AN OVERVIEW OF

BIDENS POLITICAL
CARRIER

JOSEPH ROBINETTE"JOE"BIDEN, JR.

Isthe47thandcurrentVice
PresidentoftheUnited
States,jointlyelectedwith
PresidentBarackObama.He
isamemberof
theDemocraticPartyand
wasaUnitedStates
SenatorfromDelawarefrom
January3,1973,untilhis
resignationonJanuary15,
2009,followinghiselectionto
theVicePresidency.
In2012,Bidenwaselectedto
asecondtermalongside
Obama.

Bidenwasborn
inScranton,
Pennsylvania,andlived
therefortenyearsbefore
movingtoDelaware.He
becameanattorneyin
1969,andwaselectedto
theNewCastleCounty
councilin1970.
Bidenwasfirstelectedto
theSenatein1972and
becamethesixth-youngest
senatorinU.S.history.

Hewasre-electedtotheSenatesixtimes,and
wasthefourthmostseniorsenatoratthe
timeofhisresignation.
Bidenwasalong-timememberandformer
chairmanoftheForeignRelations
Committee.
HisstrongadvocacyhelpedbringaboutU.S.
militaryassistanceandinterventionduring
theBosnianWar.HeopposedtheGulf
Warin1991.HevotedinfavoroftheIraq
WarResolutionin2002,butlaterproposed
resolutionstoalterU.S.strategythere.

Hehasalsoservedas
chairmanoftheSenate
JudiciaryCommittee,
dealingwithissuesrelated
todrugpolicy,crime
prevention,andcivil
liberties,andledcreationof
theViolentCrimeControl
andLawEnforcement
ActandViolenceAgainst
WomenAct.

HechairedtheJudiciary
Committeeduringthe
contentiousU.S.Supreme
Courtnominations
ofRobert
BorkandClarenceThomas.

Biden unsuccessfully sought

the Democratic presidential
nomination in
1988 and 2008, both times
dropping out early in the
race.
Barack Obama selected
Biden to be the Democratic
Party nominee for Vice
President in the 2008 U.S.
presidential election.
Biden is the first Roman
Catholic and the first
Delawarean to become Vice
President of the United
States.

AsVicePresident,Bidenhasbeenheavilyinvolved
inObama'sdecision-makingprocessandheldthe
oversightroleforinfrastructurespendingfromthe
Obamastimuluspackageaimedatcounteracting
thelate-2000srecession.Hisabilitytonegotiate
withCongressionalRepublicansplayedakeyrole
inbringingaboutthebipartisandealsthatresulted
intheTaxRelief,UnemploymentInsurance
Reauthorization,andJobCreationActof
2010thatresolvedataxationdeadlock,theBudget
ControlActof2011thatresolvedthatyear'sdebt
ceilingcrisis,andtheAmericanTaxpayerRelief
Actof2012thataddressedtheimpending"fiscal
cliff".

Joe Biden
met his
second
wife,Jill
(here seen
dancing
together in
2009), in
1975 and
they married
in 1977.

Duringhisfirstyearsinthe
Senate,Bidenfocusedon
legislationregarding
consumer-protectionand
environmentalissuesand
calledforgreater
accountabilityonthepartof
government.Inmid-1974,
freshmanSenatorBidenwas
namedoneofthe200Faces
forthe
FuturebyTimemagazine,ina
profilethatmentionedwhat
hadhappenedtohisfamily
andcharacterizedBidenas
"self-confident"and
"compulsivelyambitious".