United StatesWho is Joe Biden?
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1942, and grew up there and in Delaware in a working-class Irish Catholic family. After law school and work as a public defender, he was elected to the US Senate in 1972 at the age of 29 and served 36 years, chairing the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees. He was Barack Obama's vice president from 2009 to 2017 and won the presidency in 2020. He withdrew from the 2024 race in July 2024 and left office in January 2025.
Political views
Wrote the Senate version of the 1994 crime bill and the Violence Against Women Act, which he called his proudest legislative accomplishment.
Source: millercenter.orgSigned the American Rescue Plan in 2021, with direct payments to most taxpayers and an expanded child tax credit.
Source: millercenter.orgSigned the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act for semiconductor manufacturing.
Source: millercenter.orgSigned the Inflation Reduction Act, which invested in clean energy and lowered prescription drug prices.
Source: millercenter.orgCalled the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs ruling a tragic error and directed federal agencies to protect access to reproductive care.
Source: millercenter.orgRaised tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 percent and on other Chinese goods in 2024.
Source: semafor.comRejoined the Paris Agreement on his first day and led more than 50 allies in aiding Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion.
Source: millercenter.org
Legacy
Supporters credit Biden with a strong recovery from the pandemic recession, the largest public investment in infrastructure and clean energy in decades, the first major federal gun safety law in thirty years and the rebuilding of NATO unity behind Ukraine. Critics point to the high inflation of 2021 and 2022, record encounters at the southern border, the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan in which 13 US service members were killed, and concerns about his age, which led him to abandon his re-election campaign. His support for Israel's war in Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack divided his own party. Earlier in his career, critics linked the 1994 crime bill to mass incarceration and faulted his handling of the 1991 Anita Hill hearings. His December 2024 pardon of his son Hunter drew criticism from both parties.