Joe Biden – 46th (Current)

Introduction

Joe Biden is an American politician who was elected as the 46th President of the United States in 2021.

He famously competed against the incumbent President Donald Trump, whom he defeated in a showdown that caused major conflicts across the country.

Joe Biden has a long history of political achievements and has been a part of the U.S. political scene for decades.

Early Life and Education

Joe Biden was born in 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

He earned a law degree from the Syracuse University after studying at the University of Delaware for a period.

He obtained multiple deferments during his student life which allowed him to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.

In 1969, he became a public defender but soon joined a private law firm.

His first taste of politics came when he ran for a seat on the New Castle County Council. He won this election and served in the position for three years.

Election as U.S. Senator

In 1972, Joe Biden decided to contest Senate elections from Delaware.

He was only 29 years old at the time of the elections. At the start of the election campaign, his odds of winning were very slim.

His family helped overturn these odds by conducting door-to-door campaigns and meeting individual voters in person.

During the campaign, Joe Biden said he would support a withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Vietnam.

He won the Senate elections with a 50.5% vote and became one of the youngest Senators in U.S. history.

Life as U.S. Senator

Joe Biden served as the U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009. During this period, he steadily grew in political influence and prominence. He served on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, as a member or chair.

From 1987 to 1995, he also headed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During his time in the Senate, Joe Biden sought the Democratic presidential nomination several times, the last time being 2008.

This is when he finally decided to run as Vice-President under Barrack Obama.

Vice President under President Obama

Joe Biden remained the Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, during the two consecutive terms of President Obama.

He played a key role in planning the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

He lent notable support for the financial policies of President Obama, using his Senate experience to champion and implement these policies.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 2017 at the hands of President Obama.

Election as President

In 2021, Joe Biden successfully defeated incumbent President Donald Trump and was elected as the 46th U.S. President. During his early days in the office, he championed the financial relief programs for the U.S. economy and people during the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

To this end, he signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law.

He also sped up the complete withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

The withdrawal was completed in September but was followed by an almost immediate fall of the Afghan government.

As the Taliban regained control of the entire country, Biden received scathing criticism for his government’s poor planning and handling of the withdrawal.

Distinctions as President

As the U.S. President, Joe Biden has several distinctions to his person. For instance:

• He is the second Catholic president of the country, the first being John F. Kennedy.
  He is the oldest president to have served the office.
  He is the first president from Delaware.
  He is the first President of the United States to have a female Vice President.
  He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2017.