Biography of Joe Biden

As the former Vice President of the United States and now the 2020 President-Elect, Joe Biden has been in the political spotlight for over a decade. We know him as the man who helped run the country alongside former President Barack Obama, and we now know him as the man who defeated President Trump in the 2020 presidential election.  However, aside from his political accomplishments and career, what do we know about the Presidential-Elect as a person? 

Born on November 20, 1942, in Scranton Pennsylvania, Joseph Biden Jr. was the first child of Joseph Biden Sr. and his wife, Catherine Biden. Joe Biden is the oldest of four children. He has a sister, Valerie, and two brothers, Frank and Jim. Despite being born in Pennsylvania, the Biden family relocated to Mayfield Deleware where he and his three siblings grew up. Biden attended the prestigious Archmere Academy where was a standout receiver for the school’s football team. An adequate student, Biden graduate from Archmere in 1961. 

Following his graduation from Archmere, Biden attended the University of Deleware where he continued to play football as well as studying political science and history. In his junior year of college on a spring break trip, Neila Hunter, a Syracuse student. Joe, influenced by his newfound love, Biden applied to Syracuse Law school following his graduation from the University of Deleware. In 1966, Biden and Hunter got married. 

After his graduation from law school, Biden began practicing at a law firm in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1970 he was elected to the New Castle County Council and became a councilman. As his career progressed, so did his family. Biden had three children with Neilia Hunter: Joseph “Beau”, Robert “Hunter”, and Naomi “Amy. 

In 1972, encouraged by the Deleware Democrat Party, 29-year-old Biden ran against Republican J. Caleb Boggs for the United States senate. Biden won becoming the fifth-youngest United States senator elected. Shortly after his victorious win, Biden was hit with a family tragedy. Neila and his three children got into a severe car accident, killing his wife and daughter and horribly injuring his two sons. Biden struggled to properly cope and deal with the devastating news, it was during this time that he decided he would continue to live in Deleware to spend more time with his two sons. He took the Amtrak from Washington to Deleware throughout his Senate tenure. 

In 1977 Biden got re-married to his second wife, Jill Biden. The couple has one daughter together, Ashley, who was born in 1981. Unfortunately in May of 2015, Biden’s son “Beau” died after an on-going battle with brain cancer. He was 46 years old. 

Biden ran a successful senate career from 1979-2009. He served as the leading chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations for several years. In 1987, Biden decided to run for President, however, he soon dropped out after reports came out that he had plagiarized parts of a speech. Shortly after he dropped out of the Presidential election, doctors discovered that Biden has suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms. These two aneurysms caused him to undergo surgery, and after a seventh month recovery period, Biden returned to the Senate. 

20 years after his first Presidential bid, Biden decided to run again for President. However, he dropped out after his campaign failed to take off due to being dominated by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Although, several months later, Barack Obama chose Biden as his running mate after securing the Democratic nomination. Obama and Biden defeated John McCain and Sarah Palin in the election and were sworn into office in January of 2009. Four years after winning the presidential election and running a successful presidency, Obama and Biden ran for re-election against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in 2012. Obama won the presidency, once again, receiving about 60 percent of the electoral votes. 

After two successful terms as vice-president, Joe Biden had expectedly, decided to run for President in 2020. Mid-way into the election, Biden announced that he chose Kamala Harris as his running mate. If the duo won, Kamala Harris would be the first female and African-American vice president in the history of the United States. Biden won the Presidential Election against President Donald Trump, earning 74 million-plus votes.