Joe Biden
Template:Short description Template:Redirect2 Template:Pp-move Template:Pp-blp Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Template:Joe Biden series Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.Template:Efn (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 and the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. He was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and the U.S. Senate in 1972. As a senator, Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. He drafted and led passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act. He also oversaw six U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including contentious hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991 but voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. Biden ran unsuccessfully for the 1988 and 2008 Democratic presidential nominations. In 2008, Obama chose Biden as his running mate, and he was a close counselor to Obama as vice president. In the 2020 presidential election, Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate, and they defeated Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence. He became the first president to serve with a female or African American vice president.
As president, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession. He appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. In his foreign policy, the U.S. reentered the Paris Agreement. Biden oversaw the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops that ended the war in Afghanistan, leading to the Taliban seizing control. He responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia and authorizing aid to Ukraine. During the Gaza war, Biden condemned the actions of Hamas as terrorism, strongly supported Israel's military efforts, and sent limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. A temporary ceasefire proposal he backed was adopted shortly before he left office.
Concerns about Biden's age and health persisted throughout his term. He became the first president to turn 80 while in office. He began his presidency with majority support, but saw his approval ratings decline significantly throughout his presidency, in part due to public frustration over inflation, which peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 but dropped to 2.9% by the end of his presidency. Biden initially ran for reelection and, after the Democratic primaries, became the party's presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election. After his performance in the first presidential debate, renewed scrutiny from across the political spectrum about his cognitive ability led him to withdraw his candidacy. In 2022 and 2024, Biden's administration was ranked favorably by historians and scholars, diverging from less favorable public assessments of his tenure. As of 2025, he is the oldest living former U.S. president.
Early life (1942–1965)
[edit]Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born on November 20, 1942,<ref name="cong-bio">Template:Biographical Directory of Congress</ref> at St. Mary's Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania,Template:Sfn to Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden (Template:Née) and Joseph Robinette Biden Sr.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the oldest child in a Catholic family of mostly Irish descent. Biden has a sister, Valerie, and two brothers, Francis and James.Template:Sfn
Home life
[edit]Joseph Sr. had been wealthy, and the family purchased a home in the affluent Long Island suburb of Garden City, New York, in 1946.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After he suffered business setbacks around the time Biden was seven years old,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="promises2008">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn the family lived with Jean's parents in Scranton for several years.<ref name="nyt-father">Template:Cite news</ref> Scranton fell into economic decline during the 1950s, and Joseph Sr. could not find steady work.<ref name="ap-scranton">Template:Cite news</ref> Beginning in 1953, when Biden was ten,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the family lived in an apartment in Claymont, Delaware, before moving to a house in nearby Mayfield, Delaware.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="promises2008" /><ref name="nyt-father" /> Joseph Sr. later became a successful used-car salesman, maintaining the family in a middle-class lifestyle.<ref name="nyt-father" /><ref name="ap-scranton" /><ref name="aap08-bio">Almanac of American Politics 2008, p. 364.</ref>
Sports and young adulthood
[edit]At Archmere Academy in Claymont,Template:Sfn Biden played baseball and was a standout halfback and wide receiver on the high school football team.<ref name="nyt-father" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Though a poor student, he was class president in his junior and senior years.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He graduated in 1961.Template:Sfn At the University of Delaware in Newark, Biden briefly played freshman football,<ref>Biden, Promises to Keep, pp. 27, 32–33.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and, as an unexceptional student,<ref name="nyt091887" /> received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science in 1965.<ref name="ap-timeline" />Template:Sfn
Marriages, law school, and early career (1966–1973)
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Biden married Neilia Hunter, a student at Syracuse University, on August 27, 1966,<ref name="ap-timeline">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> after overcoming her parents' disinclination for her to wed a Catholic. Their wedding was held in a Catholic church in Skaneateles, New York.<ref>Biden, Promises to Keep, pp. 32, 36–37.</ref> They had three children: Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, Robert Hunter Biden, and Naomi Christina "Amy" Biden.<ref name="ap-timeline" />
Biden earned a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. In his first year of law school, he failed a course because he plagiarized a law review article, but the failing grade was later stricken. His grades were relatively poor, and he graduated 76th in a class of 85.<ref name="nyt091887" /> He was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1969.<ref name="cong-bio" />
Biden clerked at a Wilmington law firm headed by prominent local Republican William Prickett in 1968 and self-identified as a Republican.<ref name="dmn-87">Template:Cite news Reprinted in Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He disliked incumbent Democratic Delaware governor Charles L. Terry's conservative racial politics and supported a more liberal Republican, Russell W. Peterson, who defeated Terry in 1968.<ref name="dmn-87" /> Local Republicans attempted to recruit Biden, but he registered as an independent because of his distaste for Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon.<ref name="dmn-87" />
Law practices
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In 1969, Biden practiced law, first as a public defender and then at a law firm headed by a locally active Democrat,<ref name="cby-43">Current Biography Yearbook 1987, p. 43.</ref><ref name="dmn-87" /> who named him to the Democratic Forum, a group trying to reform and revitalize the state party;Template:Sfn Biden subsequently reregistered as a Democrat.<ref name="dmn-87" /> He and another attorney also formed a law firm.<ref name="cby-43" /> Corporate law did not appeal to him, and criminal law did not pay well.<ref name="nyt-father" /> He supplemented his income by managing properties.<ref name="watn020109">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Biden ran for the fourth district seat on the New Castle County Council in 1970 on a liberal platform that included support for public housing in the suburbs.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden won the general election, defeating Republican Lawrence T. Messick, and took office on January 5, 1971.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He served until January 1, 1973.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn During his time on the county council, Biden opposed large highway projects, which he argued might disrupt Wilmington neighborhoods.Template:Sfn
Biden had not openly supported or opposed the Vietnam War until he ran for Senate and opposed Richard Nixon's conduct of the war.Template:Sfn While studying at the University of Delaware and Syracuse University, Biden obtained five student draft deferments. Based on a physical examination, he was given a conditional medical deferment in 1968; in 2008, a spokesperson for Biden said his having had "asthma as a teenager" was the reason.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1972 U.S. Senate campaign in Delaware
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Biden defeated Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs to become the junior U.S. senator from Delaware in 1972. He was the only Democrat willing to challenge Boggs and, with minimal campaign funds, was thought to have no chance of winning.<ref name="cby-43" /><ref name="nyt-father" /> Family members managed and staffed the campaign, which relied on meeting voters face-to-face and hand-distributing position papers,<ref name="npr-72">Template:Cite news</ref> an approach made feasible by Delaware's small size.<ref name="watn020109" /> He received help from the AFL-CIO and Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell.<ref name="cby-43" /> His platform focused on the environment, withdrawal from Vietnam, civil rights, mass transit, equitable taxation, health care and public dissatisfaction with "politics as usual".<ref name="cby-43" /><ref name="npr-72" /> A few months before the election, Biden trailed Boggs by almost thirty percentage points,<ref name="cby-43" /> but his energy, attractive young family, and ability to connect with voters' emotions worked to his advantage,<ref name="aap08-bio" /> and he won with 50.5% of the vote.<ref name="npr-72" />
Death of wife and daughter
[edit]A few weeks after Biden was elected senator, his wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in an automobile accident in Hockessin, Delaware, on December 18, 1972.<ref name="ap-timeline" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Their sons Beau (aged 3) and Hunter (aged 2) were in the car and were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Template:Sfn Biden considered resigning to care for them,<ref name="aap08-bio" /> but Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield persuaded him not to.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden contemplated suicide and was filled with anger and religious doubt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He wrote that he "felt God had played a horrible trick" on him<ref>Biden, Promises to Keep, p. 81</ref> and had trouble focusing on work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Second marriage
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Biden met teacher Jill Tracy Jacobs in 1975 on a blind date.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They married at the United Nations chapel in New York on June 17, 1977,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Biden, Promises to Keep, p. 117.</ref> and spent their honeymoon at Lake Balaton in the Hungarian People's Republic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden credits her with the renewal of his interest in politics and life.<ref>Biden, Promises to Keep, p. 113.</ref>
In 1981, the couple had a daughter, Ashley Biden,<ref name="ap-timeline" /> who is a social worker, activist, and fashion designer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jill helped raise her stepsons, Hunter and Beau, who were seven and eight respectively at the time of her marriage. Hunter has worked as a Washington lobbyist and investment adviser; his business dealings, personal life, and legal troubles have come under significant scrutiny during his father's presidency. In December 2024, Biden pardoned Hunter following his conviction on gun and tax charges despite repeated promises that he would not do so.<ref name = "NBCpardon">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="White House 2024">Template:Cite web</ref> Beau became an Army judge-advocate in Iraq and later Delaware attorney general<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> before dying of brain cancer in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Teaching
[edit]From 1991 to 2008, as an adjunct professor, Biden co-taught a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
U.S. Senate (1973–2009)
[edit]Template:Main Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, Biden was reelected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, regularly receiving about 60% of the vote.<ref name="aap08-366" /> Aged 30 when first elected, he was the seventh-youngest senator in U.S. history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was junior senator to William Roth until Roth was defeated in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He remains one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Senate activities
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During his early years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues and called for greater government accountability.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a 1974 interview, he described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens' concerns and healthcare, but conservative on other issues, including abortion and military conscription.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden was the first U.S. senator to endorse Governor Jimmy Carter for president in the 1976 Democratic primary. Carter won the Democratic nomination and the 1976 election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden also worked on arms control.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref>Current Biography Yearbook 1987, p. 45.</ref> After Congress failed to ratify the SALT II Treaty signed in 1979 by Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev and President Carter, Biden met with Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko and secured changes that addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's objections.<ref>Template:Cite book p. 144.</ref> He received considerable attention when he excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing for the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its policy of apartheid.<ref name="dmn-87" /> In a congressional hearing in 1984, he objected to the Strategic Defense Initiative plan to construct autonomous systems of ICBM defense.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Equality movements
[edit]In the mid-1970s, Biden was one of the Senate's strongest opponents of race-integration busing. His Delaware constituents strongly opposed it, and such opposition nationwide later led his party to mostly abandon school integration policies.<ref name="Gadsden">Template:Cite news</ref> In his first Senate campaign, Biden had expressed support for busing to remedy de jure segregation, as in the South, but opposed its use to remedy de facto segregation arising from racial patterns of neighborhood residency, as in Delaware; he opposed a proposed constitutional amendment banning busing entirely.Template:Sfn Biden supported a 1976 measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them.<ref name="Gadsden" /> He co-sponsored a 1977 amendment closing loopholes in that measure, which President Carter signed into law in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Biden became ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1981. He was a Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act in 1984. His supporters praised him for modifying some of the law's worst provisions, and it was his most important legislative accomplishment to that time.<ref name="cby-44">Current Biography Yearbook 1987, p. 44.</ref> In 1994, Biden helped pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which included a ban on assault weapons,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news Cover story.</ref> and the Violence Against Women Act,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which he has called his most significant legislation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 1994 crime law was unpopular among progressives and criticized for resulting in mass incarceration;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden later expressed regret for passing the bill.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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Biden voted for a 1993 provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with military life, thereby banning gay people from serving in the armed forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1996, he voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, thereby barring people in such marriages from equal protection under federal law and allowing states to do the same.<ref name="NYT Biden Evolution on LGBTQ">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, the act was ruled unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden was critical of Independent Counsel Ken Starr during the 1990s Whitewater controversy and Clinton–Lewinsky scandal investigations, saying "it's going to be a cold day in hell" before another independent counsel would be granted similar powers.<ref>Almanac of American Politics 2000, p. 372.</ref> He voted to acquit during the impeachment of Bill Clinton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the 2000s, Biden sponsored bankruptcy legislation sought by credit card issuers.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> Bill Clinton vetoed the bill in 2000, but it passed in 2005 as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act,<ref name="aap08-bio" /> with Biden being one of only 18 Democrats to vote for it, while leading Democrats and consumer rights organizations opposed it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a senator, Biden strongly supported increased Amtrak funding and rail security.<ref name="aap08-366" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Brain surgeries
[edit]In February 1988, after several episodes of severe neck pain, Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking intracranial berry aneurysm.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-4cmed">Template:Cite news</ref> While recuperating, he suffered a pulmonary embolism.<ref name="nyt-4cmed" /> A second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May.<ref name="nyt-4cmed" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Senate Judiciary Committee
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Biden was a longtime member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He chaired it from 1987 to 1995 and was a ranking minority member from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1995 to 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As chair, Biden presided over two highly contentious U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> When Robert Bork was nominated in 1988, Biden reversed his approvalTemplate:Mdashbgiven in an interview the previous yearTemplate:Mdashbof a hypothetical Bork nomination. Conservatives were angered,Template:Sfn but at the hearings' close Biden was praised for his fairness, humor, and courage.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-lg-87">Template:Cite news</ref> Rejecting the arguments of some Bork opponents,<ref name="aap08-bio" /> Biden framed his objections to Bork in terms of the conflict between Bork's strong originalism and the view that the U.S. Constitution provides rights to liberty and privacy beyond those explicitly enumerated in its text.<ref name="nyt-lg-87" /> Bork's nomination was rejected in the committee by a 5–9 vote<ref name="nyt-lg-87" /> and then in the full Senate, 42–58.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
During Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings in 1991, Biden's questions on constitutional issues were often convoluted to the point that Thomas sometimes lost track of them,Template:Sfn and Thomas later wrote that Biden's questions were akin to "beanballs".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the committee hearing closed, the public learned that Anita Hill had accused Thomas of making unwelcome sexual comments when they had worked together.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden had known of some of these charges, but initially shared them only with the committee because Hill was then unwilling to testify.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> The committee hearing was reopened and Hill testified, but Biden did not permit testimony from other witnesses, such as a woman who had made similar charges and experts on harassment.<ref name="nyt-hill">Template:Cite news</ref> The full Senate confirmed Thomas by a 52–48 vote, with Biden opposed.<ref name="aap08-bio" /> Liberal legal advocates and women's groups felt strongly that Biden had mishandled the hearings and not done enough to support Hill.<ref name="nyt-hill" /> In 2019, he told Hill he regretted his treatment of her, but Hill said afterward she remained unsatisfied.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
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Biden was a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He became its ranking minority member in 1997 and chaired it from June 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2009.<ref name="aap08-365" /> His positions were generally liberal internationalist.<ref name="nyt-foreign">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="lat-foreign" /> He collaborated effectively with Republicans and sometimes went against elements of his own party.<ref name="aap08-365" /><ref name="lat-foreign" /> During this time he met with at least 150 leaders from 60 countries and international organizations, becoming a well-known Democratic voice on foreign policy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden voted against authorization for the Gulf War in 1991.<ref name="lat-foreign">Template:Cite news</ref> He became interested in the Yugoslav Wars after hearing about Serbian abuses during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /> Once the Bosnian War broke out, Biden was among the first to call for the "lift and strike" policy.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref name="aap08-365" /> The George H. W. Bush administration and Clinton administration were both reluctant to implement the policy, fearing Balkan entanglement.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /><ref name="lat-foreign" /> In April 1993, Biden had a tense three-hour meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević.<ref name="wapo-bosnia">Template:Cite news</ref> Biden worked on several versions of legislative language urging the U.S. toward greater involvement.<ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> He has called his role in affecting Balkan policy in the mid-1990s his "proudest moment in public life" related to foreign policy.<ref name="lat-foreign" /> In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Biden supported the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.<ref name="nyt-foreign" /> He and Senator John McCain co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over Yugoslav actions toward Kosovo Albanians.<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wsj082508">Template:Cite news</ref>
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
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Biden was a strong supporter of the War in Afghanistan, saying, "Whatever it takes, we should do it."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said in 2002 that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was a threat to national security and there was no other option than to "eliminate" that threat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2002, he voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, approving the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<ref name="lat-foreign" /> As chair of the committee, he assembled witnesses to testify in favor of the authorization. They gave testimony grossly misrepresenting the intent, history, and status of Saddam and his government, and touted Iraq's fictional possession of weapons of mass destruction.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|first=Mark|last=Weisbrot|author-link=Mark Weisbrot|date=February 18, 2020|access-date=August 28, 2021|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war |title=Joe Biden championed the Iraq war. Will that come back to haunt him now?|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109174540/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war%7Carchive-date=January 9, 2021|work=The Guardian}}</ref> Biden eventually became a critic of the war, calling his vote a "mistake" by 2005,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but did not push for withdrawal.<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> He supported the appropriations for the occupation, but argued that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about its cost and length.<ref name="aap08-365">Almanac of American Politics 2008, p. 365.</ref><ref name="wsj082508" />
By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted considerably. He opposed the troop surge of 2007,<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> saying General David Petraeus was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.<ref name="nytm-traub" /> Biden instead advocated dividing Iraq into a loose federation of three ethnic states.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn In September 2007, a non-binding resolution endorsing the plan passed the Senate,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the idea failed to gain traction.<ref name="nytm-traub" />
1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns
[edit]1988 campaign
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Biden declared his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination on June 9, 1987.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was considered a strong candidate because of his moderate image, his speaking ability, his high profile as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the upcoming Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings, and his appeal to Baby Boomers.<ref name="dmn-87" /><ref name="nyt083187">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn He raised more in the first quarter of 1987 than any other candidate.<ref name="nyt083187" />Template:Sfn
By August, Biden's campaign messaging had become confused due to staff rivalries,Template:Sfn and in September, he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden had credited Kinnock on previous occasions,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="lat-speech" /> but did not on two occasions in August.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="lat-speech">Template:Cite news</ref> Earlier that year, Biden had also used passages from a speech by Robert F. Kennedy (for which his aides took blame) and Kennedy's inaugural address; two years earlier he had used a 1976 passage by Hubert Humphrey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden responded that politicians often borrow from one another without giving credit, and that one of his rivals for the nomination, Jesse Jackson, had called him to point out that Jackson had used the same material by Humphrey that Biden had used.<ref name="aap08-bio" /><ref name="nyt091887">Template:Cite news</ref> A few days later, it was publicized that, while in law school, Biden had taken text from a Fordham Law Review article with inadequate citations.<ref name="nyt091887" /> At Biden's request the Delaware Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility reviewed the incident and concluded that he had violated no rules.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden has made several false or exaggerated claims about his early life: that he had earned three degrees in college, that he attended law school on a full scholarship, that he had graduated in the top half of his class,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> and that he had marched in the civil rights movement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The limited amount of other news about the presidential race amplified these disclosures,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and on September 23, 1987, Biden withdrew his candidacy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2008 campaign
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After exploring running in several previous cycles, in January 2007, Biden declared his candidacy in the 2008 elections.<ref name="aap08-366" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden focused on the Iraq War, his record as chairman of major Senate committees, and his foreign-policy experience.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden was noted for his one-liners during the campaign; in one debate he said of Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani, "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden had difficulty raising funds, struggled to draw people to his rallies, and failed to gain traction against the high-profile candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He never rose above single digits in national polls of the Democratic candidates. In the first contest on January 3, 2008, Biden placed fifth in the Iowa caucuses, garnering slightly less than one percent of the state delegates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He withdrew from the race that evening.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Despite its lack of success, Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political world.<ref name="gamechange">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In particular, it changed the relationship between Biden and Obama. Although they had served together on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they had not been close: Biden resented Obama's quick rise to political stardom,<ref name="nytm-traub">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn while Obama viewed Biden as garrulous and patronizing.<ref name="gamechange" />Template:Rp Having gotten to know each other during 2007, Obama appreciated Biden's campaign style and appeal to working-class voters, and Biden said he became convinced Obama was "the real deal".Template:Sfn<ref name="gamechange" />Template:Rp
2008 and 2012 vice presidential campaigns
[edit]2008 campaign
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In August 2008, Obama and Biden met in secret to discuss the possibility of a place for Biden in the Obama administration,<ref name="ny-lizza">Template:Cite news</ref> and developed a strong personal rapport.Template:Sfn On August 22, Obama announced that Biden would be his running mate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times reported that the choice reflected a desire for someone with foreign policy and national security experience.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Others pointed out Biden's appeal to middle-class and blue-collar voters.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|magazine|last=Dionne |first=E. J. Jr. |author-link=E. J. Dionne |title=Tramps Like Us: How Joe Biden will reassure working class voters and change the tenor of this week's convention |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/62212/tramps-us |magazine=The New Republic |date=August 25, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828210626/https://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2ecbd0b9-c2c4-44d7-824a-603b4a418c74 |archive-date=August 28, 2008}}</ref>Template:Sfn Biden was officially nominated for vice president on August 27 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden's vice-presidential campaigning gained little media attention, as the press devoted far more coverage to the Republican nominee and then-governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin.<ref name="nyt-no2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Under instructions from the campaign, Biden kept his speeches succinct and tried to avoid offhand remarks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Privately, Biden's remarks frustrated Obama. "How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?", he asked.<ref name="gamechange" />Template:Rp Obama campaign staffers called Biden's blunders "Joe bombs" and kept Biden uninformed about strategy discussions, which irked Biden.<ref name="nyt0508122" /> Relations between the two campaigns became strained for a month, until Biden apologized to Obama and the two built a stronger partnership.<ref name="gamechange" />Template:Rp
As the 2008 financial crisis reached a peak in September 2008, and the proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 became a major factor in the campaign, Biden voted for the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which passed in the Senate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 2, he participated in the vice-presidential debate with Palin at Washington University in St. Louis. Post-debate polls found that while Palin exceeded many voters' expectations, Biden had still won the debate overall.Template:Sfn On November 4, Obama and Biden were elected.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
As Biden was running for vice president, he was also running for reelection to the Senate,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as permitted by Delaware law.<ref name="aap08-366">Almanac of American Politics 2008, p. 366.</ref> Having been reelected to the Senate as well as the vice presidency,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden made a point of not resigning from the Senate before he was sworn in for his seventh term in January 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He resigned from the Senate on January 15.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2012 campaign
[edit]
In October 2010, Biden said Obama had asked him to remain as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election,<ref name="nyt1013102" /> but with Obama's popularity declining, White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley conducted some secret polling and focus group research in late 2011 on the idea of replacing Biden with Hillary Clinton.<ref name="nyt-dd-replace" /> The notion was dropped when the results showed no appreciable improvement,<ref name="nyt-dd-replace">Template:Cite news</ref> and White House officials later said Obama himself never entertained the idea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden's May 2012 statement that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage gained considerable public attention in comparison to Obama's position, which had been described as "evolving".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden made his statement without administration consent, and Obama and his aides were irked, since Obama had planned to shift position in the build-up to the party convention.<ref name="nyt0508122" /><ref name="ap051012">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gay rights advocates seized upon Biden's statement,<ref name="ap051012" /> and within days, Obama announced that he too supported same-sex marriage, an action in part forced by Biden's remarks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden had a heavy schedule of appearances in swing states as the reelection campaign began in earnest in spring 2012.<ref name="time-be-joe">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="time-mo">Template:Cite news</ref> An August 2012 remark before a mixed-race audience that Republican proposals to relax Wall Street regulations would "put y'all back in chains" again drew attention to Biden's propensity for colorful remarks.<ref name="time-be-joe" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following the first presidential debate of the general election, in which Obama's performance was considered surprisingly lackluster,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> his lead over Romney collapsed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> putting pressure on Biden to stop the bleeding with a strong showing against the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Paul Ryan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some political analysts considered Biden's performance in the October 11 vice-presidential debate one of the best of his career<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a key factor in Obama's rebound in the polls and eventual victory.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The debate also became memorable for the popularization of Biden's use of the phrase "a bunch of malarkey" in response to an attack by Ryan on the administration's response to the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi in September.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Biden reused the phrase during his 2020 presidential campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 6, Obama and Biden were reelected.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Vice presidency (2009–2017)
[edit]Template:Main Template:See also
First term (2009–2013)
[edit]
Biden said he intended to eliminate some explicit roles assumed by George W. Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, and did not intend to emulate any previous vice presidency.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was sworn in on January 20, 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date=January 20, 2009|title=In culminating moment, Biden is vice president |work=The Oregonian |agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2009/01/in_culminating_moment_biden_is.html%7Caccess-date=July 27, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101194210/https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2009/01/in_culminating_moment_biden_is.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> He was the first vice president from Delaware<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date=November 3, 2008 |title=Think you know your election trivia? |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/election.trivia/index.html |access-date=November 9, 2008 |archive-date=November 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106075757/https://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/election.trivia/index.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> and the first Roman Catholic vice president.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|first=Ken |last=Rudin |date=January 9, 2009|title=The First Catholic Vice President? |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/01/the_first_catholic_vice_presid.html%7Caccess-date=September 25, 2019|archive-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925060421/https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/01/the_first_catholic_vice_presid.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Gaudiano |first=Nicole|date=November 6, 2008 |title=VP's home awaits if Biden chooses |work=The News Journal |url=https://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081106/NEWS02/811060379 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109060406/https://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081106/NEWS02/811060379 |archive-date=November 9, 2008}}</ref> Members of the Obama administration said Biden's role in the White House was to be a contrarian and force others to defend their positions.<ref name="The New York Times-2">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=April 28, 2019|title=Biden and Obama's 'Odd Couple' Relationship Aged Into Family Ties|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/us/politics/barack-obama-biden.html%7Caccess-date=April 26, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606093422/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/us/politics/barack-obama-biden.html%7Cquote=He was also the in-house skeptic on the use of force, arguing against a troop surge to Afghanistan, military intervention in Libya and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.|url-status=live}}</ref> White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Biden helped counter groupthink.<ref name="nyt032809">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Leibovich|first=Mark|date=March 28, 2009|title=Speaking Freely, Biden Finds Influential Role|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/us/politics/29biden.html%7Caccess-date=March 31, 2009|archive-date=April 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401232903/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/us/politics/29biden.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> The Bidens maintained a relaxed atmosphere at their official residence in Washington, often entertaining their grandchildren, and regularly returned to their home in Delaware.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Parnes|first=Amie|date=June 28, 2011|title=The Bidens' 'regular' lives|newspaper=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/06/the-bidens-regular-lives-057887%7Caccess-date=June 28, 2011|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016194519/https://www.politico.com/story/2011/06/the-bidens-regular-lives-057887%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>
Biden oversaw infrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package intended to help counteract the ongoing recession.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|magazine|last=Scherer|first=Michael|date=July 1, 2009|title=What Happened to the Stimulus?|magazine=Time|url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1908417,00.html%7Caccess-date=July 8, 2009|archive-date=January 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109095116/https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1908417,00.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Confronted with rising unemployment through July 2009, Biden acknowledged that the administration had "misread how bad the economy was", but maintained confidence the stimulus package would create many more jobs once the pace of expenditures picked up.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date=July 5, 2009|title=Biden: 'We misread how bad the economy was'|publisher=NBC News|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/31745563%7Caccess-date=July 9, 2009|archive-date=December 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217104812/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/31745563/%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> When he completed that role in February 2011, he said the number of fraud incidents with stimulus monies had been less than one percent.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Travers|first=Karen|date=February 17, 2011|title='Sheriff Joe' Biden Touts Recovery Act Success—and Hands Over His Badge|work=ABC News|url=https://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/02/sheriff-joe-biden-touts-recovery-act-success-and-hands-over-his-badge.html%7Curl-status=dead%7Caccess-date=March 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221153327/https://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/02/sheriff-joe-biden-touts-recovery-act-success-and-hands-over-his-badge.html%7Carchive-date=February 21, 2011}}</ref>
Biden's off-message response to a question in April 2009, during the beginning of the swine flu outbreak, led to a swift retraction by the White House.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Silva|first1=Mark|last2=Parsons|first2=Christi|date=May 1, 2009|title=White House adjusts Biden's swine flu advice|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-01-na-biden1-story.html%7Caccess-date=May 28, 2009|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009170032/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-01-na-biden1-story.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> The remark revived Biden's reputation for gaffes.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date=May 1, 2009|title=White House tempers Biden's swine flu advice|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/05/01/white_house_tempers_bidens_swine_flu_advice/%7Curl-status=dead |access-date=May 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505114058/https://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/05/01/white_house_tempers_bidens_swine_flu_advice/%7Carchive-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref><ref name="nw-cov-1010092" /><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Kurtzman|first=Daniel|date=May 8, 2009|title=The Week's Best Late-Night Jokes|publisher=About.com|url=https://www.liveabout.com/late-night-political-jokes-2733896%7Caccess-date=May 28, 2009|archive-date=June 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611193402/https://www.liveabout.com/late-night-political-jokes-2733896%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> A hot mic picked up Biden telling Obama that his signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was "a big fucking deal" on March 23, 2010. Despite their different personalities, Obama and Biden formed a friendship, partly based around Obama's daughter Sasha and Biden's granddaughter Maisy, who attended Sidwell Friends School together.<ref name="nyt0508122">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Leibovich|first=Mark|date=May 7, 2012|title=For a Blunt Biden, an Uneasy Supporting Role|page=1|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/us/politics/for-a-blunt-biden-an-uneasy-supporting-role.html%7Caccess-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081748/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/us/politics/for-a-blunt-biden-an-uneasy-supporting-role.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>
Biden visited Kosovo in May 2009 and affirmed the U.S. position that its "independence is irreversible".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He lost an internal debate to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about sending 21,000 new troops to Afghanistan,<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Dilanian|first=Ken|date=June 11, 2009|title=In a supporting role, Clinton takes a low-key approach at State Dept.|work=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090611/1aclinton11_cv.art.htm%7Caccess-date=July 22, 2009|archive-date=May 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516020144/https://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090611/1aclinton11_cv.art.htm%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Smith|first=Ben|date=June 23, 2009|title=Hillary Clinton toils in the shadows|work=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/06/clinton-toils-in-the-shadows-024067%7Caccess-date=July 22, 2009|archive-date=September 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916005405/https://www.politico.com/story/2009/06/clinton-toils-in-the-shadows-024067%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> but his skepticism was valued,<ref name="pol091609">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Cummings|first=Jeanne|date=September 16, 2009|title=Joe Biden, 'the skunk at the family picnic'|publisher=The Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/09/the-skunk-at-the-family-picnic-027211%7Caccess-date=September 17, 2009}}</ref> and his views gained more influence as Obama reconsidered his Afghanistan strategy.<ref name="nw-cov-1010092">{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Bailey|first1=Holly|last2=Thomas|first2=Evan|author-link2=Evan Thomas|date=October 10, 2009|title=An Inconvenient Truth Teller|magazine=Newsweek|url=https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-white-house-truth-teller-81181%7Caccess-date=November 6, 2009|archive-date=November 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131123063731/https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-white-house-truth-teller-81181%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Obama delegated Biden to oversee Iraq policy, and he became the administration's point man in delivering messages to Iraqi leadership before the exit of U.S. troops in 2011.Template:Efn
Biden campaigned heavily for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, maintaining an attitude of optimism in the face of predictions of large-scale losses for the party.<ref name="nyt1013102">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Stolberg|first=Sheryl Gay|date=October 12, 2010|title=Vice President Tries to Energize Democrats|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/politics/13biden.html%7Caccess-date=October 14, 2010|archive-date=October 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028044617/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/politics/13biden.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> After big Republican gains in the elections and Emanuel's departure, Biden's past relationships with Republicans in Congress became more important.<ref name="pol1209102">{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Lee|first1=Carol E.|last2=Bresnahan|first2=John|date=December 9, 2010|title=Joe Biden expands role as White House link to Congress|newspaper=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/12/biden-steps-into-rahms-shoes-046173%7Caccess-date=December 10, 2010|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016194519/https://www.politico.com/story/2010/12/biden-steps-into-rahms-shoes-046173%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt1211102">{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Cooper|first=Helene|date=December 11, 2010|title=As the Ground Shifts, Biden Plays a Bigger Role|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/us/politics/12biden.html%7Caccess-date=December 13, 2010|archive-date=December 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213044241/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/us/politics/12biden.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> He led the successful administration effort to gain Senate approval for the New START treaty.<ref name="pol1209102" /><ref name="nyt1211102" /> In December 2010, Biden's advocacy for a middle ground, followed by his negotiations with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, were instrumental in producing the administration's compromise tax package that included a temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts.<ref name="nyt1211102" /><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Hulse|first1=Carl|last2=Calmes|first2=Jackie|date=December 7, 2010|title=Biden and G.O.P. Leader Helped Hammer Out Bipartisan Tax Accord|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/politics/08deal.html%7Caccess-date=December 8, 2010|archive-date=December 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208043606/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/politics/08deal.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> The package passed as the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.
Obama delegated Biden to lead negotiations with Congress during the 2011 U.S. debt ceiling crisis.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|title=Congress averts shutdown, sends stopgap to Obama |date=March 2, 2011 |first1=Andy |last1=Sullivan |first2=Kim |last2=Dixon |first3=Alister |last3=Bull |first4=Thomas |last4=Ferraro |first5=Richard |last5=Cowan |work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-spending-idUSTRE7205MS20110302}}</ref> Biden's relationship with McConnell brought about the Budget Control Act of 2011 that solved the crisis.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Thrush |first1=Glenn |last2=Brown |first2=Carrie Budoff |last3=Raju |first3=Manu |last4=Bresnahan |first4=John |date=August 2, 2011 |title=Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell and the making of a debt deal |newspaper=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/08/biden-mcconnell-and-the-making-of-a-deal-060463 |access-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-date=September 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922144250/https://www.politico.com/story/2011/08/biden-mcconnell-and-the-making-of-a-deal-060463%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|date=August 3, 2011 |first1=Ben |last1=Feller |first2=Julie |last2=Pace |first3=Laurie |last3=Kellman |first4=Nancy |last4=Benac |title=The real drama was in private as debt deal hatched |publisher=Fox News |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-real-drama-was-in-private-as-debt-deal-hatched |access-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230142752/https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-real-drama-was-in-private-as-debt-deal-hatched |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Bohan |first1=Caren |last2=Sullivan |first2=Andy |last3=Ferraro |first3=Thomas |date=August 3, 2011 |title=Special report: How Washington took the U.S. to the brink |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-debt-brink/special-report-how-washington-took-the-u-s-to-the-brink-idUSTRE77271R20110803%7Caccess-date=August 4, 2011|archive-date=October 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013231825/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-debt-brink/special-report-how-washington-took-the-u-s-to-the-brink-idUSTRE77271R20110803%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Some reports suggest that Biden opposed proceeding with the May 2011 U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden,<ref name="time-mo" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> lest failure adversely affect Obama's reelection prospects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Obama named Biden to head the Gun Violence Task Force, created to address the causes of school shootings and consider possible gun control measures in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in December 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Caldwell|first=Leigh Ann|date=December 19, 2012|title=Obama sets up gun violence task force|publisher=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-sets-up-gun-violence-task-force/%7Caccess-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115185454/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-sets-up-gun-violence-task-force/%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Later that month, during the final days before the United States fell off the "fiscal cliff", Biden's relationship with McConnell again proved important as the two negotiated a deal that led to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 being passed at the start of 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ap-cliff">{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.startribune.com/politics/national/185276422.html |title=Congress' OK of fiscal cliff deal gives Obama a win, prevents GOP blame for tax boosts |last=Fram|first=Alan |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis |date=January 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105020524/https://www.startribune.com/politics/national/185276422.html |archive-date=January 5, 2013}}</ref>
Second term (2013–2017)
[edit]Template:See also Biden was inaugurated to a second term on January 20, 2013, at a small ceremony at Number One Observatory Circle, his official residence, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor presiding (a public ceremony took place on January 21).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He played little part in discussions that led to the October 2013 passage of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014, which resolved the federal government shutdown of 2013 and the debt-ceiling crisis of 2013. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders cut him out of direct talks with Congress, feeling Biden had given too much away during previous negotiations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden's Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized again in 2013. The act led to related developments, such as the White House Council on Women and Girls, begun in the first term, as well as the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, begun in January 2014 with Biden and Valerie Jarrett as co-chairs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> He talked about sexual violence while introducing Lady Gaga at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
.jpg){kind=link}
Biden favored arming Syria's rebel fighters.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As the ISIL insurgency in Iraq intensified in 2014, renewed attention was paid to the Biden-Gelb Iraqi federalization plan of 2006, with some observers suggesting Biden had been right all along.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had close relationships with several Latin American leaders and visited the region 16 times during his vice presidency, the most of any president or vice president.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In August 2016, Biden visited Serbia, where he met with the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and expressed condolences for civilian victims of the bombing campaign during the Kosovo War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden never cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, making him the longest-serving vice president with this distinction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During his second term, Biden was often said to be preparing for a bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.<ref name="Itkowitz1" /> With his family, friends, and donors encouraging him in mid-2015 to enter the race, and with Hillary Clinton's favorability ratings in decline at that time, Biden was reported to be seriously considering the prospect and a "Draft Biden 2016" PAC was established.<ref name="Itkowitz1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By late 2015, Biden was still uncertain about running, particularly due to the recent death of his son Beau,<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34216117%7Ctitle=Joe Biden still undecided on presidential run|work=BBC News|date=September 11, 2015|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103083021/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34216117%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> and ultimately announced his decision not to run on October 21, 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|first=Mollie|last=Reilly|title=Joe Biden Is Not Running For President In 2016|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-president-2016_n_55f1cefbe4b093be51be0d69%7Cwork=HuffPost|date=October 21, 2015|access-date=October 21, 2015|archive-date=April 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405213056/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-president-2016_n_55f1cefbe4b093be51be0d69%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|first1=Colleen|last1=McCain Nelson|first2=Peter|last2=Nicholas|title=Joe Biden Decides Not to Enter Presidential Race|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-decides-not-to-enter-presidential-race-1445444657%7Cnewspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 21, 2015|access-date=October 21, 2015|archive-date=October 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021204730/https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-decides-not-to-enter-presidential-race-1445444657%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>
Post-vice presidency (2017–2021)
[edit]
After leaving the vice presidency, Biden became an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania, developing the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Biden remained in that position into 2019.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2017, Biden wrote a memoir, Promise Me, Dad, and went on a book tour.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2019, he and his wife reported that they had earned over $15 million since the end of his vice presidency from speaking engagements and book sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden remained in the public eye, endorsing candidates while continuing to comment on politics, climate change, and the presidency of Donald Trump.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="foreign-policy2" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also continued to speak out in favor of LGBT rights, continuing advocacy on an issue he had become more closely associated with during his vice presidency.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, he gave a eulogy for Senator John McCain.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden continued to support cancer research.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2020 presidential campaign
[edit]Speculation and announcement
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Between 2016 and 2019, media outlets often mentioned Biden as a likely candidate for president in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When asked if he would run, he gave varied and ambivalent answers, saying "never say never".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A political action committee known as Time for Biden was formed in January 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden launched his campaign on April 25, 2019,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> saying he was worried by the Trump administration and felt a "sense of duty".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Campaign
[edit]As the 2020 campaign season heated up, public polling showed Biden as one of the best-performing Democratic candidates head-to-head against Trump.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With Democrats keenly focused on "electability" for defeating Trump,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> this boosted his popularity among Democratic voters.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also made Biden a frequent target of Trump.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2019, it was reported that Trump had pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Biden and his son Hunter Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> No evidence was produced of any wrongdoing by the Bidens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Trump was perceived by many as attempting to hurt Biden's chances of winning the presidency,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> resulting in a political scandal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Trump's impeachment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In March 2019 and April 2019, eight women accused Biden of inappropriate physical contact, such as embracing, touching or kissing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden had previously called himself a "tactile politician" and admitted this behavior had caused trouble for him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Journalist Mark Bowden described Biden's lifelong habit of talking close, writing that he "doesn't just meet you, he engulfs you... scooting closer" and leaning forward to talk.<ref name="The Atlantic">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In April 2019, Biden pledged to be more "respectful of people's personal space".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Throughout 2019, Biden stayed generally ahead of other Democrats in national polls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite this, he finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in the New Hampshire primary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He performed better in the Nevada caucuses, reaching the 15% required for delegates, but still finished 21.6 percentage points behind Bernie Sanders.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Making strong appeals to Black voters on the campaign trail and in the South Carolina debate, Biden won the South Carolina primary by more than 28 points.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the withdrawals and subsequent endorsements of candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, he made large gains in the Super Tuesday primaries. Biden won 18 of the next 26 contests, putting him in the lead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg soon dropped out, and Biden expanded his lead with victories over Sanders in four states on March 10.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In late March 2020, Tara Reade, one of the eight women who in 2019 had accused Biden of inappropriate physical contact, accused Biden of having sexually assaulted her in 1993.<ref name="nytimesallegations">Template:Cite news</ref> There were inconsistencies between Reade's 2019 and 2020 allegations.<ref name="nytimesallegations" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden and his campaign denied the sexual assault allegation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
When Sanders suspended his campaign on April 8, 2020, Biden became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 13, Sanders endorsed Biden.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/us/politics/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-endorsement.html%7Ctitle=Bernie Sanders Endorses Joe Biden for President|last1=Ember|first1=Sydney|last2=Glueck|first2=Katie|date=April 13, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 13, 2020|archive-date=April 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413182004/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/us/politics/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-endorsement.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Barack Obama endorsed Biden the next day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On August 11, Biden announced U.S. senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, making her the first African American and first South Asian American vice-presidential nominee on a major-party ticket.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On August 18, 2020, at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Biden officially became the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 2020 election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Presidential election and transition
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Biden was elected the 46th president in November 2020, defeating the incumbent, Donald Trump.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Trump and numerous other Republicans repeatedly made false claims that widespread electoral fraud had occurred and that only he had legitimately won the election.Template:Efn Biden's transition was delayed by several weeks as the White House ordered federal agencies not to cooperate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 23, General Services Administrator Emily W. Murphy formally recognized Biden as the apparent winner of the 2020 election and authorized the start of a transition process to the Biden administration.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/transition-biden-gsa-begin/index.html%7Ctitle=First on CNN: GSA tells Biden that transition can formally begin|first1=Kristen|last1=Holmes|first2=Jeremy|last2=Herb|date=November 23, 2020|access-date=November 23, 2020|archive-date=November 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123232709/https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/transition-biden-gsa-begin/index.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>
Although most resulting lawsuits were either dismissed or ruled against by numerous courts,Template:Efn Trump nonetheless conspired<ref name="JackSmithReportVol1">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp with his campaign team to submit documents in several states (all of which Biden had won) that falsely claimed to be legitimate electoral votes for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.Template:Efn After the submission of these documents, the Trump campaign intended that the presiding officer of the United States Senate, either President of the Senate Pence or President pro tempore Chuck Grassley, would claim the unilateral power to reject electors during the January 6, 2021 vote counting session; the presiding officer would reject all electors from the several states for which the Trump campaign had submitted false documents, leaving 232 votes for Trump and 222 votes for Biden, thereby overturning the election results in Trump's favor.Template:Efn This plan failed after Pence refused to cooperate with it.Template:Efn Trump nevertheless urged his supporters on January 6 to march to the Capitol while the joint session of Congress was assembled there to count electoral votes and formalize Biden's victory, whereupon hundreds of people stormed the building and interrupted the count. During the attack, Biden addressed the nation, calling the events "an unprecedented assault unlike anything we've seen in modern times".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the Capitol was cleared, Congress officially counted the election results, with Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, announcing Biden and Harris as the winners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 7, Trump acknowledged the incoming administration without mentioning Biden's name.<ref>* Template:Cite web
Presidency (2021–2025)
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Inauguration
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Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021.<ref name="hunnicutt">{{#invoke:cite|news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-inauguration/assuming-u-s-presidency-biden-tells-divided-nation-democracy-has-prevailed-idUSKBN29P0HG%7Ctitle=Taking helm of divided nation, U.S. President Biden calls for end to 'uncivil war'|date=January 20, 2021|last1=Hunnicutt|first1=Trevor|last2=Zengerle|first2=Patricia|last3=Renshaw|first3=Jarrett|work=Reuters|access-date=January 20, 2021|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120171341/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-inauguration/assuming-u-s-presidency-biden-tells-divided-nation-democracy-has-prevailed-idUSKBN29P0HG%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At 78, he became the oldest person to assume the office.<ref name="hunnicutt" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the second Catholic U.S. president, after John F. Kennedy,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the first president elected from the state of Delaware.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was also the first person since George H. W. Bush to have been both vice president and president,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the only president to date from the Silent Generation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden's inauguration was "a muted affair unlike any previous inauguration" due to COVID-19 precautions as well as massively increased security measures because of the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Trump did not attend, becoming the first outgoing president since 1869 to not attend his successor's inauguration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
First 100 days
[edit]In his first two days as president, Biden signed 17 executive orders. By his third day, orders had included rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, ending the state of national emergency at the border with Mexico, directing the government to rejoin the World Health Organization, face mask requirements on federal property, measures to combat hunger in the United States,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and revoking permits for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last=Massie|first=Graeme|date=January 23, 2021|title=Canada's Trudeau 'disappointed' with Biden order to cancel Keystone pipeline|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trudeau-biden-keystone-xl-pipeline-b1791756.html%7Carchive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trudeau-biden-keystone-xl-pipeline-b1791756.html%7Carchive-date=June 9, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|work=The Independent|access-date=January 25, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Nickel|first1=Rod|last2=Volcovici|first2=Valerie|date=January 21, 2021|title=TC Energy cuts jobs as Keystone pipeline nixed, but markets start to move on|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone-idUSKBN29Q1T8%7Caccess-date=January 24, 2021}}</ref>
On March 11, Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus and relief package that he had proposed to support the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The package included direct payments to most Americans, an extension of increased unemployment benefits, funds for vaccine distribution and school reopenings, and expansions of health insurance subsidies and the child tax credit. Biden's initial proposal included an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, but after the Senate parliamentarian determined that including the increase in a budget reconciliation bill would violate Senate rules, Democrats removed it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Also in March, amid a rise in migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, Biden said migrant adults were "being sent back", in reference to the continuation of the Trump administration's Title 42 policy for quick deportations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He earlier announced that his administration would not deport unaccompanied migrant children; the rise in arrivals of such children exceeded the capacity of facilities meant to shelter them, leading the Biden administration in March to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Miroff |first1=Nick |date=March 13, 2021|title=Biden will deploy FEMA to care for teenagers and children crossing border in record numbers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fema-border-unaccompanied-minors/2021/03/13/738366a4-8455-11eb-bb5a-ad9a91faa4ef_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 23, 2021}}</ref>
On April 14, Biden announced that the United States would delay the withdrawal of all troops from the war in Afghanistan until September 11, signaling an end to the country's direct military involvement in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|last1=Sanger |first1=David E. |last2=Shear |first2=Michael D. |date=April 14, 2021 |title=Biden, Setting Afghanistan Withdrawal, Says 'It Is Time to End the Forever War' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/us/politics/biden-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/us/politics/biden-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal.html%7Carchive-date=December 28, 2021|url-access=limited |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 23, 2021}}Template:Cbignore</ref> In February 2020, the Trump administration had made a deal with the Taliban to completely withdraw U.S. forces by May 1, 2021.<ref name="images">Template:Cite news</ref> Biden's decision met with a range of reactions, from support and relief to trepidation at the possible collapse of the Afghan government without American support.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On April 22–23, Biden held an international climate summit at which he announced that the U.S. would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%–52% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 28, the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Domestic policy
[edit]On June 17, Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which officially declared Juneteenth a federal holiday.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2021, amid a slowing of the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, Biden said that it was "gigantically important" for Americans to be vaccinated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, Biden endorsed a change to the Senate filibuster to allow for the passing of the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The rules change failed when two Democratic senators joined Senate Republicans in opposing it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2022, Biden signed into law the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 to revamp the finances and operations of the United States Postal Service agency.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act aimed to address gun reform issues following the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> he signed the bill on June 25, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 was introduced in 2021 and signed into law by Biden on August 10, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The act intends to significantly improve healthcare access and funding for veterans who were exposed to toxic substances, including burn pits, during military service.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and requires the federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial marriages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In June 2024, Biden issued an executive action offering amnesty to unauthorized immigrants married to American citizens. The program included a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship and was expected to initially affect about 500,000 people. It was later struck down due to a lack of legislation empowering the president to enact the program.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In January 2025, Biden declared the lapsed Equal Rights Amendment ratified as the "28th Amendment" to the constitution. The declaration has no formal effect<ref name="Stokols">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the National Archives has said it does not intend to certify the amendment as part of the constitution due to "established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions".<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Economy
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Biden entered office nine months into a recovery from the COVID-19 recession and his first year in office was characterized by robust growth in real GDP, employment, wages, and stock market returns, amid significantly elevated inflation. Real GDP grew 5.9%, the fastest rate in 37 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Amid record job creation, the unemployment rate fell at the fastest pace on record during the year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the end of 2021, inflation rates measured by the consumer price index (CPI) reached a nearly 40-year high of 7.1%, which was partially offset by the highest nominal wage and salary growth in at least 20 years. The inflation rate peaked at 9% in June 2022.<ref name = "chartingecon"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The inflation rate reached 2.9% and core inflation rate reached 3.2% on an annual basis in December 2024, the last full month of Biden's term. Between December 2020 and December 2024, CPI rose 21.3% overall, with an annualized inflation rate of 5.3% throughout Biden's term in office. The inflation rate remained above the Federal Reserve's 2% target every month since March 2021, resulting in elevated interest rates to combat inflation. Average wages increased 19% throughout Biden's presidency, falling behind inflation. The unemployment rate declined by over 2% and real GDP grew 11% during Biden's term. Total household net worth increased by 28%, largely driven by stocks and real estate. The national debt grew to $36.2 trillion, with a debt to GDP ratio of 123% and a deficit to GDP ratio of 6% in FY 2024.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name = "chartingecon">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Amid a surge in inflation and high gas prices, Biden's approval ratings declined, with his disapproval rating surpassing his approval rating in early 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After 5.9% growth in 2021, real GDP growth cooled in 2022 to 2.1%, after slightly negative growth in the first half spurred recession concerns. Job creation and consumer spending remained strong through the year, as the unemployment rate fell to match a 53-year low of 3.5% in December. Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June before easing to 3.2% by October 2023. Stocks had had their worst year since 2008<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> before recovering. Widespread predictions of an imminent recession did not materialize in 2022 or 2023, and by late 2023 indicators showed sharply lower inflation with economic acceleration. GDP growth hit 4.9% in the third quarter of 2023 and the year ended with stocks near record highs, with robust holiday spending.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden signed numerous major pieces of economic legislation in the 117th Congress, including the American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law on August 9, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It provided billions of dollars in new funding to boost domestic research on and manufacture of semiconductors, to compete economically with China.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In his third month in office, Biden also signed an executive order to increase the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour. The order went into effect for 390,000 workers in January 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His administration rigorously enforced antitrust law.
In 2022, Biden blocked a national railroad strike planned by multiple labor unions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the United Auto Workers strike, he expressed support for the workers in negotiations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden joined striking UAW workers' picket line in Michigan, becoming the first president to join a picket line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He refused to block a port strike from the International Longshoremen's Association in October 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Over the course of five days in March 2023, three small- to mid-size U.S. banks failed, triggering a sharp decline in global bank stock prices and swift response by regulators to prevent potential global contagion. After Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, the first to do so, Biden expressed opposition to a bailout by taxpayers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He claimed that the partial rollback of Dodd-Frank regulations contributed to the bank's failure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At the beginning of the 118th Congress, Biden and congressional Republicans engaged in a standoff after the U.S. hit its debt limit, which raised the risk that the U.S. would default on its debt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a deal to raise the debt limit, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which suspended the debt limit until January 2025. Biden signed it on June 3, averting a default.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The deal was generally seen as favorable to Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden extended the COVID-19 student loan pause through September 2023, with an "on ramp" period that extended some of the pause's protections against credit reporting, collection efforts, and late payment fees through September 30, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Biden administration's attempts to implement student loan forgiveness and relief programs have faced legal challenges from a coalition of Republican-led states.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden's plans to forgive student loan debt were estimated to cost over $519 billion,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and some critics called them a "disaster".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Judiciary
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By the end of 2021, 40 of his nominees to the federal judiciary had been confirmed, more than any president in his first year in office since Ronald Reagan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden prioritized diversity in his judicial appointments more than any president in U.S. history, with most of his appointees being women and people of color.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In January 2022, Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire. During his 2020 campaign, Biden vowed to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court if a vacancy occurred,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a promise he reiterated after Breyer announced his retirement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On February 25, Biden nominated federal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> She was sworn in on June 30.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the end of his presidency, Biden had appointed 235 judges, more appointments in a single term than any other president in at least 50 years. 63% of Biden's judges were women and 60% were non-white.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden expressed interest in judicial term limits and a binding ethics code for Supreme Court justices.<ref name="BidenSCOTUSreform">Template:Cite news</ref>
Infrastructure and climate
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As part of Biden's Build Back Better agenda, in late March 2021, he proposed the American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion package addressing issues including transport infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, housing, schools, manufacturing, research and workforce development.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After months of negotiations among Biden and lawmakers, in August 2021 the Senate passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the House, also in a bipartisan manner, approved that bill in early November 2021, covering infrastructure related to transport, utilities, and broadband.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden signed the bill into law in mid-November 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The other core part of the Build Back Better agenda was the Build Back Better Act, a $3.5 trillion social spending bill that expands the social safety net and includes major provisions on climate change.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Democrats attempted to pass it on a party-line vote through budget reconciliation, but struggled to win the support of Senator Joe Manchin, even as the price was lowered to $2.2 trillion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After Manchin rejected the bill,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it was comprehensively reworked into the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, covering deficit reduction, climate change, healthcare, and tax reform.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was introduced by Manchin and Senator Chuck Schumer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The package aimed to raise $739 billion and authorize $370 billion in spending on energy and climate change, $300 billion in deficit reduction, three years of Affordable Care Act subsidies, prescription drug reform to lower prices, and tax reform.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to an analysis by the Rhodium Group, the bill will lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions between 31 percent and 44 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.<ref name="Joan">Template:Cite news</ref> On August 7, 2022, the Senate passed the bill (as amended) on a 51–50 vote, with all Democrats voting in favor, all Republicans opposed, and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. Biden signed the bill on August 16.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Before and during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Biden promoted an agreement that the U.S. and the European Union cut methane emissions by a third by 2030 and tried to add dozens of other countries to the effort.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden pledged to double climate funding to developing countries by 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also at COP26, the U.S. and China reached a deal on greenhouse gas emission reduction. The two countries are responsible for 40 percent of global emissions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2023, when heat waves hit the United States, Biden announced measures to protect the population and said the heat waves were linked to climate change.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2024, he unveiled a plan to protect and restore natural water sources (3.2 million hectares of wetlands and 161,000 km of waterways).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden protected 674 million acres of land and ocean from natural resource exploitation, more than any other president. The vast majority of the conservation came from a ban on offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Immigration
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Illegal border crossings at the Mexico–United States border began to surge in 2021 when Biden assumed office,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> reaching an all-time monthly high in December 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Throughout 2024, crossings began to significantly decline from the December record, after Biden implemented restrictions on asylum claims from migrants who cross the border between ports of entry and urged Mexico to crack down on migrants.<ref name="cbs-border-crossings">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Deportations from October 2023 to September 2024 reached the highest level since 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden used humanitarian parole to an unprecedented degree to mitigate illegal border crossings, allowing migrants to fly into the U.S. or schedule their entries through official entry points in the U.S.-Mexico border. Over a million migrants had been admitted to the U.S. under humanitarian parole as of January 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In January 2024, Biden expressed support for a proposed bipartisan immigration deal led by Senators Kyrsten Sinema and James Lankford. He had previously supported the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which he proposed on his first day in office.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The proposed bipartisan bill would have allowed DHS to close the border when encounters reach a seven-day average of 5,000 or exceed 8,500 in a single day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the bill would have mandated the detention of migrants seeking asylum and undergoing asylum interviews, with those failing the process repatriated to their home countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While not addressing the status of "Dreamers", it would have changed immigration law to allow the children of those with H-1B visas to get work authorizations and freeze their legal ages while waiting for green cards, rather than face deportation once they turn 21, and provide additional funding for immigration judges.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Former president Donald Trump announced his opposition to the legislation, calling on Congressional Republicans to oppose it; subsequently, leaders such as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced their opposition, halting further legislative action.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a result of continued high immigration levels throughout his tenure, some lawmakers and pundits have criticized Biden's handling of the southern border.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Criticism of the bill and broader immigration policy continued to be expressed by both sides, with some liberals considering his policies too harsh while some conservatives considered them too lax.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 17, 2024, a Republican-led non-binding resolution denouncing the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the U.S. southern border passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 225–187, with 211 Republicans and 14 Democrats supporting it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the final year of his presidency, the Biden administration worked to extend at least 14 contracts with private prison companies to run immigrant detention centers, despite his 2020 campaign promise to end the practice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2024, Biden issued an executive order allowing the president to restrict the Mexico–U.S. border.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cbs-border-crossings" />
Pardons and commutations
[edit]Biden issued more individual pardons and commutations than any other president.<ref name = "APpardons"/> On October 6, 2022, he pardoned all Americans convicted of "small" amounts of cannabis possession under federal law.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On December 22, 2023, he pardoned Americans for cannabis use or possession on federal lands regardless of whether they had been charged or prosecuted.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 12, 2024, in the largest single-day clemency act in history, Biden granted clemency to about 1,500 nonviolent felons in home confinement who had previously been released from prison.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The act generated controversy, as it included felons such as Michael Conahan, a judge involved in the kids for cash kickback scandal, and Rita Crundwell, a comptroller responsible for the single largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. The Biden administration said the offenders who received clemency "deserve a second chance" and were selected based on meeting certain criteria in a uniform decision.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On December 23, 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On his last day in office, Biden commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, convicted of murdering two FBI agents, to house arrest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Pardons of family members and political figures
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Biden issued more pardons for members of his family than any other president.<ref name="lastpardonnyt"/> On December 1, 2024, he issued a "full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter Biden that covered all federal offenses between 2014 and December 1, 2024. The pardon's sweeping extent was "unprecedented".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to Reason magazine, Hunter Biden's pardon was even more far-reaching than Richard Nixon's or other "controversial"<ref name=":2" /> pardons:
The Hunter pardon is far more comprehensive...in that it covered not just his convictions for drug-related activities and tax fraud, but any other criminal behavior since 2014—the year that Hunter joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. It has been alleged that Hunter's job was essentially to trade on the family name and sell his access to dad. This may not have been illegal, but it does mean that the pardon is clearly designed to offer preemptive protection not just to Hunter, but to Joe Biden himself. These features make the pardon unprecedented, though perfectly in line with the president's executive powers.
Hunter had been convicted on charges related to tax and gun offenses, after which Joe made numerous promises not to pardon him. He and his staff continued to say that Hunter would not be pardoned as late as November, although internal staff discussions affirmed that the option remained on the table even as Biden said otherwise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NBCpardon" /> Biden and his family finalized the decision to pardon Hunter without consulting senior staff.<ref name="nytdec2">Template:Cite news</ref> In a statement announcing the pardon, Biden said he believed his son was "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted", blaming "political pressure" for the collapse of a plea bargain. The plea bargain actually fell apart after the presiding judge asked about its unusual construction.<ref name="White House 2024" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden's pardon came amid incoming December sentencing dates for Hunter for his convictions and concerns about the succeeding Trump administration potentially targeting political rivals for prosecution.<ref name="nytdec2" /> Biden said, "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>
On his last day in office, Biden issued pardons for more of his family members and other high-profile figures.<ref name="lastpardonnyt">Template:Cite news</ref> The pardons covered Biden's siblings and their spouses, including James Biden, who was interviewed as part of an impeachment probe into Biden. Others pardoned that day include former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, and members and participants in the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, despite many of those pardoned not having been under criminal investigation.<ref name="lastpardonnyt"/><ref name = "APpardons">Template:Cite news</ref> Biden justified the pardons by citing his concern about "baseless and politically motivated investigations" during Trump's second term.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden added that the pardons were preemptive and should not be seen as implying their recipients' guilt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The pardons Biden granted to his family and other political figures had a sweeping scope similar to the one he granted Hunter, covering federal offenses the recipients committed or may have committed between 2014 and the day of the pardon.<ref name = "APpardons"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Biden also pardoned two other Democratic officials on his last day in office: Ernest William Cromartie, convicted of tax evasion, and Gerald G. Lundergan, convicted of a scheme to funnel money to his daughter's Senate campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2022 elections
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On September 2, 2022, in a nationally broadcast Philadelphia speech, Biden called for a "battle for the soul of the nation". Off camera, he called Trump supporters "semi-fascists", which Republican commentators denounced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A predicted Republican wave election did not materialize and the race for U.S. Congress control was much closer than expected, with Republicans securing a slim majority of 222 seats in the House of Representatives,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Democratic caucus keeping control of the U.S. Senate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Efn
It was the first midterm election since 1986 in which the incumbent president's party achieved a net gain in governorships, and the first since 1934 in which the president's party lost no state legislative chambers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Democrats credited Biden for their unexpectedly strong performance,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but they likely overperformed for other reasons, including the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and poor Republican candidate quality in many races.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name>Template:Cite web</ref>
Foreign policy
[edit]In June 2021, Biden took his first trip abroad as president, visiting Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. He attended a G7 summit, a NATO summit, and an EU summit, and held one-on-one talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In September 2021, Biden announced AUKUS, a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, to ensure "peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In February 2021, the Biden administration announced that the United States was ending its support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and revoked the designation of Yemen's Houthis as terrorists.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In early February 2022, Biden ordered the counterterrorism raid in northern Syria that resulted in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the second leader of the Islamic State.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> In late July, Biden approved the drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second leader of Al-Qaeda, and an integral member in the planning of the September 11 attacks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The 2022 OPEC+ oil production cut caused a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia, threatening a longstanding alliance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In August 2024, Biden negotiated and oversaw the 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange, the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War. It involved the release of 26 people, including journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 2024, the Biden administration announced that it had helped broker a ceasefire agreement in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.<ref name="reuters20241127">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="apnews20241126">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="wsj20241127">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="cnn20241126">Template:Cite news</ref>
Withdrawal from Afghanistan
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American forces had begun withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2020, under the provisions of a February 2020 US-Taliban agreement that set a May 1, 2021, deadline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Taliban began an offensive on May 1.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By early July, most American troops in Afghanistan had withdrawn.<ref name="images" /> Biden addressed the withdrawal in July, saying, "The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."<ref name="images" />
On August 15, the Afghan government collapsed under the Taliban offensive, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.<ref name="images" /><ref name="messy">Template:Cite news</ref> Biden reacted by ordering 6,000 American troops to assist with evacuating American personnel and Afghan allies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He faced bipartisan criticism for the manner of the withdrawal,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with the evacuations described as chaotic and botched.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On August 16, Biden addressed the "messy" situation, taking responsibility for it, and admitting that the situation "unfolded more quickly than we had anticipated".<ref name="messy" /><ref name="buck1">Template:Cite news</ref> He defended his decision to withdraw, saying that Americans should not be "dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves".<ref name="buck1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On August 26, a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. service members and 169 Afghans. On August 27, an American drone strike killed two ISIS-K targets, who were "planners and facilitators", according to a U.S. Army general.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The U.S. military completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30. Biden called the extraction of over 120,000 Americans, Afghans, and other allies "an extraordinary success".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He acknowledged that up to 200 Americans who wanted to leave did not, despite his August 18 pledge to keep troops in Afghanistan until all Americans who wanted to leave had left.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After the withdrawal, the U.S. continued to send aid to Afghanistan, remaining its biggest aid donor as of August 2024 and spending at least $20.7 billion post-withdrawal. U.S. funding has helped support the Taliban government and stabilize Afghanistan's economy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On September 25, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the Biden administration for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, with ten Democrats and all Republicans voting in favor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Russian invasion of Ukraine
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In February 2022, the Russian Armed Forces under President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. After warning for several weeks that an attack was imminent, Biden responded by imposing severe sanctions on Russia and authorizing over $8 billion in weapons shipments to Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 29, he asked Congress for $33 billion for Ukraine,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but lawmakers later increased it to about $40 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden blamed Putin for the emerging energy and food crises.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, Congress approved about $113 billion in aid to Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2023, the Biden administration requested an additional $61.4 billion in aid for Ukraine for the year ahead,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but delays in the passage of further aid by the House of Representatives inhibited progress, with the additional $61 billion in aid to Ukraine added in April 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Actually delivered aid often differed from announced levels and was also often delayed. The Government Accountability Office and Pentagon Inspector General found that the Biden administration seemed unaware of the pace of weapons deliveries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Throughout the conflict, Biden consistently refused Ukrainian requests to allow them to utilize weapons against Russian military targets inside Russia. An exception was granted in May 2024 for targets in the vicinity of Kharkiv for "counter-fire" purposes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden also blocked access for some weapons systems altogether, typically citing fears of escalation, only to permit deliveries for some weapons later on.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China affairs
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The Solomon Islands-China security pact caused alarm in late 2022, as China could build military bases across the South Pacific. Biden sought to strengthen ties with Australia and New Zealand in the wake of the deal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a September 2022 interview with 60 Minutes, Biden said that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of "an unprecedented attack" by the Chinese,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which is in contrast to the long-standing U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity" toward China and Taiwan.<ref name="Kine">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The September comments came after three previous comments by Biden that the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.<ref name="theories">Template:Cite news</ref> Amid increasing tension with China, Biden's administration has repeatedly walked back his statements and asserted that U.S. policy toward Taiwan has not changed.<ref name=theories/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=Kine/> In late 2022, Biden issued several executive orders and federal rules designed to slow Chinese technological growth, and maintain U.S. leadership over computing, biotech, and clean energy.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
On February 4, 2023, Biden ordered the United States Air Force to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The Chinese government denied that the balloon was a surveillance device, instead claiming it was a civilian airship that had blown off course.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his planned visit to China as the incident further damaged U.S.-China relations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2024, the Biden administration doubled tariffs on solar cells imported from China and more than tripled tariffs on lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries imported from China.<ref name="erwgs">Template:Cite news</ref> It also raised tariffs on imports of Chinese steel, aluminum, and medical materials.<ref name="erwgs"/>
In April 2024, Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would ban social networking services if they are determined by the president and relevant provisions to be a "foreign adversary controlled application". The act explicitly applies to ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries, which are based in China. It ceases to be applicable if the application is divested and no longer considered to be controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States. Biden had signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act in December 2022, prohibiting the use of TikTok on devices owned by the federal government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Gaza war
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In October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that devolved into an intensified conflict, jeopardizing the administration's push to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden stated his unequivocal support for Israel and condemned the attack by Hamas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He deployed aircraft carriers in the region to deter others from joining the war,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and called for an additional $14 billion in military aid to Israel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He later began pressuring Israel to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden rejected calls for a ceasefire but said he supported "humanitarian pauses" to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He asked Israel to pause its invasion of Gaza for at least three days to allow for hostage negotiations; Israel agreed to daily four-hour pauses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also directed the U.S. military to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden has said he is a Zionist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has faced criticism for his unwavering support for Israel. Officials have urged him to take a harder stance against Israel, criticizing his administration's leniency and support despite the Israeli government's contentious offensive, which has led to significant civilian casualties and humanitarian crises.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
{{#invoke:multiple image|| | total_width = 450 | image1 = March on Washington Free Palestine - 1.jpg | image2 = 215a.FreePalestineRally.WDC.4November2023 (53338192232).jpg | footer = A crowd in Washington D.C. holding signs protesting the Biden administration's aid to Israel on November 4, 2023 }}
Following the killing of Palestinian civilians receiving food aid on February 29, 2024, Biden said the current level of aid flowing into Gaza was insufficient.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On March 3, the U.S. military began airdropping food aid into Gaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Several experts called the U.S. airdrops performative and said they would do little to alleviate the famine in Gaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
As of May 2024, Biden has continued to support Israel during the course of the war despite significant domestic opposition to American involvement in it and subsequent widespread protests. A March 2024 Gallup poll found that a strong majority of Americans disapproved of Israeli conduct during the war.<ref name="Gallup Inc.">Template:Cite web</ref> Beginning in April 2024, widespread Gaza war protests emerged on university campuses, denouncing Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On May 31, 2024, Biden announced his support for an Israeli ceasefire proposal, saying that Hamas was "no longer capable" of another large-scale attack.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The proposal, which would establish a permanent ceasefire, release all hostages, and reconstruct the Gaza Strip, was supported by Hamas officials after mediation by Egypt and Qatar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Netanyahu administration responded that Israel's goals regarding "the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities" had not changed and that conditions would need to be met before it would agree to a ceasefire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the first year of the war, it was estimated that the Biden administration had sent Israel at least $17.9 billion in military aid, a record.<ref name="knickmeyer">Template:Cite news</ref> In about the same period, it sent Palestinians $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid.<ref name="ching-voa">Template:Cite news</ref> In the last week of Biden's presidency, Qatari officials announced that Hamas had accepted the ceasefire deal, with 33 hostages to be released pending Israeli approval. Biden hailed the deal, saying "it is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin" in a press release the same day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
NATO enlargement
[edit]Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden expressed support for expanding NATO to cover Sweden and Finland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On August 9, 2022, he signed the instruments of ratification stipulating U.S. support for the two countries' entry into NATO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Finnish ascension occurred on April 4, 2023, but opposition by Turkey and Hungary to Swedish entry led to a stalemate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden led diplomatic talks resulting in formal Swedish ascension into NATO on March 7, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has also expressed openness to Ukrainian entry into NATO following the end of the conflict,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> supporting an expedited timetable in its ascension and the removal of steps such as the Membership Action Plan typically required for NATO entry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Investigations
[edit]Retention of classified documents
[edit]In November 2022, Biden's attorneys found classified documents dating from his vice presidency in a "locked closet" at the Penn Biden Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nytbatch1">Template:Cite news</ref> According to the White House, the documents were reported to the U.S. National Archives, which recovered them the next day.<ref name="nytbatch1" /> On November 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed John R. Lausch Jr. to conduct an investigation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 20, a second batch of classified documents was discovered in the garage of Biden's Wilmington residence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On January 12, Garland appointed Robert K. Hur as special counsel to investigate "possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On January 20, after a 13-hour consensual search by FBI investigators, six more items with classified markings were recovered from Biden's Wilmington residence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> FBI agents searched Biden's home in Rehoboth Beach on February 1 and collected papers from his time as vice president, but did not find any classified information.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On February 8, 2024, Hur announced that no charges would be brought against Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Business activities
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On January 11, 2023, the House of Representatives launched an investigative committee into the foreign business activities of Biden's son, Hunter, and brother, James.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The committee's chair, Representative James Comer, simultaneously investigated alleged corruption related to the Hunter Biden laptop controversy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On September 12, House speaker Kevin McCarthy initiated a formal impeachment inquiry against Biden, saying that the House investigations "paint a picture of corruption" by Biden and his family.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Congressional investigations, including by the House Oversight committee, have discovered no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden as of December 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On December 13, 2023, the House of Representatives voted 221–212 to formalize an impeachment inquiry into Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In February 2024, Alexander Smirnov, a former intelligence informant who was prominent in the bribery allegations against Biden, was charged with making false statements.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Smirnov admitted he had publicized a false story given to him by Russian intelligence officials with the goal of damaging Biden's reelection campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Age and health concerns
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As of 2025, Biden was the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. His cognitive health was perceived to have declined by Republicans and some media figures,<ref>
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The media widely covered public concern about Biden's mental acuity after a weak performance in a June 2024 presidential debate,<ref name = "cbsjuly1age">Template:Cite news</ref> but gave it limited coverage beforehand, in part due to harsh pushback from White House officials.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden repeatedly said he was fit to serve two terms as president,<ref>
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- Template:Cite news</ref> but later acknowledged that he may have been too old to serve a second term.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
As part of the investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, special counsel Robert Hur stated that Biden did not remember when he was Vice President ("if it was 2013 - when did I stop being Vice President?"). Biden also did not remember when his son, Beau, died.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hur wrote that his memory "appeared to have significant limitations".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On July 21, 2022, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 with reportedly mild symptoms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AP News">Template:Cite news</ref> According to the White House, he was treated with Paxlovid.<ref name="AP News" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He worked in isolation in the White House for five days<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and returned to isolation when he tested positive again on July 30, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 17, 2024, Biden again tested positive for COVID-19.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2024 presidential campaign
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Ending months of speculation,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> on April 25, 2023, Biden confirmed he would run for reelection as president in the 2024 election, with Harris again as his running mate.<ref name="Associated Press">Template:Cite news</ref> On the day of his announcement, a Gallup poll found that Biden's approval rating was 37 percent, with most of those surveyed saying the economy was their biggest concern.<ref name="pollrui">Template:Cite news</ref> During his campaign, Biden promoted higher economic growth and recovery.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He frequently stated his intention to "finish the job" as a political rallying cry.<ref name="Associated Press" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
U.S. Representative Dean Phillips ran against Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> campaigning as a younger alternative who would be a stronger opponent to Trump.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden was not on the ballot in the January 23 New Hampshire primary, but won it in a write-in campaign with 63.8% of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had wanted South Carolina to be the first primary, and won that state on February 3 with 96.2% of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden received 89.3% of the vote in Nevada and 81.1% of the vote in Michigan. On March 5 ("Super Tuesday"), he won 15 of 16 primaries, netting 80% or more of the vote in 13.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden lost the American Samoa contest to venture capitalist Jason Palmer, becoming the first incumbent president to lose a contest while appearing on the ballot since Jimmy Carter in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On March 6, Phillips suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On March 12, Biden reached more than the 1,968 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, becoming the presumptive nominee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first presidential debate was held on June 27, 2024, between Biden and Trump. Biden's performance was widely criticized, with commentators saying he frequently lost his train of thought and gave meandering answers.<ref name="reuters-biden-debate">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="apjune27">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PoliticoJune28Dems">Template:Cite news</ref> Several newspaper columnists declared Trump the winner,<ref name="worst" >Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and polling indicated the majority of viewers believed Trump won.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the debate raised questions about his health and age, Biden faced calls to withdraw from the race, including from fellow Democrats<ref name="nbc-biden-step-down">Template:Cite web</ref> and the editorial boards of several major news outlets.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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Biden initially insisted that he would remain a candidate,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but on July 21, he withdrew his candidacy, writing that this was "in the best interest of my party and the country".<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He endorsed Harris as his successor.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On August 6, 2024, Harris was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This was the first time an eligible incumbent had declined to run for reelection since 1968.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the general election, Trump defeated Harris. The Senate went Republican for the first time since 2018. In a nationally televised speech after the election, Biden congratulated Trump and promised a "peaceful and orderly" transition of power.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a January 2025 interview, Biden claimed he could have defeated Trump had he not been persuaded to withdraw from the election, despite lagging behind Trump in polling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A YouGov poll conducted on November 6–7, 2024, found that if Biden had been the Democratic nominee, Trump would have won the popular vote by 49% to 42%. Trump won the popular vote over Harris by 49.8% to 48.3%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Assessments
[edit]A February 2024 American Political Science Association poll of historians and scholars ranked Biden as the 14th-greatest president, diverging from public assessments. The pollsters noted that Biden's ranking was unusually high for a presidency without military victories or institutional expansion, and with personal scandals such as Hunter Biden's. The experts polled generally regarded Biden's signature accomplishment as his victory over Trump in the 2020 election, which was perceived as helping to protect and restore political and institutional norms in American government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=bc>Template:Cite web</ref>
Journalist Amy Walter, editor of the nonpartisan The Cook Political Report, argued that Biden's presidency was deemed a failure by the public particularly due to frustration over inflation. Walter said that voters considered inflation the most important factor with respect to the economy, more important than the stock market, low unemployment, or household income.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The extent to which Biden's policies were responsible for inflation is debated by economists,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but according to Gallup, public perception of the economy in 2024 was worse only in 2008 and 1992, helping Trump win the 2024 presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Post-presidency (2025–present)
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Biden's term ended on January 20, 2025, upon Trump's second inauguration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the end of his presidency, Biden designated former senior advisors Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini to raise funds for the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He later signed with talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which previously represented him from 2017 to 2020, to represent him in public engagements.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On February 7, 2025, Donald Trump revoked Biden's security clearance, ending his access to classified information.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Former presidents have traditionally been granted access to intelligence briefings, though such access is at the sitting president's discretion. In 2021, Biden had revoked Trump's security clearance for his role in inciting the January 6 Capitol attack.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden made his first major public appearance since leaving office on April 15, 2025, delivering remarks at an Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) conference in Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In his address, he criticized the Trump administration's handling of the Social Security Administration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 7, 2025, Biden appeared on The View to defend his presidential legacy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On May 18, 2025, Biden's personal office announced that he had been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer with bone metastasis during a routine physical checkup.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His medical team stated the cancer is hormone-sensitive and that treatment options are being reviewed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has been acknowledged that the cancer has now spread from his prostate to other tissue in his body and that Biden's urinary symptoms have been increasing as well.<ref name="bidencancerdiagnosis">Template:Cite news</ref> As of May 18, the cancer has a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5).<ref name="bidencancerdiagnosis" />
Political positions
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As a senator, Biden was regarded as a moderate Democrat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a presidential nominee, Biden's platform had been called the most progressive of any major party platform in history, although not within his party's ideological vanguard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden says his positions are deeply influenced by Catholic social teaching.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to political scientist Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Biden represents an Americanized form of Christian democracy, taking positions characteristic of both the center-right and center-left.<ref name="Foreign Policy">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden has cited the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, credited with starting the Christian democratic movement, as immensely influential in his thinking.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Other analysts have likened his ideology to traditional liberalism, "a doctrine of liberty, equality, justice and individual rights that relies... on a strong federal government for enforcement".<ref name="Greenberg">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Broich">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2022, journalist Sasha Issenberg wrote that Biden's "most valuable political skill" was "an innate compass for the ever-shifting mainstream of the Democratic Party".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some critics claimed Biden's climate policy was socialist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden proposed partially reversing the corporate tax cuts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden is a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).<ref name="ACA203">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He promoted a plan to build upon it,<ref name="ACA203" /> aiming to expand health insurance coverage to 97% of Americans, including by creating a public health insurance option.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Biden did not support national same-sex marriage rights while in the Senate and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but opposed proposals for constitutional amendments that would have banned same-sex marriage nationwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden has supported same-sex marriage since 2012.<ref name="NYT Biden Evolution on LGBTQ" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a senator, Biden forged deep relationships with police groups and was a chief proponent of a Police Officer's Bill of Rights measure that police unions supported but police chiefs opposed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Biden also ran on decriminalizing cannabis,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> after advocating harsher penalties for drug use as a senator.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Biden believes action must be taken on climate change. As a senator, he co-sponsored the Boxer–Sanders Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the most stringent climate bill in the United States Senate.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden supports nature conservation. According to a report from the Center for American Progress, he broke several records in this domain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He took steps to protect old-growth forests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He wants to achieve a carbon-free power sector in the U.S. by 2035 and stop emissions completely by 2050.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His program included reentering the Paris Agreement, green building and more.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden supports environmental justice, including climate justice and ocean justice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden called global temperature rise above the 1.5 degree limit the "only existential threat humanity faces even more frightening than a nuclear war".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite his clean energy policies and congressional Republicans characterizing them as a "War on American Energy", domestic oil production reached a record high in October 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden has said the U.S. needs to "get tough" on China, calling it the "most serious competitor" that poses challenges to the United States' "prosperity, security, and democratic values".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Biden has spoken about human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, pledging to sanction and commercially restrict Chinese government officials and entities who carry out repression.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden has said he is against regime change but is for providing non-military support to opposition movements.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He opposed direct U.S. intervention in Libya,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="The New York Times-2" /> voted against U.S. participation in the Gulf War,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> voted in favor of the Iraq War,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and supports a two-state solution in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden pledged to end U.S. support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and to reevaluate the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia.<ref name="foreign-policy2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden supported extending the New START arms control treaty with Russia to limit the number of nuclear weapons deployed by both sides.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn
Biden supported abortion rights throughout his presidency, though he personally opposes abortion because of his Catholic faith.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, he said he supported Roe v. Wade and repealing the Hyde Amendment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, he criticized near-total bans on abortion access passed in a majority of Republican-controlled states,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and took measures to protect abortion rights in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Biden rejected calls to provide abortion services on federal land.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He vowed to sign a bill codifying the protections of Roe into federal law; such a bill passed the House in 2022, but was unable to clear the Senate filibuster.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Public image
[edit]Biden was consistently ranked one of the least wealthy members of the Senate,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which he attributed to having been elected young.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Feeling that less-wealthy public officials may be tempted to accept contributions in exchange for political favors, he proposed campaign finance reform measures during his first term.<ref name="cby-44" /> During his time in the senate, Biden was viewed as being close to the credit card company MBNA, a major contributor to his campaigns since 1989, sometimes being referred to as "senator from MBNA."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, Biden's net worth was $27,012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, the Bidens were worth $9 million, largely due to sales of Biden's books and speaking fees after his vice presidency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Political columnist David S. Broder wrote that Biden has grown over time: "He responds to real people—that's been consistent throughout. And his ability to understand himself and deal with other politicians has gotten much, much better."<ref name="watn020109" /> Journalist James Traub has written that "Biden is the kind of fundamentally happy person who can be as generous toward others as he is to himself".<ref name="nytm-traub" /> Particularly since the 2015 death of his elder son Beau, Biden has been noted for his empathetic nature and ability to communicate about grief.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Journalist and TV anchor Wolf Blitzer has called Biden loquacious;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> journalist Mark Bowden has said that he is famous for "talking too much", leaning in close "like an old pal with something urgent to tell you".<ref name="The Atlantic" /> He often deviates from prepared remarks,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and sometimes "puts his foot in his mouth".<ref name="nyt-no2" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Biden has a reputation for being prone to gaffes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times wrote that Biden's "weak filters make him capable of blurting out pretty much anything".<ref name="nyt-no2" />
According to The New York Times, Biden often embellishes elements of his life or exaggerates, a trait also noted by The New Yorker in 2014.<ref name="The New Yorker">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="The New York Times">Template:Cite news</ref> For instance, he has claimed to have been more active in the civil rights movement than he actually was, and has falsely recalled being an excellent student who earned three college degrees.<ref name="The New Yorker" /> The Times wrote, "Mr. Biden's folksiness can veer into folklore, with dates that don't quite add up and details that are exaggerated or wrong, the factual edges shaved off to make them more powerful for audiences."<ref name="The New York Times" />
Job approval
[edit]According to Morning Consult polling, Biden maintained an approval rating above 50% during his presidency's first eight months. In August 2021, it began to decline, reaching the low forties by December.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was attributed to the Afghanistan withdrawal, increasing hospitalizations from the Delta variant, high inflation and gas prices, disarray within the Democratic Party, and a general decline in popularity customary in politics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, Biden's approval rating was the lowest of any modernTemplate:Efn U.S. president after three years in office.<ref name="gallup2023end">Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallup, Inc. found Biden's approval ratings to be consistently above 50% during his first few months in office,<ref name="Gallup Approval">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but by August, his ratings began to decline.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had a 98% approval rating from Democrats in February 2021, but by December only 78% approved of his presidency.<ref name="BidenGallup">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Gallup Approval" /> By October 2023, his rating among Democrats had reached a record low of 75%.<ref name="gallup2023end" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His approval rating among Republicans has been consistently in the single digits, aside from his first few months in office.<ref name="BidenGallup" /> Additionally, Gallup noted that Biden's public support eroded each year he was in office: he averaged 49% approval in his first year,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 41% in his second,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 40% in his third,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 39% in his fourth.<ref name="gallup20250117" /> In July 2024, just before he withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, Gallup found his approval rating had fallen to an all-time low of 36%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gallup found that Biden had an average approval rating of 42.2% throughout his presidency, which was lower than all other presidents' except Trump's first term, at 41.1%. Biden's final approval rating in January 2025 was 40%, which was low but still higher than several other presidents' final approval ratings.<ref name="gallup20250117" /> Gallup's averaged polls of Biden's presidency found that he was the second-least popular president in its polling history, ahead of Trump.<ref name="gallup20250117">Template:Cite web</ref>
CNN and CBS News found Biden's final approval rating to be 37% and 36%, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight found that Biden had a final average approval rating of 37%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Media depictions
[edit]Template:See also Nine men have portrayed Biden on Saturday Night Live, starting with Kevin Nealon in 1991. Jason Sudeikis portrayed Biden during the 2008 election season and reprised the role many times. During the 2020 election season, Biden was played by John Mulaney, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day, Woody Harrelson, and Jim Carrey. In 2024, Dana Carvey played the role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2016, Greg Kinnear portrayed Biden in the HBO television film Confirmation, about the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Legacy
[edit]When Biden left office in 2025, journalists and even many Democrats viewed his presidency as a failure—due to age and health concerns, public frustration over inflation, and the defeat of his vice president, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 presidential election by Donald Trump.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Guardian called the conclusion of Biden's presidency a "tragedy", particularly because Biden was succeeded by Trump after previously defeating him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Biden's life has been marked by tragedy, including the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident after his election to the Senate in 1972 and the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015. NBC News called Biden's life "one of the great tragedies of American politics."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Journalist Ronald Brownstein of The Atlantic compared Biden to Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, 2024, and whom Biden eulogized on January 9, 2025. Biden's presidency was overshadowed by the 2021–2023 inflation surge, much as the 1970s energy crisis and stagflation overshadowed Carter's presidency. Both men were Democrats and served a single term as president, with Carter losing reelection in 1980 to Ronald Reagan and Biden's party losing in 2024 to Donald Trump.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election was compared to Lyndon B. Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 presidential election, with Johnson's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, losing in 1968 to Richard Nixon and Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris, losing in 2024 to Trump. Johnson and Biden were both initially popular but saw their approval ratings decline throughout their presidencies as both faced protests and criticism over foreign policy issues<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>. Johnson and Biden also previously served as vice president, under John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A December 2024 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans thought Biden's presidency was below average or poor, 26% average, and 19% above average or outstanding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gallup found that Americans largely offered negative assessments of Biden's presidency on economic, national, and international issues. Of 18 issue areas Gallup tracked, a majority of Americans said the U.S. lost ground in six, including the economy in general, immigration, and the country's position in the world. A plurality found that the U.S. declined in six other areas, including national infrastructure and energy, education, and trade relations with other countries. Americans perceived standstills in climate change and black people's situation, and were divided between standstills and declines in their perception of health care, national defense, and taxes. A plurality felt the U.S. made progress in only one indicator under Biden: the conditions of gay, lesbian, and transgender people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Scholarly rankings
[edit]The Siena College Research Institute's 2022 survey ranked Biden 19th out of 45 presidents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert survey ranked Biden the 14th best president.<ref name=bc/>
See also
[edit]- Bibliography of Joe Biden
- Early career of Joe Biden
- Electoral history of Joe Biden
- List of presidents of the United States
- List of presidents of the United States by previous experience
- List of things named after Joe Biden
Notes
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References
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Works cited
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Further reading
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External links
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Official
[edit]- President Joe Biden official website (archived)
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- Senator Joseph R. Biden (1973–2009)
Other
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