Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Represented Delaware for 36 years in the U.S. Senate before becoming the 47th Vice President of the United States. On January 20, 2021, he was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.
President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four children of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden and Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr. In 1953, the Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware. President Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council.
At age 29, President Biden became one of the youngest Americans ever elected to the United States Senate. Just weeks after his Senate election, tragedy struck when his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed, and sons Hunter and Beau were critically injured, in a car accident. He was sworn into the U.S. Senate at his sons’ hospital bedsides and began commuting from Wilmington to Washington every day, first by car, and then by train, in order to be with his family. In 1977, he married Jill Jacobs, and in 1980, their family was complete with the birth of their daughter Ashley.
A Leader in the Senate and 47th Vice President of the United States
As a Senator from Delaware for 36 years, then-Senator Biden played a leading role addressing some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges, including writing the Violence Against Women Act. As Vice President, he worked alongside President Obama to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, oversee the then-largest economic recovery plan in history, and strengthen American leadership on the world stage.
The 46th President of the United States
In 2020, President Biden ran for the White House to restore the Soul of America, rebuild the backbone of America – the middle class, and unite the country. After being sworn in as the 46th President on January 20th, 2021, he took swift action to get America vaccinated and jumpstart an economic recovery that created more jobs than any other President has created in four years. The President’s agenda is investing in all Americans. His Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is rebuilding our roads and bridges, removing lead pipes, and expanding high-speed internet access. His Inflation Reduction Act is the largest investment in climate action in history. And his CHIPS and Science Act is making cutting-edge technology here in America with American workers.
The President beat Big Pharma – negotiating lower prescription drug costs and capping insulin at $35 a month for seniors. His agenda is lowering health insurance costs, cutting utility bills, and taking on corporate rip-offs like junk fees. The President nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. He signed into law the first meaningful gun safety bill in nearly 30 years. And on the world stage, President Biden has strengthened our alliances and restored American leadership. He has rallied the world to stand up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, expanded NATO which is now larger and stronger than ever before, and increased America’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
President Biden came to office determined to build an administration that looks like America — and that’s what he’s done. He served as Vice President to the nation’s first Black President, and now serves as President alongside the nation’s first Black woman to be Vice President. President Biden has been at the center of the great American story of expanding opportunity and making real the promise of America to everyone.
Adapted from the official White House biography of President Joe Biden.
"It's great to be back on this magnificent campus. I remember the first time I walked down this green I remember thinking that my dad was right that this was really, really important. I felt like I had arrived at a time and place that made me feel that maybe, maybe I could do some pretty interesting things. So it's good to be home, it's good to be welcomed back."
- PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
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