until he ran for Senate, when he criticized Richard Nixon's handling of the conflict. During his university years at the University of Delaware and Syracuse University, Biden obtained five student draft deferments. Following a physical examination in 1968, he was granted a conditional medical deferment; in 2008, a spokesperson revealed that his childhood asthma was the reason for this exemption.

What was Joe Biden's first bid for public office in 1972?

Biden defeated Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs to become the junior U.S. senator from Delaware in 1972. Despite having minimal campaign funds and being considered an underdog, he was the only Democrat willing to challenge Boggs. His family managed and staffed his campaign, which relied heavily on meeting voters face-to-face and distributing position papers throughout Delaware's small communities. He also received support from the AFL-CIO and Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell. Biden's platform focused on key issues including the environment, withdrawal from Vietnam, civil rights, mass transit, equitable taxation, health care, and public dissatisfaction with politics as usual. Despite trailing Boggs by almost thirty percentage points just a few months before the election, Biden's energy, youthful family, and ability to connect with voters' emotions ultimately won over the hearts of Delawareans, resulting in a 50.5% victory margin for him.

What became of Joe Biden's family tragedy: The loss of his wife and young daughter?

A few weeks after being elected senator, Biden's wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in an automobile accident in Hockessin, Delaware, on December 18, 1972. Their sons Beau (aged 3) and Hunter (aged 2) were in the car and were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Biden considered resigning to care for them, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield persuaded him not to. He contemplated suicide and was filled with anger and religious doubt. Biden wrote that he "felt God had played a horrible trick" on him and had trouble focusing on work.

Is His Second Marriage a Turning Point in Joe Biden's Life?

Biden met teacher Jill Tracy Jacobs in 1975 on a blind date. They married at the United Nations chapel in New York on June 17, 1977, and spent their honeymoon at Lake Balaton in the Hungarian People's Republic. Biden credits her with the renewal of his interest in politics and life. The couple had a daughter, Ashley Biden, who is a social worker, activist, and fashion designer, in 1981. Jill helped raise her stepsons, Hunter and Beau, who were seven and eight respectively at the time of her marriage. Hunter has worked as a Washington lobbyist and investment adviser. Beau became an Army judge-advocate in Iraq and later Delaware attorney general before dying of brain cancer in 2015.

What kind of teacher did Joe Biden make in his first year as President?

From 1991 to 2008, Biden co-taught a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law as an adjunct professor.

How long did Joe Biden serve in the U.S. Senate?

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, Biden was reelected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, consistently receiving around 60% of the vote. Aged 30 when first elected, he was the seventh-youngest senator in U.S. history. He served as junior senator to William Roth until Roth's defeat in 2000. Biden remains one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history.

What's Behind Joe Biden's Productive Senate Activities?

During his early years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues, advocating for greater government accountability. He described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens' concerns, and healthcare, but conservative on other issues, including abortion and military conscription. In 1974, he was the first U.S. senator to endorse Governor Jimmy Carter for president in the Democratic primary. Carter won the nomination and election in 1976. Biden worked on arms control, securing changes to the SALT II Treaty after Congress failed to ratify it. He received attention when he criticized Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing for the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its apartheid policy. In 1984, he objected to the Strategic Defense Initiative plan to construct autonomous systems of ICBM defense during a congressional hearing.

What Role Will Joe Biden Play in Shaping the Future of Equality Movements?

In the mid-1970s, Biden was one of the Senate's strongest opponents of race-integration busing. His Delaware constituents strongly opposed it, and such opposition nationwide later led his party to mostly abandon school integration policies. He expressed support for busing to remedy de jure segregation, but opposed its use to remedy de facto segregation arising from racial patterns of neighborhood residency. Biden supported a 1976 measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them and co-sponsored a 1977 amendment closing loopholes in that measure. Biden became ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1981. He was a Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act in 1984, which he modified to make some of its provisions less severe. In 1994, Biden helped pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which included a ban on assault weapons, and the Violence Against Women Act. Biden voted for a 1993 provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with military life and banned gay people from serving in the armed forces. He also voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. In 2015, the act was ruled unconstitutional. Biden was critical of Independent Counsel Ken Starr during the Whitewater controversy and Clinton-Lewinsky scandal investigations. He voted to acquit during Bill Clinton's impeachment. Biden sponsored bankruptcy legislation sought by credit card issuers in the 2000s, which passed as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act in 2005. As a senator, Biden strongly supported increased Amtrak funding and rail security.

Has Joe Biden's history of brain surgeries affected his political career?

In February 1988, after several episodes of severe neck pain, Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking intracranial berry aneurysm. While recuperating, he suffered a pulmonary embolism. A second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May. His recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months.

What Role Did the Senate Judiciary Committee Play in Shaping Joe Biden's Career?

Biden was a longtime member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He chaired it from 1987 to 1995 and was a ranking minority member from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1995 to 1997. As chair, Biden presided over two highly contentious U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings. When Robert Bork was nominated in 1988, Biden reversed his approval of a hypothetical Bork nomination. Conservatives were angered, but at the hearings' close Biden was praised for his fairness, humor, and courage. He framed his objections to Bork in terms of the conflict between Bork's strong originalism and the view that the U.S. Constitution provides rights to liberty and privacy beyond those explicitly enumerated in its text. The committee rejected Bork's nomination by a 5–9 vote, and then he was rejected in the full Senate, 42–58. During Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings in 1991, Biden's questions on constitutional issues were often convoluted to the point that Thomas sometimes lost track of them. After the committee hearing closed, the public learned that Anita Hill had accused Thomas of making unwelcome sexual comments when they had worked together. The committee reopened and Hill testified, but Biden did not permit testimony from other witnesses, such as a woman who had made similar charges and experts on harassment. The full Senate confirmed Thomas by a 52–48 vote, with Biden opposed. The liberal legal advocates and women's groups felt strongly that Biden had mishandled the hearings and not done enough to support Hill. In 2019, he told Hill he regretted his treatment of her, but Hill said afterward she remained unsatisfied.

Was a Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Biden was a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, serving as its ranking minority member from 1997 and chairman from June 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2009. His positions on international issues were generally liberal internationalist. He collaborated effectively with Republicans and occasionally went against elements of his own party. Throughout this period, he met with leaders from at least 60 countries and international organizations, establishing himself as a prominent Democratic voice on foreign policy. Biden voted against authorizing the Gulf War in 1991. His interest in the Yugoslav Wars grew after hearing about Serbian abuses during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991. When the Bosnian War broke out, Biden was among the first to advocate for the "lift and strike" policy. The George H. W. Bush administration and Clinton administration were hesitant to implement this approach, fearing entanglement in Balkan conflicts. In April 1993, Biden had a tense three-hour meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević. He worked on various legislative drafts urging greater US involvement in the region. Biden considers his role in shaping Balkan policy during the mid-1990s to be his "proudest moment in public life" related to foreign policy. In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Biden supported NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. He and Senator John McCain co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over Yugoslav actions toward Kosovo Albanians.

What role did Joe Biden play in the 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns?

What Was the Turning Point in Joe Biden's 1988 Presidential Campaign?

Biden declared his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination on June 9, 1987. He was considered a strong candidate due to his moderate image, speaking ability, high profile as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and appeal to Baby Boomers. He raised more in the first quarter of 1987 than any other candidate. However, by August, Biden's campaign messaging had become confused due to staff rivalries. In September, he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Biden had credited Kinnock on previous occasions but did not do so on two occasions in August. The plagiarism scandal was part of a larger issue with Biden's honesty and accuracy. Earlier that year, he had also used passages from speeches by Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey without giving proper credit. A few days later, it was publicized that while in law school, Biden had taken text from a Fordham Law Review article with inadequate citations. Biden has made several false or exaggerated claims about his early life, including earning three degrees in college, attending law school on a full scholarship, graduating in the top half of his class, and marching in the civil rights movement. The disclosures amplified these issues, and on September 23, 1987, Biden withdrew his candidacy.

Was His First Presidential Campaign a Prelude to Greater Things?

After exploring running in several previous cycles, in January 2007, Biden declared his candidacy in the 2008 elections. He focused on the Iraq War, his record as chairman of major Senate committees, and his foreign-policy experience. Biden was noted for his one-liners during the campaign; in one debate he said of Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani, "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11." Biden had difficulty raising funds, struggled to draw people to his rallies, and failed to gain traction against the high-profile candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He never rose above single digits in national polls of the Democratic candidates. In the first contest on January 3, 2008, Biden placed fifth in the Iowa caucuses, garnering slightly less than one percent of the state delegates. He withdrew from the race that evening. Despite its lack of success, Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political world. Having gotten to know each other during 2007, Obama appreciated Biden's campaign style and appeal to working-class voters, and Biden said he became convinced Obama was "the real deal".

What were the key moments from Joe Biden's 2008 and 2012 vice presidential campaigns?

What Role Did the 2008 Campaign Play in Shaping Joe Biden's Political Legacy?

In August 2008, Obama and Biden met to discuss a potential role for Biden in the Obama administration, developing a strong personal rapport. On August 22, Obama announced that Biden would be his running mate, citing Biden's foreign policy and national security experience as well as his appeal to middle-class and blue-collar voters. Biden was officially nominated for vice president on August 27 at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Biden's vice-presidential campaigning received limited media attention due to coverage of Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee. Under instructions from the campaign, Biden kept his speeches concise and avoided offhand remarks. Privately, Obama expressed frustration with Biden's comments, while Biden was left uninformed about strategy discussions, leading to strained relations between the two campaigns for a month. The issue was resolved when Biden apologized to Obama. As the 2008 financial crisis peaked in September, Biden voted for the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which passed in the Senate. On October 2, he participated in the vice-presidential debate with Palin at Washington University in St. Louis. Post-debate polls showed that while Palin exceeded expectations, Biden had won the debate overall. On November 4, Obama and Biden were elected. Biden simultaneously ran for reelection to the Senate, a permitted by Delaware law. Having been reelected to both the vice presidency and the Senate, Biden chose not to resign from the Senate before being sworn in for his seventh term in January 2009. He resigned on January 15.

What Role Did the 2012 Campaign Play in Shaping Joe Biden's Political Future?

In October 2010, Biden said that President Obama had asked him to remain as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election. However, by late 2011, White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley conducted secret polling and focus group research on replacing Biden with Hillary Clinton due to Obama's declining popularity. The idea was dropped when results showed no appreciable improvement. In May 2012, Biden made a statement saying he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage without administration consent. This drew significant public attention, prompting Obama to shift his position and also support same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates seized upon Biden's statement, leading Obama to make the announcement shortly after. As the reelection campaign began in spring 2012, Biden had a heavy schedule of appearances in swing states. In August 2012, he made a remark that drew attention to his propensity for colorful remarks. After the first presidential debate, Obama's lead over Romney collapsed, putting pressure on Biden to perform strongly against Paul Ryan in the vice-presidential debate. Biden's performance in the October 11 debate was considered one of the best of his career, contributing to Obama's rebound in the polls and eventual victory. The debate also became memorable for Biden's use of the phrase "a bunch of malarkey" in response to an attack by Ryan on the administration's response to the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi.

What role did Joe Biden play from 2009 to 2017?

What was Joe Biden's first term in office from 2009 to 2013?

Biden said he intended to eliminate some explicit roles assumed by George W. Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, and did not intend to emulate any previous vice presidency. He was sworn in on January 20, 2009. He was the first vice president from Delaware and the first Roman Catholic vice president. Members of the Obama administration said Biden's role in the White House was to be a contrarian and force others to defend their positions. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Biden helped counter groupthink. The Bidens maintained a relaxed atmosphere at their official residence in Washington, often entertaining their grandchildren, and regularly returned to their home in Delaware. Biden oversaw infrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package intended to help counteract the ongoing recession. Confronted with rising unemployment through July 2009, Biden acknowledged that the administration had "misread how bad the economy was", but maintained confidence the stimulus package would create many more jobs once the pace of expenditures picked up. When he completed that role in February 2011, he said the number of fraud incidents with stimulus monies had been less than one percent. Biden visited Kosovo in May 2009 and affirmed the U.S. position that its "independence is irreversible". He lost an internal debate to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about sending 21,000 new troops to Afghanistan, but his skepticism was valued, and his views gained more influence as Obama reconsidered his Afghanistan strategy. Biden campaigned heavily for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, maintaining an attitude of optimism in the face of predictions of large-scale losses for the party. After big Republican gains in the elections and Emanuel's departure, Biden's past relationships with Republicans in Congress became more important. He led the successful administration effort to gain Senate approval for the New START treaty. In December 2010, Biden's advocacy for a middle ground, followed by his negotiations with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, were instrumental in producing the administration's compromise tax package that included a temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts. Obama delegated Biden to lead negotiations with Congress during the 2011 U.S. debt ceiling crisis. Biden's relationship with McConnell brought about the Budget Control Act of 2011 that solved the crisis. Obama named Biden to head the Gun Violence Task Force, created to address the causes of school shootings and consider possible gun control measures in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in December 2012. Later that month, during the final days before the United States fell off the "fiscal cliff", Biden's relationship with McConnell again proved important as the two negotiated a deal that led to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 being passed at the start of 2013.

What was his second term in office from 2013 to 2017 like?

Joe Biden was inaugurated to a second term on January 20, 2013, at a small ceremony at Number One Observatory Circle, his official residence, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor presiding (a public ceremony took place on January 21). He played little part in discussions that led to the October 2013 passage of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014, which resolved the federal government shutdown and debt-ceiling crisis. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders cut him out of direct talks with Congress, feeling Biden had given too much away during previous negotiations. Biden's Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized in 2013. The act led to related developments, such as the White House Council on Women and Girls, begun in his first term, as well as the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, begun in January 2014 with Biden and Valerie Jarrett as co-chairs. Biden favored arming Syria's rebel fighters. As the ISIL insurgency in Iraq intensified in 2014, renewed attention was paid to the Biden-Gelb Iraqi federalization plan of 2006. He had close relationships with several Latin American leaders and visited the region 16 times during his vice presidency, the most of any president or vice president. In August 2016, Biden visited Serbia, where he met with the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and expressed condolences for civilian victims of the bombing campaign during the Kosovo War. Biden never cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, making him the longest-serving vice president without casting such a vote. During his second term, Biden was often said to be preparing for a bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. With his family, friends, and donors encouraging him in mid-2015 to enter the race, and with Hillary Clinton's favorability ratings in decline at that time, Biden was reported to be seriously considering the prospect. By late 2015, Biden was still uncertain about running, particularly due to the recent death of his son Beau, and ultimately announced his decision not to run on October 21, 2015.

What did Joe Biden do after leaving office in 2021?

After leaving the vice presidency, Biden became an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania, developing the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. He remained in that position until 2019. In 2017, Biden wrote a memoir, Promise Me, Dad, and went on a book tour. By 2019, he and his wife reported earning over $15 million since the end of his vice presidency from speaking engagements and book sales. Biden remained in the public eye, endorsing candidates while continuing to comment on politics, climate change, and the presidency of Donald Trump. He also continued to speak out in favor of LGBT rights, supporting advocacy efforts he had become more closely associated with during his vice presidency. In 2018, Biden gave a eulogy for Senator John McCain. He continued to support cancer research throughout this period.

What Was His Path to the White House in 2020?

Will Joe Biden's Presidential Ambitions Finally Be Realized in 2024?

Between 2016 and 2019, media outlets frequently mentioned Biden as a potential candidate for president in 2020. In response to inquiries about his candidacy, he offered varied and noncommittal answers, stating "never say never". A political action committee called Time for Biden was established in January 2018. Biden launched his campaign on April 25, 2019, citing concerns over the Trump administration and a sense of duty.

Will His Presidential Campaign Be a Turning Point in American Politics?

As the 2020 campaign season heated up, public polling showed Biden as one of the best-performing Democratic candidates head-to-head against Trump. With Democrats keenly focused on "electability" for defeating Trump, this boosted his popularity among Democratic voters. It also made him a frequent target of Trump. In September 2019, it was reported that Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Biden and his son Hunter Biden. No evidence was produced of any wrongdoing by the Bidons. Trump was perceived by many as attempting to hurt Biden's chances of winning the presidency, resulting in a political scandal and Trump's impeachment. In March 2019 and April 2019, eight women accused Biden of inappropriate physical contact, such as embracing, touching or kissing. Biden had previously called himself a "tactile politician" and admitted this behavior had caused trouble for him. He pledged to be more "respectful of people's personal space". Throughout 2019, Biden stayed generally ahead of other Democrats in national polls. Despite this, he finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in the New Hampshire primary. He performed better in the Nevada caucuses, reaching the 15% required for delegates, but still finished 21.6 percentage points behind Bernie Sanders. Biden made strong appeals to Black voters on the campaign trail and in the South Carolina debate, winning the South Carolina primary by more than 28 points. After the withdrawals and subsequent endorsements of candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, he made large gains in the Super Tuesday primaries. Biden won 18 of the next 26 contests, putting him in the lead. Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg soon dropped out, and Biden expanded his lead with victories over Sanders in four states on March 10. In late March 2020, Tara Reade, one of the eight women who had accused Biden of inappropriate physical contact, accused Biden of having sexually assaulted her in 1993. There were inconsistencies between Reade's 2019 and 2020 allegations. Biden and his campaign denied the sexual assault allegation. When Sanders suspended his campaign on April 8, 2020, Biden became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee. On April 13, Sanders endorsed Biden. Barack Obama endorsed Biden the next day. On August 11, Biden announced U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, making her the first African American and first South Asian American vice-presidential nominee on a major-party ticket. On August 18, 2020, at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Biden officially became the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 2020 election.

What was Joe Biden's experience with presidential elections and transitions?

Biden was elected the 46th president in November 2020, defeating the incumbent, Donald Trump. Despite his loss, Trump and numerous other Republicans repeatedly made false claims that widespread electoral fraud had occurred and that only he had legitimately won the election. This led to a delayed transition process as the White House ordered federal agencies not to cooperate. On November 23, General Services Administrator Emily W. Murphy formally recognized Biden as the apparent winner of the 2020 election and authorized the start of a transition process to the Biden administration. Trump's campaign then submitted documents in several states that falsely claimed to be legitimate electoral votes for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The plan was for the presiding officer of the United States Senate, either President of the Senate Pence or President pro tempore Chuck Grassley, to reject all electors from the affected states during the January 6 vote counting session. However, this plan failed after Pence refused to cooperate with it. Trump then urged his supporters on January 6 to march to the Capitol while the joint session of Congress was assembled there to count electoral votes and formalize Biden's victory. Hundreds of people stormed the building and interrupted the count during the attack. After the Capitol was cleared, Congress officially counted the election results, with Pence announcing Biden and Harris as the winners. On January 7, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Biden's name.

What was Joe Biden's presidency like from 2021 to 2025?

What Marked Joe Biden's First Days in Office?

Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. At 78, he became the oldest person to assume the office. He was the second Catholic U.S. president, after John F. Kennedy, and the first president elected from the state of Delaware. He was also the first person since George H. W. Bush to have been both vice president and president, and the only president to date from the Silent Generation. Biden's inauguration was a muted affair unlike any previous inauguration due to COVID-19 precautions as well as massively increased security measures because of the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Trump did not attend, becoming the first outgoing president since 1869 to not attend his successor's inauguration.

What Did Joe Biden Accomplish in His First 100 Days?

In his first two days as president, Biden signed 17 executive orders. By his third day, orders had included rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, ending the state of national emergency at the border with Mexico, directing the government to rejoin the World Health Organization, face mask requirements on federal property, measures to combat hunger in the United States, and revoking permits for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. On March 11, Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus and relief package that he had proposed to support the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The package included direct payments to most Americans, an extension of increased unemployment benefits, funds for vaccine distribution and school reopenings, and expansions of health insurance subsidies and the child tax credit. Also in March, amid a rise in migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, Biden said migrant adults were "being sent back", in reference to the continuation of the Trump administration's Title 42 policy for quick deportations. He earlier announced that his administration would not deport unaccompanied migrant children; the rise in arrivals of such children exceeded the capacity of facilities meant to shelter them, leading the Biden administration in March to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help. On April 14, Biden announced that the United States would delay the withdrawal of all troops from the war in Afghanistan until September 11, signaling an end to the country's direct military involvement in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years. In February 2020, the Trump administration had made a deal with the Taliban to completely withdraw U.S. forces by May 1, 2021. On April 22-23, Biden held an international climate summit at which he announced that the U.S. would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. On April 28, the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress.

What Role Will Joe Biden Play in Shaping America's Domestic Policy?

On June 17, Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, officially declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday. In July 2021, he emphasized the importance of vaccination amid slowing rates and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. In 2022, Biden endorsed a change to the Senate filibuster for the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act. The rules change failed when two Democratic senators joined Republicans in opposition. He signed the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act into law in April 2022, revamping the United States Postal Service agency's finances and operations. Biden supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to address gun reform issues after the Robb Elementary School shooting; he signed the bill on June 25, 2022. The Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 was introduced in 2021 and signed into law by Biden on August 10, 2022, aiming to improve healthcare access and funding for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service. In 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and recognizing same-sex and interracial marriages. In June 2024, he issued an executive action offering amnesty to unauthorized immigrants married to American citizens, including a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship, initially affecting about 500,000 people. In January 2025, Biden declared the lapsed Equal Rights Amendment ratified as the "28th Amendment" to the constitution, although this declaration has no formal effect, and the National Archives does not intend to certify it as part of the constitution due to established legal decisions.

Will Joe Biden's Approach to Foreign Policy Address Global Challenges and Revitalize U.S. Leadership?

In June 2021, Biden took his first trip abroad as president, visiting Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. He attended a G7 summit, a NATO summit, and an EU summit, and held one-on-one talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. In September 2021, Biden announced AUKUS, a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, to ensure "peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific". In February 2021, the Biden administration announced that the United States was ending its support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and revoked the designation of Yemen's Houthis as terrorists. In early February 2022, Biden ordered a counterterrorism raid in northern Syria that resulted in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the second leader of the Islamic State. In late July, Biden approved a drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second leader of Al-Qaeda, and an integral member in the planning of the September 11 attacks. The 2022 OPEC+ oil production cut caused a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia, threatening a longstanding alliance. In August 2024, Biden negotiated and oversaw the 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange, the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War. It involved the release of 26 people, including journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. In November 2024, the Biden administration announced that it had helped broker a ceasefire agreement in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.

Is Vice President Joe Biden's age and health concerns a concern for his potential presidential run?

As of 2025, Biden was the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. His cognitive health was perceived to have declined by Republicans and some media figures, and privately by some Democrats. Members of Biden's family and White House staffers insulated Biden from scrutiny of his advanced aging and decline in acuity. The media widely covered public concern about Biden's mental acuity after a weak performance in a June 2024 presidential debate, but gave it limited coverage beforehand, in part due to harsh pushback from White House officials. Biden repeatedly said he was fit to serve two terms as president, but later acknowledged that he may have been too old to serve a second term. Upon concluding the investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, special counsel Robert Hur suggested that Biden would be able to present himself to a jury as an "elderly man with poor memory" and wrote that his memory "appeared to have significant limitations". On July 21, 2022, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 with reportedly mild symptoms. According to the White House, he was treated with Paxlovid. He worked in isolation in the White House for five days and returned to isolation when he tested positive again on July 30, 2022. On July 17, 2024, Biden again tested positive for COVID-19.

Will Joe Biden Run for President Again in 2024?

Ending months of speculation, on April 25, 2023, Biden confirmed he would run for reelection as president in the 2024 election, with Harris again as his running mate. On the day of his announcement, a Gallup poll found that Biden's approval rating was 37 percent, with most of those surveyed saying the economy was their biggest concern. During his campaign, Biden promoted higher economic growth and recovery. He frequently stated his intention to "finish the job" as a political rallying cry. Biden was not on the ballot in the January 23 New Hampshire primary, but won it in a write-in campaign with 63.8% of the vote. He had wanted South Carolina to be the first primary, and won that state on February 3 with 96.2% of the vote. Biden received 89.3% of the vote in Nevada and 81.1% of the vote in Michigan. On March 5 ("Super Tuesday"), he won 15 of 16 primaries, netting 80% or more of the vote in 13. Biden lost the American Samoa contest to venture capitalist Jason Palmer, becoming the first incumbent president to lose a contest while appearing on the ballot since Jimmy Carter in 1980. On March 6, Phillips suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden. On March 12, Biden reached more than the 1,968 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, becoming the presumptive nominee. The first presidential debate was held on June 27, 2024, between Biden and Trump. Biden's performance was widely criticized, with commentators saying he frequently lost his train of thought and gave meandering answers. Biden initially insisted that he would remain a candidate, but on July 21, he withdrew his candidacy, writing that this was "in the best interest of my party and the country". He endorsed Harris as his successor. On August 6, 2024, Harris was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee. In the general election, Trump defeated Harris. The Senate went Republican for the first time since 2018. In a nationally televised speech after the election, Biden congratulated Trump and promised a "peaceful and orderly" transition of power. In a January 2025 interview, Biden claimed he could have defeated Trump had he not been persuaded to withdraw from the election, despite lagging behind Trump in polling.

How Will Joe Biden's Leadership Style Shape His Legacy?

A February 2024 American Political Science Association poll of historians and scholars ranked Biden as the 14th-greatest president, diverging from public assessments. The experts polled generally regarded Biden's signature accomplishment as his victory over Trump in the 2020 election, which was perceived as helping to protect and restore political and institutional norms in American government. Despite this ranking, journalist Amy Walter argued that Biden's presidency was deemed a failure by the public particularly due to frustration over inflation. According to Gallup, public perception of the economy in 2024 was worse only in 2008 and 1992, helping Trump win the 2024 presidential election.

What path will Joe Biden follow in his post-presidency from 2025 onwards?

Biden's term ended on January 20, 2025, upon Trump's second inauguration. At the end of his presidency, Biden designated former senior advisors Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini to raise funds for the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library. He later signed with talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which previously represented him from 2017 to 2020, to represent him in public engagements. On February 7, 2025, Donald Trump revoked Biden's security clearance, ending his access to classified information. Former presidents have traditionally been granted access to intelligence briefings, though such access is at the sitting president's discretion. In 2021, Biden had revoked Trump's security clearance for his role in inciting the January 6 Capitol attack. Biden made his first major public appearance since leaving office on April 15, 2025, delivering remarks at an Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago. In his address, he criticized the Trump administration's handling of the Social Security Administration. On May 7, 2025, Biden appeared on The View to defend his presidential legacy. On May 18, 2025, Biden's personal office announced that he had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer with bone metastasis during a routine physical checkup. His medical team stated the cancer is hormone-sensitive and that treatment options are being reviewed.

What are Joe Biden's Political Positions?

As a senator, Biden was regarded as a moderate Democrat. As a presidential nominee, Biden's platform had been called the most progressive of any major party platform in history, although not within his party's ideological vanguard. Biden says his positions are deeply influenced by Catholic social teaching. According to political scientist Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Biden represents an Americanized form of Christian democracy, taking positions characteristic of both the center-right and center-left. Biden has cited the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, credited with starting the Christian democratic movement, as immensely influential in his thinking. Other analysts have likened his ideology to traditional liberalism, "a doctrine of liberty, equality, justice and individual rights that relies... on a strong federal government for enforcement". In 2022, journalist Sasha Issenberg wrote that Biden's "most valuable political skill" was "an innate compass for the ever-shifting mainstream of the Democratic Party". Biden proposed partially reversing the corporate tax cuts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Biden is a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He promoted a plan to build upon it, aiming to expand health insurance coverage to 97% of Americans, including by creating a public health insurance option. Biden did not support national same-sex marriage rights while in the Senate and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, but opposed proposals for constitutional amendments that would have banned same-sex marriage nationwide. Biden has supported same-sex marriage since 2012. As a senator, Biden forged deep relationships with police groups and was a chief proponent of a Police Officer's Bill of Rights measure that police unions supported but police chiefs opposed. In 2020, Biden also ran on decriminalizing cannabis, after advocating harsher penalties for drug use as a senator. Biden believes action must be taken on climate change. As a senator, he co-sponsored the Boxer–Sanders Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the most stringent climate bill in the United States Senate. Biden supports nature conservation. According to a report from the Center for American Progress, he broke several records in this domain. He took steps to protect old-growth forests. Biden opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He wants to achieve a carbon-free power sector in the U.S. by 2035 and stop emissions completely by 2050. Biden supports environmental justice, including climate justice and ocean justice. Biden called global temperature rise above the 1.5 degree limit the "only existential threat humanity faces even more frightening than a nuclear war". Despite his clean energy policies and congressional Republicans characterizing them as a "War on American Energy", domestic oil production reached a record high in October 2023. Biden has said the U.S. needs to "get tough" on China, calling it the "most serious competitor" that poses challenges to the United States' "prosperity, security, and democratic values". Biden has spoken about human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, pledging to sanction and commercially restrict Chinese government officials and entities who carry out repression. Biden has said he is against regime change but is for providing non-military support to opposition movements. He opposed direct U.S. intervention in Libya, voted against U.S. participation in the Gulf War, voted in favor of the Iraq War, and supports a two-state solution in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Biden pledged to end U.S. support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and to reevaluate the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia. Biden supported extending the New START arms control treaty with Russia to limit the number of nuclear weapons deployed by both sides. In 2021, Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide, becoming the first U.S. president to do so. Biden supported abortion rights throughout his presidency, though he personally opposes abortion because of his Catholic faith. In 2019, he said he supported Roe v. Wade and repealing the Hyde Amendment. After Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, he criticized near-total bans on abortion access passed in a majority of Republican-controlled states, and took measures to protect abortion rights in the United States. He vowed to sign a bill codifying the protections of Roe into federal law; such a bill passed the House in 2022, but was unable to clear the Senate filibuster.

What kind of public image has Joe Biden cultivated throughout his political career?

Biden was consistently ranked one of the least wealthy members of the Senate, attributing his financial situation to being elected at a young age. Feeling that less-wealthy public officials may be tempted to accept contributions in exchange for political favors, he proposed campaign finance reform measures during his first term. As of November 2009, Biden's net worth was $27,012. By November 2020, the Bidens were worth $9 million, largely due to sales of Biden's books and speaking fees after his vice presidency. Over time, Biden has grown as a politician. He responds to real people and understands himself and other politicians better. His empathetic nature and ability to communicate about grief have been particularly notable since the 2015 death of his elder son Beau. Biden is also known for being loquacious, often deviating from prepared remarks and prone to putting his foot in his mouth. He has a reputation for being prone to gaffes, with weak filters that allow him to blurt out almost anything. His folksiness can veer into folklore, with dates not quite adding up and details exaggerated or wrong.

What Is Behind Joe Biden's Steady Job Approval Numbers?

According to Morning Consult polling, Biden maintained an approval rating above 50% during his presidency's first eight months. In August 2021, it began to decline, reaching the low forties by December. This was attributed to the Afghanistan withdrawal, increasing hospitalizations from the Delta variant, high inflation and gas prices, disarray within the Democratic Party, and a general decline in popularity customary in politics. In 2023, Biden's approval rating was the lowest of any modern U.S. president after three years in office. Gallup, Inc. found Biden's approval ratings to be consistently above 50% during his first few months in office, but by August, his ratings began to decline. He had a 98% approval rating from Democrats in February 2021, but by December only 78% approved of his presidency. By October 2023, his rating among Democrats had reached a record low of 75%. His approval rating among Republicans has been consistently in the single digits, aside from his first few months in office. Additionally, Gallup noted that Biden's public support eroded each year he was in office: he averaged 49% approval in his first year, 41% in his second, 40% in his third, and 39% in his fourth. In July 2024, just before he withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, Gallup found his approval rating had fallen to an all-time low of 36%. Gallup found that Biden had an average approval rating of 42.2% throughout his presidency, which was lower than all other presidents' except Trump's first term, at 41.1%. Biden's final approval rating in January 2025 was 40%, which was low but still higher than several other presidents' final approval ratings. Gallup's averaged polls of Biden's presidency found that he was the second-least popular president in its polling history, ahead of Trump. CNN and CBS News found Biden's final approval rating to be 37% and 36%, respectively. Polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight found that Biden had a final average approval rating of 37%.

Has Joe Biden's Media Depiction Changed Over Time?

Nine men have portrayed Biden on Saturday Night Live, starting with Kevin Nealon in 1991. Jason Sudeikis portrayed Biden during the 2008 election season and reprised the role many times. During the 2020 election season, Biden was played by John Mulaney, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day, Woody Harrelson, and Jim Carrey. Dana Carvey played the role in 2024. In 2016, Greg Kinnear portrayed Biden in the HBO television film Confirmation, about the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings.

What Kind of Legacy Will Joe Biden Leave Behind?

When Joe Biden left office in 2025, many journalists and Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure. Factors contributing to this perception included age and health concerns, public frustration over inflation, and the defeat of his vice president, Kamala Harris, by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. The Guardian referred to the conclusion of Biden's presidency as a "tragedy", particularly given that he was succeeded by Trump after previously defeating him. Biden's life has been marked by tragedy, including the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident after his election to the Senate in 1972 and the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015. NBC News characterized Biden's life as "one of the great tragedies of American politics". Journalist Ronald Brownstein compared Biden's presidency to Jimmy Carter's, who died on December 29, 2024, and whom Biden eulogized on January 9, 2025. Both men were Democrats, served a single term as president, and had their presidencies overshadowed by significant economic events: the 1970s energy crisis and stagflation for Carter, and the 2021-2023 inflation surge for Biden. Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election was likened to Lyndon B. Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 presidential election, with both presidents initially popular but seeing their approval ratings decline throughout their presidencies. Both men previously served as vice president under John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, respectively. A December 2024 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans thought Biden's presidency was below average or poor, 26% average, and 19% above average or outstanding. The survey revealed largely negative assessments from Americans on economic, national, and international issues, with the majority believing the U.S. lost ground in six areas, including the economy in general, immigration, and its position in the world.

What Are Joe Biden's Scholarly Rankings?

The Siena College Research Institute's 2022 survey ranked Biden 19th out of 45 presidents. The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert survey ranked Biden the 14th best president.