Joe Biden
Joe Biden was president of the United States from 2021 to 2025, after half a century in national politics. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1942 and raised in Delaware, he overcame a severe stammer, and was elected to the Senate in 1972 at twenty-nine. Weeks later his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car crash and his two sons were badly injured; he was sworn in at the hospital and commuted by train from Wilmington for decades. He served thirty-six years in the Senate, chairing the judiciary committee — where he presided over the Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings, the latter widely criticised for its treatment of Anita Hill — and the foreign relations committee. He wrote the 1994 crime bill and the Violence Against Women Act, and voted for the Iraq war in 2002. He ran for president in 1988, withdrawing over plagiarism in a speech, and in 2008, and served two terms as Barack Obama's vice-president. His elder son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. He won in 2020 against Donald Trump, and his term produced an unusual volume of legislation for a divided Congress: the American Rescue Plan, a bipartisan infrastructure act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in American history. Unemployment fell to historic lows and inflation rose sharply before falling. He organised Western support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, and completed the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, which collapsed chaotically. He withdrew from the 2024 race in July after a poor debate performance, endorsing Kamala Harris.
- Lived: 1942 CE – ?
- Nationality: American
- Roles: 46th President of the United States (2021-2025)
