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Joe Biden: Biography, Presidency, and Political Journey – From Senator to 46th President of the United States

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Joe Biden

Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942. He’s an American politician. He represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009. Then, from 2009 to 2017, he served as vice president under Barack Obama. Although he tried to run for president in 1988 and 2008, he didn’t succeed. But in 2020, he finally got the Democratic Party’s nomination and won the November election against Donald Trump. So, he became the 46th president of the United States, starting his term in January 2021.

During his 36-years in the Senate, Biden’s signature legislative accomplishment was the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which stepped up prosecution of domestic and sexual violence and provided enhanced support services for victims. Biden is also known for both his oddball sense of humor and his stoic endurance of the tragic deaths of his first wife and two of his children.

Birth, Education, and Early Life

Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942, in the U.S. at St. Mary’s Hospital to Jean and Joseph Robinette Biden. His family was well-off at first, but they faced tough times later. In school, he was elected president in both junior and senior years. He graduated in 1965 with a BA in History and Political Science, also studying English. Three years later, he got his law degree from Syracuse University and worked as a lawyer from 1968 to 1970. He joined the New Castle council and then the senate in 1972. At just 30 years old, on January 3, 1973, he became the youngest senator in U.S. history, serving Delaware until 2009.

Early life and career in the Senate

Biden, who was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and New Castle county, Delaware, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1965 and a law degree from Syracuse University in New York in 1968. During this time he married (1966) Neilia Hunter, and the couple later had three children.

After graduating from law school, Biden returned to Delaware to work as an attorney before quickly turning to politics, serving on the New Castle county council from 1970 to 1972. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, becoming the fifth youngest senator in history. About a month later his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car accident, and his two sons were seriously injured. Although he contemplated suspending his political career, Biden was persuaded to join the Senate in 1973, and he went on to win reelection six times, becoming Delaware’s longest-serving senator. In 1977 he married Jill Jacobs, an educator, and they later had a daughter. In addition to his role as U.S. senator, Biden also was an adjunct professor (1991–2008) at the Wilmington, Delaware, branch of the Widener University School of Law.

Family Tragedy Ends First Marriage

Biden got married in August 1966, before graduating from law school. He had met his first wife, Neilia Hunter, during spring break in the Bahamas. Biden earned his law degree in 1968 and began work as a public defender in Wilmington, Delaware. He also launched his career in politics, winning a seat on the New Castle Town Council at age 28. But he had much greater aspirations.

Biden took on his home-state senator, Republican J. Caleb Boggs, in the 1972 election and won, making him one of the youngest people to win election to the U.S. Senate, at age 29. The following month, Biden’s wife and infant daughter Amy were killed when a tractor-trailer struck their station wagon in Hockessin, Delaware. Two other children, Hunter and Beau, were seriously injured but survived. (Beau Biden died at age 46 in 2015 from a rare form of brain cancer.)

18th longest-serving Senator in the U.S. History

Joe Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972 and was re-elected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008 and this makes him the 18th longest-serving Senator in the U.S. History.

2008 Presidential Election

He chose not to go for the US Presidential Elections in 1992 and 2004 also January 2007 he declared his candidacy for the 2008 Presidential Election. However, on 3 January 2008, he withdrew. After his withdrawal, Obama requested Biden for the vice-presidential post in his administration, which was initially not accepted by Biden. However, after conducting secret meetings with Biden. Later on, he was declared as his Running mate.

2012 Presidential Election

In October 2010, Obama requested him to be his running mate for the 2012 Presidential Election. Later on they both were announced as the President and Vice-President of the U.S. on 6 november 2012. And on 21 October 2015, Biden announced not to go for the 2016 Presidential Election.

2020 Presidential Election

On 25 April 2019, Joe Biden started his campaign for the 2020 Presidential Election, and on 11 August 2020, he announced U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate. Senatore is the first African American and also South Asian American vice-presidential nominee. And after in November 2020 he was elected as the 46th President and his running mate as the vice president of the United States after Defeating Donald Trump and Mike Pence; moreover, he is also the second non-incumbent Vice President to be elected as president.