Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. ( (listen) BY-dən; born November 20, 1942) is an American politician serving as the 46th president of the United States since 2021. Before becoming president, he was the 47th vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a United States senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009. Biden was a member of the Senate longer than any other president or vice president.

He tried to become the Democratic candidate for president in 1988 and 2008 but dropped out of the race. During the 2008 election, then-Senator Barack Obama picked him to be his running mate. He is a Roman Catholic. Biden has received several awards. He has five honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater and one from where he has taught law. He has also earned the "Best of Congress Award", an award from the Pakistani government, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction.

After finishing his second term as vice president, Biden began working at the University of Pennsylvania. On April 25, 2019, Biden launched his presidential campaign for the 2020 election. On April 8, 2020, Biden became the likely nominee for the Democratic nomination after Bernie Sanders ended his campaign. On November 7, he defeated then-President Donald Trump and became the president-elect of the United States. He became president on January 20, 2021. He is the oldest person to become president and the first from the state of Delaware. He is also the second Catholic president to hold the office after John F. Kennedy.

As president, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. He signed bipartisan bills on infrastructure as well. Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. He worked with congressional Republicans to fix the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis by creating a deal to raise the debt ceiling. He also made America rejoin the Paris Agreement. He pulled out U.S. troops from Afghanistan that ended the war in Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban taking control. He responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by putting sanctions on Russia and giving civilian and military aid to Ukraine. During the Israel–Hamas war, Biden called the actions of Hamas as terrorism, announced military support for Israel and sent a small amount of humanitarian help to the Gaza Strip.

In April 25, 2023, Biden announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, and was the presumptive nominee. After performing badly in a June 2024 debate with Trump and some age and health concerns, Biden ended his candidacy and endorsed Harris to replace him.