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"Biden" and "Joseph Biden" redirect here. For his son Joseph Biden III, see Beau
Biden. For other uses, see Biden (disambiguation).
Joe Biden
Assuming office
January 20, 2021
In office
In office
In office
In office
June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
In office
In office
In office
In office
Personal details
Neilia Hunter
Spouse(s)
(m. 1966; died 1972)
Jill Jacobs
(m. 1977)
Children Beau
Hunter
Naomi
Ashley
University of Delaware (BA)
Education
Syracuse University (JD)
Occupation Politician
lawyer
author
(2017)
Signature
Campaign website
Website
Transition website
Contents
1Early life (1942–1965)
2First marriage, law school, and early career (1966–1972)
o 2.11972 U.S. Senate campaign
o 2.2Death of wife and daughter
3United States Senate (1973–2009)
o 3.1Second marriage
o 3.2Early Senate activities
o 3.3Opposition to busing
o 3.41988 presidential campaign
o 3.5Brain surgeries
o 3.6Senate Judiciary Committee
o 3.7Senate Foreign Relations Committee
o 3.8Other
o 3.9Reputation
o 3.102008 presidential campaign
42008 vice-presidential campaign
5Vice president (2009–2017)
o 5.1Reelection
o 5.2Second term (2013–2017)
o 5.3Role in the 2016 presidential campaign
6Post-vice presidency (2017–2021)
o 6.1Comments on Donald Trump
72020 presidential campaign
o 7.1Speculation and announcement
o 7.2Campaign
o 7.3Allegations of inappropriate physical contact
8President-elect of the United States
9Political positions
10Distinctions
11Electoral history
12Writings by Biden
13Notes
14References
o 14.1Citations
o 14.2Books
15External links
o 15.1Official
o 15.2Other
Joe Biden
Political positions
Electoral history
Early life
Early career
Family
Tenure
Robert Bork
Clarence Thomas
Transition
Tenure
Obama administration
Economic policy
o Great Recession response
o Fiscal cliff response
Foreign policy
Task forces
o Gun Violence
Transition
Inauguration
Cabinet
Presidency
show
Presidential campaigns
show
Vice presidential campaigns
Published works
Promises to Keep
v
t
e
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born November 20, 1942, at St. Mary's Hospital
in Scranton, Pennsylvania,[7]:5 to Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden (née Finnegan) and
Joseph Robinette Biden Sr.[8][9] The oldest child in a Catholic family, he has a
sister, Valerie, and two brothers, Francis and James.[7]:9 Jean was of Irish descent,[10][11]
[7]:8
while Joseph Sr. had English, French, and Irish ancestry.[12][7]:8
Biden's father was initially wealthy but had suffered several financial setbacks by the
time Biden was born; for several years the family lived with Biden's maternal
grandparents.[13] Scranton fell into economic decline during the 1950s and Biden's father
could not find steady work.[14] Beginning in 1953, the family lived for several years in an
apartment in Claymont, Delaware, then moved to a house in Wilmington, Delaware.
[13]
Joe Biden Sr. later became a successful used car salesman, maintaining the family a
middle-class lifestyle.[13][14][15]
At the Archmere Academy in Claymont,[7]:27, 32 Biden was a standout halfback and wide
receiver on the high school football team;[13][16] he also played baseball.[13] A poor student
but a natural leader, he was class president in his junior and senior years.[7]:40–41[17]:99 He
graduated in 1961.[7]:40–41
At the University of Delaware in Newark, Biden briefly played freshman football[18][19] and
earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 with a double major in history and political
science, and a minor in English.[20][17]:98 He had a C average and was ranked 506th in his
class of 688.[21][22]
Biden has a stutter, which has improved since his early twenties.[23] He says he has
reduced it by reciting poetry before a mirror,[17]:99[24] but it has been suggested that it
affected his performance in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates.[25]
Biden in 1973
In 1972, Biden defeated Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs to become the junior
U.S. senator from Delaware. He was the only Democrat willing to challenge Boggs; [32] his
campaign had almost no money, and he was given no chance of winning. [13] Family
members managed and staffed the campaign, which relied on meeting voters face-to-
face and hand-distributing position papers,[36] an approach made feasible by Delaware's
small size.[33] He received some help from the AFL–CIO and Democratic pollster Patrick
Caddell.[32] His platform focused on withdrawal from Vietnam, the environment, civil
rights, mass transit, more equitable taxation, health care, and public dissatisfaction with
"politics as usual".[32][36] A few months before the election Biden trailed Boggs by almost
thirty percentage points,[32] but his energy, attractive young family, and ability to connect
with voters' emotions worked to his advantage, [15] and he won with 50.5 percent of the
vote.[36]
Death of wife and daughter
On December 18, 1972, Biden's wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Amy were
killed in an automobile accident in Hockessin, Delaware.[20] Biden's sons Beau and
Hunter respectively suffered a broken leg and a minor skull fracture, [7]:93, 98 but doctors
predicted they would recover fully.[7]:96 Biden considered resigning to care for them,
[15]
but Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield persuaded him not to.[37]
During his early years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and
environmental issues and called for greater government accountability. [58] In a 1974
interview, he described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens'
concerns and healthcare but conservative on other issues, including abortion and
the military conscription.[59]
Biden became ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1981. In
1984, he was a Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of
the Comprehensive Crime Control Act; over time, the law's tough-on-crime provisions
became controversial and in 2019, Biden called his role in passing the bill a "big
mistake".[60][61] His supporters praised him for modifying some of the law's worst
provisions, and it was his most important legislative accomplishment to that time. [62] He
gained notice for speeches he gave that year that simultaneously scolded and
encouraged Democrats.[63]:216
In 1993, Biden voted for a provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with
military life, thereby banning gays from serving in the armed forces. [64][65][66] In 1996, he
voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited the federal government from
recognizing same-sex marriages, thereby barring individuals in such marriages from
equal protection under federal law and allowing states to do the same; [67] in 2015, the act
was ruled unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges.[68]
In his first decade in the Senate, Biden focused on arms control.[69][70] After Congress
failed to ratify the SALT II Treaty signed in 1979 by Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev and
President Jimmy Carter, Biden met with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko to
communicate American concerns, and secured changes that addressed the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee's objections. [71] When the Reagan administration wanted to
interpret the 1972 SALT I treaty loosely to allow development of the Strategic Defense
Initiative, Biden argued for strict adherence to the treaty. [69] He received considerable
attention when he excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing for
the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its continued policy
of apartheid.[30]
Opposition to busing
In the mid-1970s, Biden was one of the Senate's leading 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. [72]
In his first Senate campaign, Biden expressed support for busing to remedy de
jure segregation, as in the South, but opposed its use to remedy de facto segregation
arising from racial patterns of neighborhood residency, as in Delaware; he opposed a
proposed constitutional amendment banning busing entirely. [73] In May 1974, Biden voted
to table a proposal containing anti-busing and anti-desegregation clauses but later
voted for a modified version containing a qualification that it was not intended to weaken
the judiciary's power to enforce the 5th Amendment and 14th Amendment.[74]
Later, Biden was heckled when he told a meeting of Delaware parents that his position
on busing was evolving, emphasizing that busing in Delaware was in his opinion beyond
court restrictions.[further explanation needed][75] This, along with the prospect of a busing plan in
Wilmington, led Biden to align himself with anti-busing senators. [72] In 1975, he supported
a proposal that would have prevented the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare from cutting federal funds to districts that refused to integrate; [76] he said busing
was a "bankrupt idea [violating] the cardinal rule of common sense" and that his
opposition would make it easier for other liberals to follow suit. [62] At the same time he
supported initiatives on housing, job opportunities and voting rights. [74]
Biden supported a measure[when?] forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting
students beyond the school closest to them. In 1977, he co-sponsored an amendment
closing loopholes in that measure, which President Carter signed into law in 1978. [77]
1988 presidential campaign
Main article: Joe Biden 1988 presidential campaign
Biden in 1987
Biden addresses the press after meeting with Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in Baghdad in 2004.
Biden chose not to run for president in 1992 in part because he had voted against
authorizing the Gulf War,[127] and did not run in 2004 because, he said, he felt he had little
chance of winning and could best serve the country by remaining in the Senate. [147] In
January 2007, he declared his candidacy in the 2008 election.[148]
During his campaign, Biden focused on the Iraq War, his record as chairman of major
Senate committees, and his foreign-policy experience. Biden rejected speculation that
he might become Secretary of State,[149] focusing on only the presidency.[150] In mid-2007,
Biden stressed his foreign policy expertise compared to Obama's, saying of the latter, "I
think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not
something that lends itself to on-the-job training." [151] Biden also said Obama was copying
some of his foreign policy ideas.[121] 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." [152] Overall,
Biden's debate performances were an effective mixture of humor and sharp and
surprisingly disciplined comments.[153]:336
Biden had difficulty raising funds, struggled to draw people to his rallies, and failed to
gain traction against the high-profile candidacies of Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.
[154]
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. [155] He withdrew from the race that
evening.[156]
Despite its lack of success, Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political
world.[153]:336 In particular, it changed the relationship between Biden and Obama.
Although they had served together on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they
had not been close, with Biden resenting Obama's quick rise to political stardom [121]
[157]
and Obama viewing Biden as garrulous and patronizing. [153]:28, 337–338 Having gotten to
know each other during 2007, Obama appreciated Biden's campaigning style and
appeal to working-class voters, and Biden said he became convinced Obama was "the
real deal".[157][153]:28, 337–338
Biden speaks at the August 23, 2008, vice presidential announcement in Springfield, Illinois.
Shortly after Biden withdrew from the presidential race, Obama privately told him he
was interested in finding an important place for Biden in his administration. [158] Biden
declined Obama's first request to vet him for the vice-presidential slot, fearing the vice
presidency would represent a loss in status and voice from his Senate position, but he
later changed his mind.[121][159] In a June 22, 2008 interview, Biden said that while he was
not actively seeking the vice-presidential nomination, he would accept it if offered. [160] In
early August, Obama and Biden met in secret to discuss the possibility, [158] and
developed a strong personal rapport. [157] On August 22, 2008, Obama announced that
Biden would be his running mate.[161] The New York Times reported that the strategy
behind the choice reflected a desire to fill out the ticket with someone with foreign
policy and national security experience—and not to help the ticket win a swing state or
to emphasize Obama's "change" message.[162] Others pointed out Biden's appeal to
middle-class and blue-collar voters, as well as his willingness to aggressively challenge
Republican nominee John McCain in a way that Obama seemed uncomfortable doing at
times.[163][164] In accepting Obama's offer, Biden ruled out running for president again in
2016,[158] but his comments in later years seemed to back off that stance, as he did not
want to diminish his political power by appearing uninterested in advancement. [165][166]
[167]
Biden was officially nominated for vice president on August 27 by voice vote at
the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.[168]
After his nomination, the Catholic bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, barred Biden from
receiving Holy Communion there because of his support for abortion rights, [169] but Biden
continued to receive Communion at his Delaware parish. [170] Scranton became a
flashpoint in the competition for swing-state Catholic voters between the Democratic
campaign and liberal Catholic groups, who stressed that other social issues should be
considered as much as or more than abortion, and many bishops and conservative
Catholics, who maintained abortion was paramount. [171] Biden said he believed life begins
at conception but would not impose his religious views on others. [172] Bishop Saltarelli
had previously said of stances like Biden's, "No one today would accept this statement
from any public servant: 'I am personally opposed to human slavery and racism but will
not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena.' Likewise, none of us should
accept this statement from any public servant: 'I am personally opposed to abortion but
will not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena.'" [170]
Biden's vice-presidential campaigning gained little media visibility, as far greater press
attention was focused on the Republican running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.[145]
[173]
During one week in September 2008, for instance, the Pew Research
Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found that Biden was included in only five
percent of coverage of the race, far less than the other three candidates on the tickets
received.[174] Biden nevertheless focused on campaigning in economically challenged
areas of swing states and trying to win over blue-collar Democrats, especially those who
had supported Hillary Clinton.[121][145] Biden attacked McCain heavily despite a long-
standing personal friendship.[nb 1] He said, "That guy I used to know, he's gone. It literally
saddens me."[145] As the financial crisis of 2007–2010 reached a peak with the liquidity
crisis of September 2008 and the proposed bailout of the United States financial
system became a major factor in the campaign, Biden voted in favor of the
$700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which went on to pass in
the Senate 74–25.[176]
On October 2, 2008, Biden participated in the vice-presidential debate with Palin
at Washington University in St. Louis. Post-debate polls found that while Palin exceeded
many voters' expectations, Biden had won the debate overall. [7]:655–661 During the
campaign's final days, he focused on less populated, older, less well-off areas of
battleground states, especially Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where polling indicated
he was popular and where Obama had not campaigned or performed well in the
Democratic primaries.[177][178][179] He also campaigned in some normally Republican states,
as well as in areas with large Catholic populations. [179]
Under instructions from the campaign, Biden kept his speeches succinct and tried to
avoid offhand remarks, such as one about Obama's being tested by a foreign power
soon after taking office, which had attracted negative attention. [177][178] Privately, Biden's
remarks frustrated Obama. "How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?" he
asked.[153]:411–414, 419 Obama campaign staffers referred to Biden blunders as "Joe bombs"
and kept Biden uninformed about strategy discussions, which in turn irked Biden.
[167]
Relations between the two campaigns became strained for a month, until Biden
apologized on a call to Obama and the two built a stronger partnership. [153]:411–414 Publicly,
Obama strategist David Axelrod said Biden's high popularity ratings had outweighed
any unexpected comments.[180] Nationally, Biden had a 60% favorability rating in a Pew
Research Center poll, compared to Palin's 44%.[177]
On November 4, 2008, Obama and Biden were elected with 53% of the popular vote
and 365 electoral votes to McCain–Palin's 173.[181][182][183]
Biden ran for reelection to his Senate seat as well as for vice president, [184] as permitted
by Delaware law.[127] On November 4, he was also reelected to the Senate, defeating
Republican Christine O'Donnell.[185] Having won both races, Biden made a point of
holding off his resignation from the Senate so he could be sworn in for his seventh term
on January 6, 2009.[186] He became the youngest senator ever to start a seventh full
term, and said, "In all my life, the greatest honor bestowed upon me has been serving
the people of Delaware as their United States senator." [186] Biden cast his last Senate
vote on January 15, supporting the release of the second $350 billion for the Troubled
Asset Relief Program,[187] and resigned from the Senate later that day.[nb 2] In an emotional
farewell, Biden told the Senate: "Every good thing I have seen happen here, every bold
step taken in the 36-plus years I have been here, came not from the application of
pressure by interest groups, but through the maturation of personal
relationships."[191] Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed longtime Biden
adviser Ted Kaufman to fill Biden's vacated Senate seat.[192]
Biden was sworn into office by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens on January 20, 2009.
Biden said he intended to eliminate some of the explicit roles assumed by George W.
Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, and did not intend to emulate any previous vice
presidency.[193] He chaired Obama's transition team[194] and headed an initiative to improve
middle-class economic well-being.[195] In early January 2009, in his last act as chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee, he visited the leaders of Iraq, Afghanistan
and Pakistan,[196] and on January 20 he was sworn in as the 47th vice president of the
United States[197]—the first vice president from Delaware[198] and the first Roman
Catholic vice president.[199][200]
Obama was soon comparing Biden to a basketball player "who does a bunch of things
that don't show up in the stat sheet".[201] In May, Biden visited Kosovo and affirmed the
US position that its "independence is irreversible". [202] Biden lost an internal debate to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about sending 21,000 new troops to Afghanistan,[203]
[204]
but his skepticism was valued,[159] and in 2009, Biden's views gained more influence
as Obama reconsidered his Afghanistan strategy. [205] Biden visited Iraq about every two
months,[121] becoming the administration's point man in delivering messages to Iraqi
leadership about expected progress there. [159] More generally, overseeing Iraq policy
became Biden's responsibility: Obama was said to have said, "Joe, you do
Iraq."[206] Biden said Iraq "could be one of the great achievements of this administration".
[207]
His January 2010 visit to Iraq in the midst of turmoil over banned candidates from
the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary election resulted in 59 of the several hundred
candidates being reinstated by the Iraqi government two days later. [208] By 2012, Biden
had made eight trips there, but his oversight of U.S. policy in Iraq receded with the exit
of U.S. troops in 2011.[209][210]
Biden speaks to Navy SEAL trainees at NAB Coronado, California, May 2009.
President Obama congratulates Biden for his role in shaping the debt ceiling deal which led to the Budget
Control Act of 2011.
Biden, Obama and the national security team gathered in the White House Situation Room to monitor the
progress of the May 2011 mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
In October 2010, Biden said Obama had asked him to remain as his running mate for
the 2012 presidential election,[221] but with Obama's popularity on the decline, White
House chief of staff William M. Daley conducted some secret polling and focus group
research in late 2011 on the idea of replacing Biden on the ticket with Hillary Clinton.
[238]
The notion was dropped when the results showed no appreciable improvement for
Obama,[238] and White House officials later said Obama had never entertained the idea. [239]
Biden's May 2012 statement that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex
marriage gained considerable public attention in comparison to Obama's position, which
had been described as "evolving".[240] Biden made his statement without administration
consent, and Obama and his aides were quite irked, since Obama had planned to shift
position several months later, in the build-up to the party convention, and since Biden
had previously counseled the president to avoid the issue lest key Catholic voters be
offended.[167][241][242][243] Gay rights advocates seized upon Biden's statement, [241] and within
days, Obama announced that he too supported same-sex marriage, an action in part
forced by Biden's unexpected remarks.[244] Biden apologized to Obama in private for
having spoken out,[242][245] while Obama acknowledged publicly it had been done from the
heart.[241] The incident showed that Biden still struggled at times with message discipline,
[167]
as Time wrote, "Everyone knows Biden's greatest strength is also his greatest
weakness."[209] Relations were also strained between the campaigns when Biden
appeared to use his position to bolster fundraising contacts for a possible run for
president in 2016, and he ended up being excluded from Obama campaign strategy
meetings.[238]
The Obama campaign nevertheless still valued Biden as a retail-level politician who
could connect with disaffected, blue-collar workers and rural residents, and he had a
heavy schedule of appearances in swing states as the Obama reelection
campaign began in earnest in spring 2012.[246][209] An August 2012 remark before a mixed-
race audience that Republican proposals to relax Wall Street regulations would "put y'all
back in chains" led to a similar analysis of Biden's face-to-face campaigning abilities
versus his tendency to go off track.[246][247][248] The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Most
candidates give the same stump speech over and over, putting reporters if not the
audience to sleep. But during any Biden speech, there might be a dozen moments to
make press handlers cringe, and prompt reporters to turn to each other with amusement
and confusion."[247] Time magazine wrote that Biden often went too far and "Along with
the familiar Washington mix of neediness and overconfidence, Biden's brain is wired for
more than the usual amount of goofiness." [246]
Biden speaks during the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, D.C., July 2013.
Biden was officially nominated for a second term as vice president on September 6 by
voice vote at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[249]
He faced his Republican counterpart, Representative Paul Ryan, in the vice-
presidential debate on October 11 in Danville, Kentucky. There he made a feisty,
emotional defense of the Obama administration's record and energetically attacked the
Republican ticket, attempting to regain the momentum lost by Obama's unfocused
debate performance against Republican nominee Mitt Romney the week before.[250][251]
On November 6, 2012, Obama and Biden were elected to second terms. [252] The ticket
won 332 Electoral College votes to Romney–Ryan's 206 and 51% of the popular vote. [253]
In December 2012, Obama named Biden to head the Gun Violence Task Force, created
to address the causes of gun violence in the United States in the aftermath of the Sandy
Hook Elementary School shooting.[254] Later that month, during the final days before the
United States fell off the "fiscal cliff", Biden's relationship with McConnell once more
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.[255][256] It made many of the Bush tax cuts
permanent but raised rates on upper income levels. [256]
Second term (2013–2017)
Biden favored arming Syria's rebel fighters.[267] As Iraq fell apart during 2014, renewed
attention was paid to the Biden-Gelb Iraqi federalization plan of 2006, with some
observers suggesting Biden had been right all along. [268][269] Biden himself said the U.S.
would follow ISIL "to the gates of hell".[270] In October 2014, he said Turkey, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had "poured hundreds of millions of dollars and
tens of thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Al-Assad,
except that the people who were being supplied were al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda, and the
extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world."[271]
By 2015, a series of swearings-in and other events where Biden had placed his hands
on women and girls and talked closely to them attracted attention both in the press and
on social media.[272][273][274] In one case, a senator issued a statement afterward saying of
his daughter, "No, she doesn't think the vice president is creepy." [275]
On December 8, 2015, Biden spoke in Ukraine's parliament in Kyiv [276][277] in one of his
many visits to set U.S. aid and policy stance on Ukraine. [278][279] On February 28, 2016, he
gave a speech on sexual assault awareness at the 88th Academy Awards; he also
introduced Lady Gaga.
In 2015, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate majority leader Mitch
McConnell invited Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session
of Congress without notifying the Obama administration. This defiance of protocol led
Biden and more than 50 congressional Democrats to skip Netanyahu's speech.[280] But in
March 2016, Biden spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., saying, "We're all united by our unyielding—I
mean literally unyielding—commitment to the survival, the security, and the success of
the Jewish State of Israel."[281]
In August 2016, Biden visited Serbia, where he met with Serbian president Aleksandar
Vučić and expressed his condolences for civilian victims of the bombing campaign
during the Kosovo War.[282] In Kosovo, he attended a ceremony renaming a highway after
his son Beau, in honor of Beau's service to Kosovo in training its judges and
prosecutors.[283][284][285]
On December 8, 2016, Biden went to Ottawa to meet with Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau.[286]
Role in the 2016 presidential campaign
During his second term, Biden was often said to be preparing for a possible bid for
the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.[287] At age 74 on Inauguration Day in
January 2017, he would have been the oldest president on inauguration in history.
[288]
With his family, many 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 again be seriously considering the prospect and a "Draft Biden
2016" PAC was established.[287][289][290]
As of September 11, 2015, Biden was still uncertain about running. He cited his son's
recent death as a large drain on his emotional energy, and said, "nobody has a right ...
to seek that office unless they're willing to give it 110% of who they are." [291]
On October 21, speaking from a podium in the Rose Garden with his wife and Obama
by his side, Biden announced his decision not to run for president in 2016. [292][293][294] In
January 2016, Biden affirmed that it was the right decision, but admitted to regretting
not running for president "every day". [295]
As of the end of January 2016, neither Biden nor Obama had endorsed anyone in the
2016 presidential election. Biden missed his annual Thanksgiving tradition of going
to Nantucket, opting instead to travel abroad and meet with several European leaders.
He took time to meet with Martin O'Malley, having previously met with Bernie Sanders,
both 2016 candidates. Neither of these meetings was considered an endorsement, as
Biden had said he would meet with any candidate who asked. [296]
After Obama endorsed Clinton on June 9, 2016, Biden endorsed her later that day.
[297]
Though Biden and Clinton were scheduled to campaign together in Scranton on July
8, Clinton canceled the appearance in light of the shooting of Dallas police officers the
previous day.[298]
During the campaign season, Biden publicly displayed his disagreements with
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. On June 20, Biden critiqued Trump's
proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States as well as his
stated intent to build a wall along the border with Mexico, adding that Trump's
suggestion to either torture or kill family members of terrorists was damaging both to
American values and "to our security". [299] In a July 26 interview, he said that "moral and
centered" voters would not vote for Trump.[300] On October 21, the anniversary of his
decision not to run, Biden said he wished he were still in high school so he could take
Trump "behind the gym".[301] On October 24, Biden clarified he would have fought Trump
only if he was still in high school,[302] and the next day, Trump responded that he would
"love that".[303]
On March 22, 2017, during his first appearance on Capitol Hill since Trump's
inauguration, Biden called the Republican healthcare bill a "tax bill" meant to transfer
nearly $1 trillion used for health benefits for those struggling to wealthy Americans.
[323]
On May 4, after the House of Representatives narrowly voted for the American
Health Care Act, Biden tweeted that it was a "Day of shame for Congress", lamenting
the loss of preexisting condition protections. [324] On June 24, in response to Senate
Republicans' revealing an American Health Care Act draft the previous day, Biden
tweeted that the bill "isn't about health care at all—it's a wealth transfer: slashes care to
fund tax cuts for the wealthy & corporations." [325] On July 28, in response to the failure in
the Senate of a bill to repeal parts of Obamacare, Biden tweeted, "Thank you to
everyone who tirelessly worked to protect the healthcare of millions." [326]
Immigration
Biden was the first to speak on gay marriage at a Human Rights Campaign event in Los
Angeles in 2012. He also called LGBT workplace discrimination "close to barbaric" and
"bizarre".[329]
On April 14, 2017, Biden released a statement denouncing Chechen authorities for
rounding up, torturing, and murdering "individuals who are believed to be gay", and
stating his hope that the Trump administration would honor a prior pledge to advance
human rights by confronting Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian leaders
over "these egregious violations of human rights". [330] On June 21, during a speech at a
Democratic National Committee LGBT gala in New York City, Biden said, "Hold
President Trump accountable for his pledge to be your friend." [331]
On July 26, 2017, after Trump announced a ban of transgender people serving in the
military, Biden tweeted, "Every patriotic American who is qualified to serve in our military
should be able to serve. Full stop."[332]
In March 2019, Biden condemned Brunei's new LGBT death penalty law, tweeting:
"Stoning people to death for homosexuality or adultery is appalling and immoral. There
is no excuse—not culture, not tradition—for this kind of hate and inhumanity." [333] He
suggested the Trump administration's hostility to LGBT rights was a poor example for
countries like Brunei.[334]
On May 6, 2020, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Biden for president. He
accepted the endorsement and emphasized the importance of continuing to fight
for LGBTQ equality.[335]
Between 2016 and 2019, media outlets often mentioned Biden as a likely candidate for
president in 2020.[336] When asked if he would run, he gave varied and ambivalent
answers, saying "never say never".[337] At one point he suggested he did not see a
scenario where he would run again,[338][339] but a few days later, he said, "I'll run if I can
walk."[340] A political action committee known as Time for Biden was formed in January
2018, seeking Biden's entry into the race.[341]
Biden said he would decide whether to run or not by January 2019, [342] but made no
announcement at that time. Friends said he was "very close to saying yes" but was
concerned about the effect another presidential run could have on his family and
reputation, as well as fundraising struggles and perceptions about his age and relative
centrism.[343] On the other hand, he was prompted to run by his "sense of duty", offense
at the Trump presidency, the lack of foreign policy experience among other Democratic
hopefuls, and his desire to foster "bridge-building progressivism" in the party. [343] He
launched his campaign on April 25, 2019.[344]
Campaign
In September 2019, it was reported that Trump had pressured Ukrainian
president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Biden and his
son Hunter Biden.[345] Despite the allegations, as of September 2019, no evidence has
been produced of any wrongdoing by the Bidens. [346][347][348] The media widely interpreted
this pressure to investigate the Bidens as trying to hurt Biden's chances of winning the
presidency, resulting in a political scandal[349][350] and Trump's impeachment by the House
of Representatives.
Beginning in 2019, Trump and his allies falsely accused Biden of getting the Ukrainian
prosecutor general Viktor Shokin fired because he was supposedly pursuing an
investigation into Burisma Holdings, which employed Hunter Biden. Biden was accused
of withholding $1 billion in aid from Ukraine in this effort. In 2015, Biden pressured the
Ukrainian parliament to remove Shokin because the United States, the European Union
and other international organizations considered Shokin corrupt and ineffective, and in
particular because Shokin was not assertively investigating Burisma. The withholding of
the $1 billion in aid was part of this official policy.[351][352][353][354]
Throughout 2019, Biden stayed generally ahead of other Democrats in national polls. [355]
[356]
Despite this, he finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses, and eight days later, fifth in
the New Hampshire primary.[357][358] He performed better in the Nevada caucuses,
reaching the 15% required for delegates, but still was behind Bernie Sanders by 21.6
percentage points.[359] Making strong appeals to black voters on the campaign trail and in
the South Carolina debate, Biden won the South Carolina primary by more than 28
points.[360] After the withdrawals and subsequent endorsements of candidates Pete
Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, he made large gains in the March 3 Super
Tuesday primary elections. Biden won 18 of the next 26 contests, including Alabama,
Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
Texas, and Virginia, putting him in the lead overall. [361] Elizabeth Warren and Mike
Bloomberg soon dropped out, and Biden expanded his lead with victories over Sanders
in four states (Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri) on March 10. [362]
When Sanders suspended his campaign on April 8, 2020, Biden became the
Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for president.[363] On April 13, Sanders
endorsed Biden in a live-streamed discussion from their homes. [364] Former
President Barack Obama endorsed Biden the next day.[365] In March 2020, Biden
committed to choosing a woman as his running mate. [366] In June, Biden met the 1,991-
delegate threshold needed to secure the party's presidential nomination. [1] On August
11, he announced U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate,
making her the first African American and South Asian American vice-presidential
nominee on a major-party ticket.[367]
On August 18, 2020, Biden was officially nominated at the 2020 Democratic National
Convention as the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 2020 election.[368][369][370]
Allegations of inappropriate physical contact
Biden has been accused of inappropriate contact with women at public events, such as
embracing, kissing, gripping, or placing a hand on their shoulder. [371][372] He has described
himself as a "tactile politician" and admitted this behavior has caused trouble for him in
the past.[373]
In March 2019, former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores alleged that Biden had
touched her without her consent at a 2014 campaign rally in Las Vegas. In an op-ed,
Flores wrote that Biden had walked up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders,
smelled her hair, and kissed the back of her head, adding that the way he touched her
was "an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners—and I felt
powerless to do anything about it."[374] Biden's spokesman said Biden did not recall the
behavior described.[375] Two days later, Amy Lappos, a former congressional aide to Jim
Himes, said Biden touched her in a non-sexual but inappropriate way by holding her
head to rub noses with her at a political fundraiser in Greenwich in 2009. [376] The next
day, two more women came forward with allegations of inappropriate conduct. Caitlin
Caruso said Biden placed his hand on her thigh, and D.J. Hill said he ran his hand from
her shoulder down her back.[377][378] In early April 2019, three women told The Washington
Post Biden had touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. [379] In April
2019, former Biden staffer Tara Reade said she had felt uncomfortable on several
occasions when Biden touched her on her shoulder and neck during her employment in
his Senate office in 1993.[380] In March 2020, Reade accused him of a 1993 sexual
assault.[381] Biden and his campaign vehemently denied the allegation. [382][383]
Biden apologized for not understanding how people would react to his actions, but said
his intentions were honorable. He went on to say he was not sorry for anything he had
ever done, which led critics to accuse him of sending a mixed message. [384]
Political positions
Main article: Political positions of Joe Biden
Biden has been characterized as a moderate Democrat.[395] He supported the fiscal
stimulus in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;[396][397] the increased
infrastructure spending proposed by the Obama administration; [397] mass transit,
including Amtrak, bus, and subway subsidies;[398] reproductive rights;[399] same-sex
marriage;[400] and the reduced military spending in the Obama administration's fiscal year
2014 budget.[401][402] Biden supports the Roe v. Wade decision and since 2019 has been in
favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment.[403][404] Biden has proposed partially reversing the
corporate tax cuts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, saying that doing so would not
hurt businesses' ability to hire.[405][406]
Some political scientists gauge ideology by comparing the annual ratings by
the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) with the ratings by the American
Conservative Union (ACU).[407] Biden has a lifetime liberal 72% score from the ADA
through 2004, while the ACU awarded Biden a lifetime conservative rating of 13%
through 2008.[408] Using another metric, Biden has a lifetime average liberal score of
77.5%, according to a National Journal analysis that places him ideologically among the
center of Senate Democrats as of 2008. [409] The Almanac of American Politics rates
congressional votes as liberal or conservative on the political spectrum in three policy
areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–06, Biden's average economic rating
was 80% liberal and 13% conservative, his social rating was 78% liberal and 18%
conservative, and his foreign rating was 71% liberal and 25% conservative. [410] This has
not changed significantly over time; his liberal ratings in the mid-1980s were also in the
70%–80% range.[62]
The American Civil Liberties Union gives him an 80% lifetime score,[411] with a 91% score
for the 110th Congress.[412] The AFL–CIO gave Biden an 85% lifetime approval rating.[413]
Biden opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and supports
governmental funding to find new energy sources. [414] He believes action must be taken
on global warming. He co-sponsored the Sense of the Senate resolution calling on the
United States to take part in the United Nations climate negotiations and the Boxer–
Sanders Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the most stringent climate bill in
the United States Senate.[415] He wants to achieve a carbon-free power sector in the U.S.
by 2035 and stop emissions completely by 2050. [416] His program includes
reentering Paris Agreement, nature conservation, and green building.[417] Biden wants to
pressure China and other countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, by carbon tariffs if
necessary.[418][419] He voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Biden pledged, if elected, to sanction and commercially restrict Chinese government
[420]
Distinctions
Main article: List of honors received by Joe Biden
President Obama presents Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, January 12, 2017.
Electoral history
Main article: Electoral history of Joe Biden
Election results
Democrati 58
1978 93,930 James H. Baxter Jr. Republican 66,479
c %
Democrati 60
1984 147,831 John M. Burris Republican 98,101
c %
Democrati 58 Raymond J.
2002 135,253 Republican 94,793
c % Clatworthy
Democrati 65 Christine
2008 257,484 Republican 140,584
c % O'Donnell
Democrati
2020 President Donald Trump Republican
c
Writings by Biden
Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Helms, Jesse (April 1, 2000). Hague Convention On
International Child Abduction: Applicable Law And Institutional Framework
Within Certain Convention Countries Report To The Senate. Diane
Publishing. ISBN 0-7567-2250-0.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (July 8, 2001). Putin Administration's Policies toward
Non-Russian Regions of the Russian Federation: Hearing before the
Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate (PDF). U.S. Government
Printing Office. ISBN 0-7567-2624-7.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (July 24, 2001). Administration's Missile Defense
Program and the ABM Treaty: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign
Relations, U.S. Senate (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-
7567-1959-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (September 5, 2001). Threat of Bioterrorism and the
Spread of Infectious Diseases: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign
Relations, U.S. Senate (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-
7567-2625-5.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (February 12, 2002). Examining The Theft Of
American Intellectual Property At Home And Abroad: Hearing before the
Committee On Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate (PDF). U.S. Government
Printing Office. ISBN 0-7567-4177-7.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (February 14, 2002). Halting the Spread of
HIV/AIDS: Future Efforts in the U.S. Bilateral & Multilateral Response:
Hearings before the Comm. on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. Diane
Publishing. ISBN 0-7567-3454-1.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (February 27, 2002). How Do We Promote
Democratization, Poverty Alleviation, and Human Rights to Build a More
Secure Future: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S.
Senate (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-7567-2478-3.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (August 1, 2002). Hearings to Examine Threats,
Responses, and Regional Considerations Surrounding Iraq: Hearing
before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate (PDF). U.S.
Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-7567-2823-1.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (January 1, 2003). International Campaign Against
Terrorism: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S.
Senate. Diane Publishing. ISBN 0-7567-3041-4.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (January 1, 2003). Political Future of Afghanistan:
Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. Diane
Publishing. ISBN 0-7567-3039-2.
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (September 1, 2003). Strategies for Homeland
Defense: A Compilation by the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S.
Senate. Diane Publishing. ISBN 0-7567-2623-9.
Biden, Joseph (2005). "Foreword". In Nicholson, William C.
(ed.). Homeland Security Law and Policy. C. C Thomas. ISBN 0-398-
07583-2.
Biden, Joe (July 31, 2007). Promises to Keep. Random House. ISBN 978-
1-4000-6536-3. Also paperback edition, Random House 2008, ISBN 0-
8129-7621-5.
Biden, Joe (November 14, 2017). Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope,
Hardship, and Purpose. Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-250-17167-2.
Notes
1. ^ Biden admired McCain politically as well as personally. In May 2004,
he had urged McCain to run as vice president with presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, saying the cross-party
ticket would help heal the "vicious rift" in U.S. politics.[175]
2. ^ Delaware's Democratic governor, Ruth Ann Minner, announced on
November 24, 2008, that she would appoint Biden's longtime senior
adviser Ted Kaufman to succeed Biden in the Senate.[188] Kaufman said
he would serve only two years, until Delaware's special Senate
election in 2010.[188] Biden's son Beau ruled himself out of the 2008
selection process due to his impending tour in Iraq with the Delaware
Army National Guard.[189] He was a possible candidate for the 2010
special election, but in early 2010 said he would not run for the seat. [190]
3. ^ As of Monday, November 9, 2020, ever since major media outlets
called the election for Biden a few days earlier, most reliable sources
have been referring to Joe Biden as president-elect, and to Kamala
Harris as vice president-elect. At that time, the incumbent president
[[[Donald Trump]] was still refusing to concede defeat and was
claiming the election was being stolen from him by alleged electoral
fraud, and Emily W. Murphy, the Trump-appointed Administrator of
the General Services Administration (GSA), whose task it is to formally
certify the winners as "President-elect" and "Vice-President-elect" in
order to officially start the transition,[385][386] had not yet done so.[387][386] and
the criteria for certifying the winners are "legally murky".[386]
4. ^ However, like previous potential transition teams, such as that of
unsuccessful candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, the Biden transition
team remains eligible for government funding in accordance with the
Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010,[388][389] and Biden has
been eligible to receive classified intelligence briefings since his
nomination in August.[390] At least some government agencies had
reportedly started their transition plans as of November 9, 2020, with
airspace being restricted over his home, and "the Secret Service has
begun using agents from its presidential protective detail for the
president-elect and his family."[386]
References
Citations
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Linskey, Annie (June 9, 2020). "Biden clinches the
Democratic nomination after securing more than 1,991 delegates".
2. ^ "Joe Biden elected president". CNN. November 7, 2020.
Retrieved November 7, 2020.
3. ^ "US Election 2020: Joe Biden wins the presidency". BBC News.
November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 7,2020.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Azari, Julia (August 20, 2020). "Biden Had To Fight For
The Presidential Nomination. But Most VPs Have To". FiveThirtyEight.
5. ^ Kornacki, Steve (December 8, 2019). "Cruel primary history lessons
Joe Biden won't want to hear". NBC News.
6. ^ "Does the Vice Presidency Give Joe Biden an Advantage in the
Race to the Top? Here's How VPs Before Him Fared". Time. April 25,
2019. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Witcover, Jules (2010). Joe Biden: A Life
of Trial and Redemption. New York City: William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-
06-179198-7.
8. ^ Chase, Randall (January 9, 2010). "Vice President Biden's mother,
Jean, dies at 92". WITN-TV. Associated Press.
9. ^ "Joseph Biden Sr., 86, father of the senator". The Baltimore Sun.
September 3, 2002. Retrieved April 15,2020.
10. ^ Smolenyak, Megan (July 2, 2012). "Joe Biden's Irish
Roots". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
11. ^ "Number two Biden has a history over Irish debate". The Belfast
Telegraph. November 9, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
12. ^ Smolenyak, Megan (April–May 2013). "Joey From Scranton—Vice
President Biden's Irish Roots". Irish America. Retrieved April
15, 2020.
13. ^ Jump up to: Broder, John M. (October 23, 2008). "Father's
a b c d e f g
16. ^ Frank, Martin (September 28, 2008). "Biden was the stuttering kid
who wanted the ball". The News Journal. p. D.1. Archived from the
original on June 1, 2013.
17. ^ Jump up to: Taylor, Paul (1990). See How They Run: Electing the
a b c d e f
Books
Barone, Michael; Cohen, Richard E. (2008). The Almanac of American
Politics. National Journal. Washington. ISBN 978-0-89234-116-0.
Bronner, Ethan (1989). Battle for Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook
America. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-02690-6.
Gadsen, Brett (October 8, 2012). Between North and South: Delaware,
Desegregation, and the Myth of American Sectionalism. University of
Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0797-2.
Mayer, Jane; Abramson, Jill (1994). Strange Justice: The Selling of
Clarence Thomas. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-63318-4.
Moritz, Charles, ed. (1987). Current Biography Yearbook 1987. New
York: H. W. Wilson Company.
Wolffe, Richard (2009). Renegade: The Making of a President. New
York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-307-46312-8.
Levingston, Steven; Dyson, Michael (2019). Barack and Joe: The Making
of an Extraordinary Partnership. Hachette. ISBN 978-0-316-48788-7.
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BIBSYS: 1593520723824
BNF: cb144622987 (data)
GND: 124301649
LCCN: n80016125
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