# Joe Biden

By [Gayan](https://paragraph.com/@gayan) · 2024-01-17

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**Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.** ([/ˈbaɪdən/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-Biden2.ogg) [_BY-dən_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key); born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who is the 46th and current [president of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States). A member of the [Democratic Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_\(United_States\)), he previously served as the 47th [vice president](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States) from 2009 to 2017 under President [Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama) and represented [Delaware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware) in the [United States Senate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate) from 1973 to 2009.

Born in [Scranton, Pennsylvania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scranton,_Pennsylvania), Biden moved with his family to Delaware in 1953. He graduated from the [University of Delaware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Delaware) before earning his law degree from [Syracuse University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse_University). He was elected to the [New Castle County Council](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_County_Council) in 1970 and to the U.S. Senate in [1972](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_United_States_Senate_election_in_Delaware). As a senator, Biden drafted and led the effort to pass the [Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act) and the [Violence Against Women Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Against_Women_Act). He also oversaw six [U.S. Supreme Court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Supreme_Court) confirmation hearings, including the contentious hearings for [Robert Bork](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination) and [Clarence Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas_Supreme_Court_nomination). Biden ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in [1988](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_1988_presidential_campaign) and [2008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_2008_presidential_campaign). In 2008, Obama chose Biden as his running mate, and he was a close counselor to Obama during his two terms as vice president. In the [2020 presidential election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election), Biden and his running mate, [Kamala Harris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Harris), defeated incumbents [Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump) and [Mike Pence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence). He became the [oldest president in U.S. history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_age), and the first to have a female vice president.

As president, Biden signed the [American Rescue Plan Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Rescue_Plan_Act_of_2021) in response to the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States) and [subsequent recession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_recession). He signed bipartisan bills on [infrastructure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_Investment_and_Jobs_Act) and [manufacturing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act). He proposed the [Build Back Better Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build_Back_Better_Act), which failed in Congress, but aspects of which were incorporated into the [Inflation Reduction Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act) that he signed into law in 2022. Biden [appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketanji_Brown_Jackson_Supreme_Court_nomination) to the Supreme Court. He worked with congressional [Republicans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_\(United_States\)) to resolve the [2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_States_debt-ceiling_crisis) by negotiating [a deal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_Responsibility_Act_of_2023) to raise the debt ceiling. In foreign policy, Biden restored America's membership in the [Paris Agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement). He oversaw the [complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_US_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan) that ended the [war in Afghanistan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_\(2001%E2%80%932021\)), during which the [Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Taliban_offensive). He [responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_and_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine) by imposing [sanctions on Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine) and authorizing [civilian and military aid to Ukraine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War). During the [2023 Israel–Hamas war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war), Biden announced [military support for Israel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Israel_in_the_2023_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war), and condemned the actions of [Hamas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas) and other Palestinian militants as terrorism.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#cite_note-2) In April 2023, Biden announced [his candidacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_2024_presidential_campaign) for the Democratic nomination in the [2024 presidential election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election).

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*Originally published on [Gayan](https://paragraph.com/@gayan/joe-biden)*