![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Joe_Biden_presidential_portrait.jpg/640px-Joe_Biden_presidential_portrait.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Joe Biden
President of the United States since 2021 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.[lower-alpha 2] (born November 20, 1942) is the current president of the United States. He became the 46th president when he was elected in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009.
This article may be affected by the following current event: Withdrawal from 2024 US presidential election. Information in this article may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (July 2024) |
Joe Biden | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2021 | |
46th President of the United States | |
Assumed office January 20, 2021 | |
Vice President | Kamala Harris |
Preceded by | Donald Trump |
47th Vice President of the United States | |
In office January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Dick Cheney |
Succeeded by | Mike Pence |
United States Senator from Delaware | |
In office January 3, 1973 – January 15, 2009 | |
Preceded by | J. Caleb Boggs |
Succeeded by | Ted Kaufman[1] |
Personal details | |
Born | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (1942-11-20) November 20, 1942 (age 81) Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic (since 1969) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (before 1969) |
Spouses | |
Children | |
Relatives | Biden family |
Residence | White House |
Education | |
Occupation |
|
Awards | Full list |
Signature | ![]() |
Website | |
Other offices
| |
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden moved with his family to Delaware in 1953. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 before earning his law degree from Syracuse University in 1968. He was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and to the U.S. Senate in 1972. As a senator, Biden drafted and led the effort to pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act. He also oversaw six U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including the contentious hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. Biden ran unsuccessfully for the 1988 and 2008 Democratic presidential nominations. 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, Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate and defeated incumbent Donald Trump. He is the oldest president in U.S. history and the first to have a female vice president.
As president, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession. He signed bipartisan bills on infrastructure and manufacturing. He proposed the Build Back Better Act, which failed in Congress, but aspects of which were incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act that he signed into law in 2022. Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. He worked with congressional Republicans to resolve the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis by negotiating a deal to raise the debt ceiling. In foreign policy, Biden restored America's membership in the Paris Agreement. He oversaw the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that ended the war in Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban seizing control. He responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and authorizing civilian and military aid to Ukraine. During the Israel–Hamas war, Biden condemned the actions of Hamas as terrorism,[2] announced military support for Israel and sent limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.[3][4][5]
In April 2023, Biden announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election and became the presumptive nominee. However, following what was widely viewed as a poor performance in a June 2024 debate with Trump and increasing age and health concerns, he withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Harris to succeed him.