Joe Biden's Biography
Joe Biden is an American politician and Democrat, recognized for his work in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as one of the people who changed the world. He served as the Vice President of the United States under Barack Obama. In 2020, he ran for president for the third time, becoming the main competitor to the incumbent president, Donald Trump, and won, becoming the 46th president.
Childhood and Family
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., the first child of Joseph Robinette Biden and Catherine Eugenia Biden (née Finnegan), was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on November 20, 1942. Joe, as his family called him, grew up with a sister and two brothers. His parents raised them in the Catholic faith. Joe inherited Irish roots from his mother's side and English and French roots from his father's side.
From childhood, Joe stuttered badly, complicating his interactions with peers and his studies, but he overcame this difficulty by spending hours a day in front of a mirror and reciting poetry.
Education
The future politician studied at St. Helena Elementary School in Wilmington. After graduating, he enrolled at Archmere Academy, where he joined the student football team and showed decent performance in football. Joe also played baseball. According to his classmates, he was an average student, but he had truly outstanding leadership qualities: Biden actively participated in student life and was elected class president several times.
Beginning of Political Career
In the late 1960s, Biden began practicing law. Initially, he worked for a few months at a law firm, then became a public defender. By 1970, he founded Biden and Walsh, a law firm that handled criminal and corporate cases and managed properties.
Biden served on the County Council while continuing his law practice for about two years, from 1970 to 1972.
Senate
In November 1973, Joe became a senator from Delaware. He made history as the youngest U.S. senator, being just thirty years old.
The campaign lacked support and funding, and Joe's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, managed it with almost all family members working on it. Joe's program was printed on newsprint. Campaign members handed out unremarkable leaflets to people on the streets and voters during personal meetings.
Joe's main opponent was Republican James Caleb Boggs, who had President Nixon's support. But his authority couldn't withstand the energy of young Biden, the appeal of his political program, and his ability to connect emotionally with citizens.
As a senator, Biden participated in drafting and implementing many bills, including the controversial and strict 1984 "Anti-Crime Law." It expanded criminal liability for cyber fraud and hostage-taking, increased penalties for growing and selling marijuana, and allowed the confiscation of property from organized crime members.
Biden strongly opposed racial integration in schools (when Black students were forced to attend white schools). He believed that "disorganized desegregation would turn schools into racial jungles," which sparked protests from his constituents.
Due to his work on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden was named one of the "Twelve People Who Changed the World." He played a leading role in several significant foreign policy issues, including expanding NATO's influence. Biden was one of the initiators of investigating war crimes in Bosnia and prosecuting Slobodan Milošević. He also supported removing Saddam Hussein, who he said was a threat to national security.
Presidential Campaigns
Joe Biden first ran for president in 1988. He gained support from minorities after criticizing Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who advocated for the apartheid system in South Africa. However, he focused his campaign on young professionals and the Jewish diaspora.In his campaign, he urged Americans to reject "simple material consumption" and "unchecked individualism."
However, Biden's dream of becoming the youngest president and, like John F. Kennedy, a new figure to inspire American society, was not to be. He withdrew from the race due to accusations of plagiarism—voters found his words strikingly similar to the campaign speeches of British Labour Party member Neil Kinnock. Although the accusations were later dismissed by the Delaware Supreme Court, it also emerged that he had been caught plagiarizing in a law school paper. He received an "F" but was allowed to retake the course and eventually received an excellent grade.We must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society, for nothing suffocates the promise of America more than unbounded cynicism and indifference.
2020 Presidential Election
In 2020, Joe Biden made his third attempt to become the head of the White House. His presidential campaign began in the spring of 2019, and in August, he announced that Kamala Harris would be his vice-presidential candidate, the first Asian and African American woman nominated for this position.Biden's program also includes environmental protection measures, such as reducing shale oil extraction, which Greta Thunberg noted, strengthening healthcare, especially for rural hospitals, and reconstructing and developing infrastructure with a planned investment of $1.3 trillion.
On November 7, it became known that Biden had secured the majority of electoral votes – at least 273 out of the required 270. Most voted for Biden in California, the most populous state, guaranteeing 55 electoral votes, as well as Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, and New England states.
Donald Trump did not acknowledge his opponent's victory. However, on December 14, after the Electoral College meeting, Biden's victory was officially recognized: 306 electoral votes went to Biden, and 232 to Trump.
Presidential Term
At the very beginning of Joe Biden's presidential term, he faced numerous challenges. These included the aftermath of protests by Trump supporters, which escalated into the storming of the Capitol, and the ongoing coronavirus situation. Despite lockdowns and vaccinations, people continued to get sick, and society split into "vaxxers" and "anti-vaxxers," supporters and opponents of mass COVID-19 vaccination.
In February 2022, Joe Biden ordered the start of a counterterrorism operation in northern Syria, resulting in the death of one of the leaders of the terrorist organization ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
In the same month, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine. Even before it started, Biden warned of the consequences of such a decision for Russia and kept his promises: Ukraine received record financial support (over $40 billion). On May 9, Biden signed a lend-lease act similar to the one from World War II.
Regarding U.S. domestic policy, in June 2022, Biden signed a law tightening control over gun circulation. The need for it arose amid frequent school shooting incidents.
In August, the president signed the "The CHIPS and Science Act," which provided over $50 billion for semiconductor research.
In October, Biden, whose campaign included a promise to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, ordered the pardon of all those convicted for possessing small amounts of the drug. The law affected approximately 6,500 people.
Joe Biden's Personal Life: Wife and Children
Joe met his first wife in 1964. Neilia Hunter, like him, studied at Syracuse University. They had three children: daughter Naomi and sons Hunter and Beau.
Left a widower with two young sons, Joe considered leaving politics, but in 1975 he met Jill Tracy Jacobs, a young teacher who, according to him, rekindled his interest in political activity. Joe and Jill married in 1977, and four years later, their daughter Ashley Blazer Biden was born.
Joe Biden Now
Joe Biden planned to run for president again in the 2024 election. In April 2023, he officially announced his candidacy. However, after a disastrous debate with Donald Trump (67% of viewers declared the Republican leader the winner) at the end of June 2024, even his loyal voters began to doubt Biden's mental fitness.Initially, the sitting president insisted on his candidacy despite pressure from Democratic Party leaders. He acknowledged his age but still believed he was fit to lead the country:
The first Democrats to publicly urge Biden to withdraw from the presidential race were Representatives Lloyd Doggett (Texas) and Raúl Grijalva (Arizona). Such calls increased, and soon influential Democratic Party sponsors (like Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix) refused to fund Biden's campaign.I don't walk as easy as I used to, I don't speak as smoothly as I used to, I don't debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know... I know how to tell the truth
On July 11, during the closing ceremony of the NATO summit, Joe Biden confused Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (calling Putin the President of Ukraine) and referred to Donald Trump as his vice president instead of Kamala Harris. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, told Biden that Democrats would lose if he remained the candidate.
On July 17, Biden stated he was willing to consider withdrawing from the election if he faced serious health issues. On the same day, the White House announced that the president had tested positive for coronavirus. According to The New York Times, there was an internal split within the Democratic Party: Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama opposed Biden, while the Clintons still supported the sitting president and urged sponsors not to block donations.
On July 21, Biden announced his withdrawal from the race and proposed his right-hand, Kamala Harris, as the new candidate.
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