Joe Biden
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Joe (Joseph) Biden (born November 20, 1942) is the current Vice President of the United States of America, elected on the ticket with Barack Obama in November 2008. He was a United States Senator from Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following his election to the Vice Presidency.
Early Life
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph Robinette Biden Sr. (1915–2002) and Catherine Eugenia Finnegan (1917–2010). He is the oldest of four sibblings in an Irish Catholic family.
Education
Biden attended the Archmere Academy in Claymont. He attended the University of Delaware in Newark, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in history and political science in 1965. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968.
Family
On August 27, 1966, while studying at Syracuse University, Biden married Neilia Hunter. The couple had three children, Beau (born 1969), Robert (born 1970) and Naomi (born 1971). On Dec. 18, 1972, a few weeks after his successful bid for the Delaware seat in the U.S. Senate, Biden's wife and one-year-old Naomi were killed in an automobile accident in Delaware.
On June 17, 1977, Biden married Jill Jacobs. They have one daughter, Ashley (born 1981).
The Bidens are Roman Catholics and regularly attend Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Greenville, Delaware.
Political career
After graduating from law school, he returned to Delaware to work as an attorney before quickly turning to politics, serving on the New Castle county council from 1970 to 1972. Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, becoming the fifth youngest senator in history. He went on to win reelection six times and became Delaware's longest-serving senator. In addition to his role as U.S. senator, Biden also served as an adjunct professor at the Wilmington, Del., branch of the Widener University School of Law in 1991.
As a senator, Biden focused on foreign relations, criminal justice, and drug policy. He served on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, twice as its chair (2001–03; 2007–09), and on the Committee on the Judiciary, serving as its chair from 1987 to 1995. He was particularly outspoken on issues related to the Kosovo conflict of the late '90s, urging U.S. action against Serbian forces to protect Kosovars against an offensive by Serbian Pres. Slobodan Miloševi. On the Iraq War, Biden proposed a partition plan as a way to maintain a united, peaceful Iraq. Biden also was a member of the International Narcotics Control Caucus and was the lead senator in writing the law that established the office of “drug czar,” a position that oversees the national drug-control policy.[1]
Supported by Council for a Livable World
The Council for a Livable World, founded in 1962 by long-time socialist activist and alleged Soviet agent, Leo Szilard, is a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to "reduce the danger of nuclear weapons and increase national security", primarily through supporting progressive, congressional candidates who support their policies. The Council supported Joe Biden in his successful Senate run as candidate for Delaware.[2]
Higher office
Biden pursued the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination but withdrew after it was revealed that parts of his campaign stump speech had been plagiarized from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock without appropriate attribution. His 2008 presidential campaign never gained momentum, and he withdrew from the race after placing fifth in the Iowa Democratic caucus in January of that year.
After Barack Obama amassed enough delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden emerged as a front-runner to be Obama's vice presidential running mate. On August 23 Obama officially announced his selection of Biden as the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, and on August 27 Obama and Biden secured the Democratic Party's nomination. On November 4 the Obama-Biden ticket defeated John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, and Biden also easily won reelection to his U.S. Senate seat. He resigned from the Senate post shortly before taking the oath of office as vice president on Jan. 20, 2009.[3]
