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Joe Biden—full name Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.—is the 46th and current president of the United States. When he took office in 2021 at age 78, he became the oldest president in U.S. history.
Biden’s ascent to the White House was the culmination of a decades-long career in government, which included serving as vice president during President Barack Obama’s two terms. He was also a Senator from Delaware for 36 years.
“It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden said in July, shortly after he decided to drop out of the 2024 presidential election.
With Election Day quickly approaching, let’s take a look back at Joe Biden’s life in photos:
1951
Joe was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1942. He’s pictured here at age 9 behind his siblings.
1965
In 1965, Biden graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He double majored in history and political science. While on campus, Biden served in student government and played on the freshman football team.
1965
A young Joe Biden at age 25.
1968
In 1968, Biden graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree.
1972
Joe married Neilia Hunter in 1966. Here, he’s pictured on this 30th birthday with Neilia and their second child, Hunter.
1972
Shortly after Biden was elected senator, Neilia and their infant daughter, Amy, tragically died in a car accident. Their other two children, Beau and Hunter, survived. Joe was sworn in at his sons’ hospital bedside.
1974
During his time in the Senate, Biden commuted from Wilmington to Washington every day.
1976
In 1976, Biden became the first U.S. senator to endorse Jimmy Carter for president.
1983
Biden was re-elected to the Senate six times, and currently holds the record as Delaware’s longest-serving senator.
1987
In 1987, Biden ran for president for the first time. He’s pictured here with his family: Hunter, Beau, daughter Ashley, and his second wife Jill Biden, whom he married in 1977.
1987
Biden later withdrew his candidacy for president that same year. Soon, the senator would confront a major health emergency.
1988
In 1988, Biden had surgery to treat an aneurysm and was also hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism, keeping him out of the Senate for seven months. Here, he’s seen on the train platform in Wilmington, Delaware, returning to work.
1990
Biden’s family is Catholic and of Irish descent, and he is proud to be an Irish American. Here, he’s wearing a green tie in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
1991
Biden, a longtime member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, chaired it from 1987 to 1995, and presided over the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.
1994
In 1994, Biden helped pass the Violence Against Women Act, described by the Biden White House as a “landmark legislation that strengthens penalties for violence against women, creates unprecedented resources for survivors of assault, and changes the national dialogue on domestic and sexual assault.”
1998
During his tenure in the Senate, Biden was also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chairing it from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2009.
2001
Biden’s aviator sunglasses, which he has worn since he was a lifeguard in college, are part of his signature style.
2003
Biden, then the ranking Democrat of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, voted to authorize the war in Iraq, but years later called his vote a mistake.
2007
Biden decided to run for president again in January 2007, before ultimately dropping out of the race a year later following the Iowa caucus.
2008
Seven months later, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois selected Biden as his running mate. During their first joint appearance, Obama said, “He is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds, the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington.”
2008
One consistent fact about Biden: He loves ice cream.
2008
The Obama-Biden ticket won the presidency, defeating John McCain and Sarah Palin. Biden is pictured here, as vice-president elect, with his mother Jean during election night.
2009
The Bidens attend the 2009 inauguration, where Joe became the 47th vice president of the United States.
2009
Biden’s oldest son, Beau, served in the U.S. Army. They’re pictured together here at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq.
2012
Biden made an appearance on the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, as Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope was obsessed with him and considered him her hero and crush. “His staff really loves the show, and he apparently had watched the show with his family and his family liked it,” executive producer Michael Schur told Entertainment Weekly.
2012
Obama and Biden were re-elected in 2012, winning 332 electoral college votes to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s 206.
2014
This photo of “sad Joe Biden” sparked a meme in 2014, and it wasn’t his first (nor would it be his last) meme-worthy image.
2017
In January 2017, before leaving office, Obama surprised Biden with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. “To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully,” Obama said, as Biden teared up, caught off guard by the honor.
2019
In April 2019, Biden announced he would be seeking the presidency, after not running in 2016. “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said, adding Republican incumbent President Donald Trump “will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”
2020
Biden, amid the COVID-19 pandemic when many events became virtual, would go on to win the Democratic nomination after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race.
2020
Biden selected California Senator Kamala Harris as his Democratic running mate, making her the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be on a presidential ticket.
2020
Biden won the election, saying in his victory speech, “I’m humbled by the trust and confidence you placed in me. I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.”
2021
Days before his inauguration, he delivered remarks at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center in New Castle, Delaware, named after his oldest son. Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46 in 2015.
2021
Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, just two weeks after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, falsely denying the validity of the 2020 election results.
2021
The Bidens wave at the White House during inauguration festivities.
2021
In June 2021, on Biden’s overseas trip as President, he met Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
2021
Biden receives the third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 in the South Court Auditorium in the White House.
2022
In February 2022, Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and in April, the U.S. Senate confirmed her—making her the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
2022
Biden, wearing his signature sunglasses, gives a thumbs-up gesture to reporters.
2022
Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, married at the White House, the first major White House wedding since Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia Nixon was married at the residence in 1971.
2023
In 2023, Biden announced he would seek a second term as president.
2023
The Bidens were all smiles at a White House state dinner in October.
2024
President Biden speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room, responding to a special counsel’s report related to his handling of classified documents.
2024
Biden delivers the State of the Union address in March, his last before the 2024 general election this November.
2024
President Biden struggled during a debate against former President Donald Trump in June, a performance which contributed to his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
2024
Soon after, Biden gave an address from the Oval Office, explaining his decision not to seek re-election. His family watched as he spoke.
“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” he said. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title. I draw strength and find joy in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me, it’s about you. Your families, your futures.”
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