Biden, Joseph R., Jr."Middle Class Joe"

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born on November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and later grew up in Delaware, which would become the state he represented for most of his political career. He first won election to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at age 29, and went on to serve six terms representing Delaware until 2009. During his Senate tenure, he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008. In 2008, Barack Obama selected him as his running mate, and Biden served two terms as Vice President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. After leaving office, he launched his own presidential campaign and won the 2020 election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump to become the 46th President of the United States, taking office in January 2021 at age 78 — the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. His presidency focused on pandemic recovery, infrastructure investment, and rejoining international agreements, before he left office in January 2025 after Trump won the 2024 election.