Joe Biden is an American politician who served as the 46th U.S. President (2021-2025). A Democrat, he was the 47th Vice President under Barack Obama (2009-2017) and a U.S. Senator representing Delaware (1973-2009). His career spans decades in public service, holding significant roles in both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government.
The 2022 midterm election was the first since 1934 in which the president's party lost no state legislative chambers.
On November 20, 1942, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born. He would later become the 46th President of the United States.
In 1946, Joe Biden's family purchased a home in Garden City, Long Island.
In 1953, when Joe Biden was ten, his family moved to an apartment in Claymont, Delaware, before moving to a house in nearby Mayfield, Delaware.
In 1961, Joe Biden graduated from Archmere Academy in Claymont.
In 1965, Joe Biden graduated from the University of Delaware.
In 1965, Joe Biden received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science from the University of Delaware.
On August 27, 1966, Joe Biden married Neilia Hunter at a Catholic church in Skaneateles, New York.
In 1968, Joe Biden clerked at a Wilmington law firm headed by William Prickett.
In 1968, Joe Biden earned a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law.
In 1968, Joe Biden graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law.
In 1968, Joe Biden was given a conditional medical deferment from the military draft based on a physical examination.
In 1968, Richard Nixon was elected president.
In 1968, it was the last time an eligible incumbent had declined to run for reelection until Biden in 2024.
Lyndon B. Johnson withdrew from the 1968 presidential election, and his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon.
In 1969, Joe Biden practiced law, first as a public defender and then at a law firm, also forming his own law firm and supplementing his income by managing properties.
In 1969, Joe Biden was admitted to the Delaware bar.
In 1970, Joe Biden ran for the fourth district seat on the New Castle County Council.
On January 5, 1971, Joe Biden took office on the New Castle County Council.
On December 18, 1972, Joe Biden's wife, Neilia, and one-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in an automobile accident in Hockessin, Delaware.
In 1972, Joe Biden defeated Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs to become the junior U.S. senator from Delaware.
In 1972, Joe Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Delaware.
On January 1, 1973, Joe Biden's term on the New Castle County Council ended.
In a 1974 interview, Joe Biden described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens' concerns, and healthcare, but conservative on other issues, including abortion and military conscription.
In 1975, Joe Biden met Jill Tracy Jacobs on a blind date.
In 1976, Joe Biden supported a measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them, as part of the debate around race-integration busing.
In 1976, Joe Biden was the first U.S. senator to endorse Governor Jimmy Carter for president in the Democratic primary.
Two years earlier than the events leading to him withdrawing from his candidacy, in 1976 Joe Biden had used a passage by Hubert Humphrey. He claimed that politicians often borrow from one another without giving credit.
On June 17, 1977, Joe Biden married Jill Tracy Jacobs at the United Nations chapel in New York and spent their honeymoon at Lake Balaton in the Hungarian People's Republic.
In 1977, Joe Biden co-sponsored an amendment closing loopholes in the measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them.
In 1978, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 1978, the amendment closing loopholes in the measure forbidding the use of federal funds for transporting students beyond the school closest to them, co-sponsored by Joe Biden, was signed into law by President Carter.
After Congress failed to ratify the SALT II Treaty signed in 1979 by Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev and President Carter, Joe Biden met with Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko and secured changes that addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's objections.
In 1980, Jimmy Carter became the last incumbent president before Joe Biden in 2024 to lose a contest while appearing on the ballot.
In 1981, Joe Biden became a ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary until 1987.
In 1981, Joe Biden became ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In 1984, Joe Biden excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing for the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its policy of apartheid.
In 1984, Joe Biden was a Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act.
In 1984, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
The 2022 midterm election was the first since 1986 in which the incumbent president's party achieved a net gain in governorships.
On June 9, 1987, Joe Biden declared his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. He was considered a strong candidate due to his moderate image and speaking ability.
On September 23, 1987, Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. This decision came after accusations of plagiarism and false or exaggerated claims about his academic record.
From 1987 to 1995, Joe Biden chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. This role gave him significant influence over judicial nominations and legislation related to legal matters.
In February 1988, Joe Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking intracranial berry aneurysm. While recuperating from the surgery, he suffered a pulmonary embolism. A second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May of the same year. His recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months.
In 1988, Joe Biden ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 1988, Joe Biden was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, but later withdrew from the race due to plagiarism accusations and other controversies.
In 1988, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden presided over the highly contentious U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Robert Bork. Biden reversed his previous approval of a hypothetical Bork nomination. Despite anger from conservatives, Biden was praised for his fairness, humor, and courage during the hearings, framing his objections to Bork in terms of constitutional interpretation. Bork's nomination was rejected.
In 1990, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
From 1991 to 2008, Joe Biden co-taught a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law as an adjunct professor, beginning in 1991.
In 1991, Joe Biden oversaw Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings. His questions were often convoluted, and after the committee hearing closed, Anita Hill accused Thomas of making unwelcome sexual comments. Biden's handling of the situation drew criticism.
In 1991, Joe Biden voted against the authorization for the Gulf War, a significant decision that reflected his views on the use of military force.
In 1991, Kevin Nealon began portraying Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live.
According to Gallup, public perception of the economy in 2024 was worse only in 2008 and 1992.
In April 1993, Joe Biden had a tense three-hour meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević. Biden had become interested in the Yugoslav Wars after hearing about Serbian abuses during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991. Biden worked on versions of legislative language urging the U.S. toward greater involvement.
In 1993, Joe Biden voted for a provision that deemed homosexuality incompatible with military life, effectively banning gay people from serving in the armed forces. This stance reflected the prevailing attitudes of the time regarding LGBTQ+ rights.
In late March 2020, Tara Reade, one of the eight women who in 2019 had accused Joe Biden of inappropriate physical contact, accused Biden of having sexually assaulted her in 1993. There were inconsistencies between Reade's 2019 and 2020 allegations.
In 1994, Joe Biden helped pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which included a ban on assault weapons, and the Violence Against Women Act.
In 1995, Joe Biden became a ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, having chaired the committee from 1987 until 1995.
In 1996, Joe Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and allowed states to do the same. This action barred people in same-sex marriages from equal protection under federal law. This decision has been a point of contention in his career.
In 1996, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 1997, Joe Biden became the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, marking a significant step in his career focused on foreign policy.
In 1997, Joe Biden ended his term as ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Joe Biden supported the NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia. He co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over Yugoslav actions toward Kosovo Albanians.
In 2000, Joe Biden sponsored bankruptcy legislation sought by credit card issuers, however, Bill Clinton vetoed the bill. This legislation was a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans.
In 2000, William Roth was defeated, after which Joe Biden became the senior Senator for Delaware.
In June 2001, Joe Biden became the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position he held until 2003. This role allowed him to shape U.S. foreign policy and engage with international leaders.
In October 2002, Joe Biden, as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, approving the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Biden later called this role a "mistake".
In 2002, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 2003, Joe Biden's first term as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came to an end.
An analysis referenced in 2022 by the Rhodium Group projected that the Inflation Reduction Act would lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions between 31 and 44 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act passed, with Joe Biden being one of only 18 Democrats to vote for it. This legislation had been vetoed by Bill Clinton in 2000 and was opposed by leading Democrats and consumer rights organizations.
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.
In September 2007, Joe Biden opposed the troop surge of 2007. Biden instead advocated dividing Iraq into a loose federation of three ethnic states. A non-binding resolution endorsing the plan passed the Senate, but the idea failed to gain traction.
During 2007, Joe Biden got to know Barack Obama during his campaign, and Obama appreciated Biden's campaign style and appeal to working-class voters.
In 2007, Joe Biden once again chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, solidifying his role as a leading voice on foreign policy. He remained in this position until 2009.
On January 3, 2008, Joe Biden placed fifth in the Iowa caucuses, garnering slightly less than one percent of the state delegates. He withdrew from the race that evening.
In August 2008, Joe Biden met with Barack Obama in secret to discuss the possibility of a place for Biden in the Obama administration and developed a strong personal rapport.
On August 22, 2008, Barack Obama announced that Joe Biden would be his running mate. This choice reflected a desire for someone with foreign policy and national security experience.
In September 2008, as the 2007–2008 financial crisis reached a peak, Joe Biden voted for the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which passed in the Senate.
According to Gallup, public perception of the economy in 2024 was worse only in 2008 and 1992.
Despite its lack of success, Joe Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political world and changed his relationship with Barack Obama, leading to a stronger bond between the two.
From 1991 to 2008, Joe Biden co-taught a seminar on constitutional law at Widener University School of Law as an adjunct professor, ending in 2008.
In 2008, Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate for the presidential election.
In 2008, Joe Biden ran for president, focusing on his foreign policy experience, but he eventually withdrew from the race after failing to gain traction.
In 2008, Joe Biden was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 2008, a spokesperson for Joe Biden stated that his having had "asthma as a teenager" was the reason for his conditional medical deferment in 1968.
In 2008, during the election season, Jason Sudeikis portrayed Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live and reprised the role many times.
Stocks had their worst year since 2008 before recovering.
Having been reelected to the Senate as well as the vice presidency, Joe Biden made a point of not resigning from the Senate before he was sworn in for his seventh term in January 2009. He resigned from the Senate on January 15.
On January 20, 2009, Joe Biden was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. He was the first vice president from Delaware and the first Roman Catholic vice president.
In April 2009, Joe Biden's off-message response to a question during the beginning of the swine flu outbreak led to a swift retraction by the White House and revived his reputation for gaffes.
In July 2009, confronted with rising unemployment, Joe Biden acknowledged that the Obama administration had "misread how bad the economy was" but maintained confidence the stimulus package would create jobs.
As of November 2009, Biden's net worth was $27,012.
In 2009, Joe Biden's second term as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came to an end.
In 2009, Joe Biden's views on Afghanistan gained more influence as President Obama reconsidered his strategy. Though he initially lost an internal debate to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about sending new troops to Afghanistan, his skepticism was valued.
On March 23, 2010, a hot mic picked up Joe Biden telling President Obama that his signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was "a big fucking deal".
In October 2010, Joe Biden said that Barack Obama had asked him to remain as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election.
In December 2010, Joe 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. The package passed as the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.
In February 2011, Joe Biden completed his role overseeing infrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package. He reported that fraud incidents with stimulus monies had been less than one percent.
In March 2011, President Obama delegated Joe Biden to lead negotiations with Congress to resolve federal spending levels and avoid a government shutdown.
Some reports suggest that in May 2011, Joe Biden opposed proceeding with the U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden, lest failure adversely affect President Obama's reelection prospects.
In 2011, with the exit of U.S. troops, Joe Biden's oversight of U.S. policy in Iraq receded.
In late 2011, White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley conducted some secret polling and focus group research on the idea of replacing Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton as Obama's running mate. The notion was dropped when the results showed no appreciable improvement.
In May 2012, Joe Biden's statement that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage gained considerable public attention. This put pressure on Obama to clarify his own stance. Within days, Obama announced that he too supported same-sex marriage, an action in part forced by Biden's remarks.
In August 2012, during the reelection campaign, Joe Biden made a controversial remark to a mixed-race audience stating that Republican proposals to relax Wall Street regulations would "put y'all back in chains". This drew attention to his tendency for colorful language.
During the vice-presidential debate on October 11, Joe Biden responded to an attack by Paul Ryan on the Obama administration's response to the September 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi by using the phrase "a bunch of malarkey".
In December 2012, President Obama named Joe 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.
Biden has supported same-sex marriage since 2012, a shift from his earlier stance in the Senate.
By 2012, Joe Biden had made eight trips to Iraq, overseeing U.S. policy there as the administration's point man, delivering messages to Iraqi leadership about expected progress.
In 2012, Joe Biden was Barack Obama's running mate for the 2012 presidential election, marking his continued service as Vice President.
On January 20, 2013, Joe Biden was inaugurated to a second term as Vice President at a small ceremony at Number One Observatory Circle, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor presiding.
Joe Biden 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.
During the final days before the United States fell off the "fiscal cliff" in December 2012, Joe Biden's relationship with Mitch 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.
In 2013, the Violence Against Women Act, championed by Joe Biden, was reauthorized again, leading to related developments like the White House Council on Women and Girls.
In January 2014, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault was established, with Joe Biden and Valerie Jarrett as co-chairs.
According to The New Yorker in 2014, Biden often embellishes elements of his life or exaggerates.
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.
From October 2023 to September 2024, deportations from the U.S. reached the highest level since 2014.
In 2014, Hunter Biden joined the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, leading to allegations of trading on the family name and selling access to his father, which some believe influenced the scope of his later pardon.
Joe Biden 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.
On December 1, 2024, President Biden issued a "full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter Biden, covering all federal offenses between 2014 and December 1, 2024.
On his last day in office, President Biden issued pardons for family members and other high-profile figures, covering federal offenses committed or potentially committed between 2014 and the pardon date.
After the 2015 death of his elder son Beau, Biden has been noted for his empathetic nature and ability to communicate about grief.
By late 2015, Joe Biden was still uncertain about running for president. He felt his son Beau's recent death had largely drained his emotional energy.
In 2015, the Defense of Marriage Act, which Joe Biden voted for in 1996, was ruled unconstitutional in Obergefell v. Hodges. This landmark Supreme Court decision legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, effectively overturning DOMA.
In mid-2015, Joe Biden's family, friends, and donors encouraged him to enter the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. A "Draft Biden 2016" PAC was established.
Between 2016 and 2019, media outlets often mentioned Joe Biden as a likely candidate for president in 2020. When asked if he would run, he gave varied and ambivalent answers, saying "never say never".
During his second term, Joe Biden was often said to be preparing for a bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
In 2016, Greg Kinnear portrayed Joe Biden in the HBO television film Confirmation, which was about the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings.
In 2016, Joe Biden spoke about sexual violence while introducing Lady Gaga at the 88th Academy Awards, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.
On October 21, Joe Biden announced his decision not to run for president in 2016.
Biden proposed partially reversing the corporate tax cuts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, saying that doing so would not hurt businesses' ability to hire.
CAA previously represented Joe Biden from 2017 to 2020.
In 2017, Joe Biden wrote a memoir, Promise Me, Dad, and went on a book tour.
In January 2018, a political action committee known as Time for Biden was formed.
Biden has a reputation for being prone to gaffes, and in 2018 called himself "a gaffe machine".
In the general election, the Senate went Republican for the first time since 2018.
In March 2019, eight women accused Joe Biden of inappropriate physical contact, such as embracing, touching, or kissing.
In April 2019, Joe Biden pledged to be more "respectful of people's personal space" after accusations of inappropriate physical contact.
On April 25, 2019, Joe Biden launched his campaign for president, saying he was worried by the Trump administration and felt a "sense of duty".
In September 2019, it was reported that President Trump had pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, resulting in a political scandal and Trump's impeachment.
After leaving the vice presidency, Joe 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.
By 2019, Joe Biden and his wife reported that they had earned over $15 million since the end of his vice presidency from speaking engagements and book sales.
In 2019, Biden said he supported Roe v. Wade and repealing the Hyde Amendment.
In 2019, Joe Biden called his role in passing the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act a "big mistake", saying it "trapped an entire generation".
In 2019, Joe Biden told Anita Hill he regretted his treatment of her during Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings in 1991. However, Hill stated afterward that she remained unsatisfied with his apology.
In late March 2020, Tara Reade, one of the eight women who in 2019 had accused Joe Biden of inappropriate physical contact, accused Biden of having sexually assaulted her in 1993. There were inconsistencies between Reade's 2019 and 2020 allegations.
Throughout 2019, Joe Biden stayed generally ahead of other Democrats in national polls. However, Joe Biden won the South Carolina primary by more than 28 points.
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 for troop withdrawal.
In February 2020, the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban to completely withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
In late March 2020, Tara Reade, who had accused Joe Biden of inappropriate physical contact in 2019, accused Biden of having sexually assaulted her in 1993. Biden and his campaign denied the sexual assault allegation.
On April 8, 2020, Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign, making Joe Biden the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee.
On August 18, 2020, at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden officially became the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 2020 election.
By November 2020, the Bidens were worth $9 million, largely due to sales of Biden's books and speaking fees after his vice presidency.
In November 2020, Joe Biden was elected the 46th president of the United States, defeating incumbent Donald Trump. Trump made false claims of widespread electoral fraud, delaying Biden's transition until November 23, when Emily W. Murphy formally recognized Biden as the winner and authorized the transition process.
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.
As the 2020 campaign season heated up, public polling showed Joe Biden as one of the best-performing Democratic candidates head-to-head against President Trump.
Between 2016 and 2019, media outlets often mentioned Joe Biden as a likely candidate for president in 2020. When asked if he would run, he gave varied and ambivalent answers, saying "never say never".
CAA previously represented Joe Biden from 2017 to 2020.
Despite his 2020 campaign promise to end the practice, the Biden administration worked to extend at least 14 contracts with private prison companies to run immigrant detention centers in the final year of his presidency.
During his 2020 campaign, Biden vowed to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court if a vacancy occurred.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden reused the phrase "a bunch of malarkey".
During the 2020 election season, Joe Biden was portrayed by John Mulaney, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day, Woody Harrelson, and Jim Carrey on Saturday Night Live.
Historians and scholars regarded Biden's signature accomplishment as his victory over Trump in the 2020 election.
In 2020, Biden ran on decriminalizing cannabis, after advocating harsher penalties for drug use as a U.S. senator.
In 2020, CNN wrote that his presidential campaign aimed to make him "healer-in-chief", while The New York Times described his extensive history of being called upon to give eulogies.
In 2020, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate, and they defeated Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the presidential election.
On January 6, 2021, after Pence refused to cooperate with Trump's plan to overturn the election results, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. The building was stormed, interrupting the electoral vote count. Biden addressed the nation, calling the events "an unprecedented assault".
On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. At 78, he became the oldest person to assume the office, the second Catholic president, and the first president whose home state is Delaware.
In February 2021, Gallup reported that Joe Biden had a 98% approval rating among Democrats during his initial months in office.
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.
In March 2021 the inflation rate remained above the Federal Reserve's 2% target every month since, resulting in elevated interest rates to combat inflation.
In late March 2021, as part of the Build Back Better agenda, President Biden proposed the American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion package designed to address issues related to transport, utilities, broadband infrastructure, housing, schools, manufacturing, research, and workforce development.
May 1, 2021 was the original deadline established by the Trump administration for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
In June 2021, President Biden made his first trip abroad as president, visiting Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, attending G7, NATO, and EU summits, and holding talks with Vladimir Putin.
In July 2021, amid a slowing of the COVID-19 vaccination rate and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, Biden emphasized the critical importance of Americans getting vaccinated.
In August 2021, Biden's approval rating began to decline, reaching the low forties by December. 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.
In August 2021, after months of negotiations, the Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill covering transport, utilities, and broadband.
In September 2021, President Biden announced AUKUS, a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, aimed at ensuring "peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific".
In early November 2021, the House approved the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In mid-November 2021, President Biden signed the bill into law, focusing on infrastructure related to transport, utilities, and broadband.
By the end of 2021, 40 of Biden's nominees to the federal judiciary had been confirmed.
In 2021, Biden officially recognized the Armenian genocide, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.
In 2021, Biden revoked Trump's security clearance after the January 6 Capitol attack.
In 2021, Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus and relief package to support the United States' recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It included direct payments to Americans, extended unemployment benefits, and funds for vaccine distribution and school reopenings.
In 2021, President Biden proposed the U.S. Citizenship Act on his first day in office.
In 2021, The economy experienced 5.9% growth.
In 2021, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), President Biden promoted an agreement for the U.S. and the European Union to cut methane emissions by a third by 2030. He also pledged to double climate funding to developing countries by 2024.
In 2021, illegal border crossings at the Mexico–United States border began to surge when President Biden assumed office.
In 2021, the Honoring our PACT Act was introduced.
The inflation surge started in 2021 and lasted till 2023. Joe Biden's presidency was overshadowed by the 2021-2023 inflation surge.
In January 2022, Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire, leading Biden to reiterate his vow to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
In January 2022, an executive order signed by Biden to increase the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour went into effect for 390,000 workers.
In early February 2022, President 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.
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.
In June 2022, inflation peaked at 9.1% during Joe Biden's presidency.
On June 25, 2022, Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, aiming to address gun reform issues following the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
On July 21, 2022, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 with reportedly mild symptoms and was treated with Paxlovid.
On July 30, 2022, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again and returned to isolation.
On August 7, 2022, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act with a 51–50 vote, with all Democrats in favor, all Republicans opposed, and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. The bill aimed to address energy, climate change, healthcare, and tax reform.
On August 9, 2022, Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, providing billions of dollars for domestic research and manufacture of semiconductors to compete with China.
On August 10, 2022, Biden signed into law the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which aims to significantly improve healthcare access and funding for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.
On September 2, 2022, President Biden delivered a nationally broadcast speech in Philadelphia calling for a "battle for the soul of the nation". He also referred to Trump supporters as "semi-fascists", sparking criticism. The midterm election results were closer than expected, with Republicans securing a slim House majority and Democrats retaining Senate control.
On October 6, 2022, President Biden pardoned all Americans convicted of "small" amounts of cannabis possession under federal law.
In November 2022, Biden's attorneys found classified documents dating from his vice presidency in a "locked closet" at the Penn Biden Center. The documents were reported to the U.S. National Archives, which recovered them the next day.
In December 2022, Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, prohibiting the use of TikTok on devices owned by the federal government.
In 2022, Biden blocked a national railroad strike planned by multiple labor unions.
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.
In 2022, Congress approved about $113 billion in aid to Ukraine.
In 2022, a bill codifying the protections of Roe passed the House, but was unable to clear the Senate filibuster.
In 2022, after 5.9% growth in 2021, real GDP growth cooled to 2.1%, after slightly negative growth in the first half spurred recession concerns. Widespread predictions of an imminent recession did not materialize in 2022 or 2023
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".
In 2022, the Build Back Better Act, initially a $3.5 trillion social spending bill, faced challenges due to Senator Joe Manchin's opposition. After Manchin rejected the bill, it was reworked into the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, focusing on deficit reduction, climate change, healthcare, and tax reform.
In 2022, the Siena College Research Institute's survey ranked Joe Biden 19th out of 45 presidents.
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.
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, leading to further damage in U.S.-China relations.
In March 2023, the failure of three U.S. banks triggered a decline in global bank stock prices. After Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, Biden expressed opposition to a taxpayer bailout.
On April 25, 2023, Biden confirmed he would run for reelection as president in the 2024 election, with Harris as his running mate. His approval rating was 37 percent, and he promoted higher economic growth and recovery during his campaign.
In July 2023, amidst heat waves in the United States, President Biden announced measures to protect the population, linking the heat waves to climate change.
In September 2023, Biden extended the COVID-19 student loan pause.
By October 2023, Joe Biden's approval rating among Democrats had reached a record low of 75%, according to Gallup.
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.
From October 2023 to September 2024, deportations from the U.S. reached the highest level since 2014.
In October 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israel, Biden affirmed U.S. support for Israel, deployed aircraft carriers, and requested $14 billion in military aid. He pressured Israel to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and supported "humanitarian pauses".
In October 2023, the Biden administration requested an additional $61.4 billion in aid for Ukraine for the year ahead, but passage was delayed by the House of Representatives.
Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June before easing to 3.2% by October 2023.
On December 13, 2023, the House of Representatives voted 221–212 to formalize an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Congressional investigations, including by the House Oversight committee, have discovered no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden as of December 2023.
In December 2023, illegal border crossings at the Mexico–United States border reached an all-time monthly high since President Biden assumed office in 2021.
On December 22, 2023, President Biden pardoned Americans for cannabis use or possession on federal lands, regardless of whether they had been charged or prosecuted.
In 2023, Biden and congressional Republicans engaged in a standoff after the U.S. hit its debt limit. Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a deal, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, to raise the debt limit, which suspended the debt limit until January 2025. Biden signed it on June 3, averting a default.
In 2023, Biden's approval rating was the lowest of any modern U.S. president after three years in office.
The inflation surge started in 2021 and lasted till 2023. Joe Biden's presidency was overshadowed by the 2021-2023 inflation surge.
As of January 2024, over a million migrants had been admitted to the U.S. under humanitarian parole, a strategy used by President Biden to mitigate illegal border crossings.
In January 2024, President Biden expressed support for a proposed bipartisan immigration deal led by Senators Kyrsten Sinema and James Lankford. The bill proposed measures to manage border encounters and mandate detention for asylum seekers.
On January 17, 2024, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution denouncing the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the U.S. southern border by a vote of 225–187.
On February 8, 2024, special counsel Robert K. Hur announced that no charges would be brought against Biden regarding the handling of classified documents.
In February 2024, Alexander Smirnov, a former intelligence informant prominent in bribery allegations against Biden, was charged with making false statements. Smirnov admitted he publicized a false story given to him by Russian intelligence officials with the goal of damaging Biden's reelection campaign.
In February 2024, an American Political Science Association poll of historians and scholars ranked Biden as the 14th-greatest president, noting that his ranking was unusually high given the absence of military victories or institutional expansion and the presence of personal scandals.
Following the killing of Palestinian civilians receiving food aid on February 29, 2024, Biden stated that the current level of aid flowing into Gaza was insufficient.
Biden led diplomatic talks resulting in formal Swedish ascension into NATO on March 7, 2024.
A March 2024 Gallup poll found that a strong majority of Americans disapproved of Israeli conduct during the war.
Beginning in April 2024, widespread Gaza war protests emerged on university campuses, denouncing Biden.
In April 2024, Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which could ban social networking services like ByteDance Ltd. if deemed controlled by foreign adversaries.
In April 2024, President Biden unveiled a plan aimed at protecting and restoring natural water sources, covering 3.2 million hectares of wetlands and 161,000 km of waterways.
In April 2024, the additional $61 billion in aid to Ukraine was added.
As of May 2024, Biden continued to support Israel during the war, despite domestic opposition and protests.
In May 2024, Biden granted Ukraine an exception to use weapons against Russian military targets in the vicinity of Kharkiv for "counter-fire" purposes, after consistently refusing Ukrainian requests to use weapons against Russian military targets inside Russia.
In May 2024, the Biden administration doubled tariffs on solar cells and more than tripled tariffs on lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries imported from China, also raising tariffs on steel, aluminum, and medical materials.
On May 31, 2024, Biden announced his support for an Israeli ceasefire proposal, which would establish a permanent ceasefire, release all hostages, and reconstruct the Gaza Strip, stating that Hamas was "no longer capable" of another large-scale attack.
Following a weak performance in a June 2024 presidential debate, the media widely covered public concern about Biden's mental acuity. Special counsel Robert Hur suggested that Biden would be able to present himself to a jury as an "elderly man with poor memory" and wrote that his memory "appeared to have significant limitations".
In June 2024, Biden issued an executive action offering amnesty to unauthorized immigrants married to American citizens, including a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship, expected to initially affect about 500,000 people. It was later struck down.
In June 2024, President Biden issued an executive order allowing the president to restrict the Mexico–U.S. border.
On June 27, 2024, the first presidential debate was held between Biden and Trump. Biden's performance was widely criticized due to him frequently losing his train of thought and giving meandering answers. Several newspaper columnists declared Trump the winner, and polling indicated the majority of viewers believed Trump won. After the debate raised questions about his health and age, Biden faced calls to withdraw from the race.
In July 2024, just before Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election, Gallup found his approval rating had fallen to an all-time low of 36%.
On July 17, 2024, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again.
On August 6, 2024, Harris was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden withdrew from the candidacy, making it the first time since 1968 that an eligible incumbent declined to run for reelection.
As of August 2024, the U.S. remained the biggest aid donor to Afghanistan, having spent at least $20.7 billion post-withdrawal. U.S. funding helped support the Taliban government and stabilize Afghanistan's economy during this period.
In August 2024, President Biden negotiated and oversaw the 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange, the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, involving the release of 26 people, including journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.
From October 2023 to September 2024, deportations from the U.S. reached the highest level since 2014.
On September 25, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the Biden administration for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Ten Democrats and all Republicans voted in favor of the resolution.
Through September 30, 2024 the Biden administration offered an "on ramp" period that extended some of the student loan pause's protections against credit reporting, collection efforts, and late payment fees.
In October 2024, Biden refused to block a port strike from the International Longshoremen's Association.
In November 2024, the Biden administration announced that it had helped broker a ceasefire agreement in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.
On December 1, 2024, President Biden issued a "full and unconditional" pardon to Hunter Biden, covering all federal offenses between 2014 and December 1, 2024.
On December 12, 2024, President Biden granted clemency to about 1,500 nonviolent felons in home confinement who had previously been released from prison, marking the largest single-day clemency act in history.
A December 2024 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans thought Joe Biden's presidency was below average or poor, 26% average, and 19% above average or outstanding. The poll also found largely negative assessments of Biden's presidency on economic, national, and international issues.
In December 2024, Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden following his conviction on gun and tax charges.
In December 2024, the inflation rate reached 2.9% and core inflation rate reached 3.2% on an annual basis.
On December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates.
Jimmy Carter died on December 29, 2024. Joe Biden eulogized him on January 9, 2025.
As of 2024, Joe Biden was the 19th-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.
During his campaign in 2024, Biden promoted higher economic growth and recovery.
In 2024, Dana Carvey played the role of Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live.
In 2024, Dean Phillips ran against Biden in the Democratic presidential primaries. Despite not being on the ballot in the New Hampshire primary on January 23, Biden won it as a write-in candidate. He secured victories in South Carolina, Nevada, and Michigan. He won 15 of 16 primaries on Super Tuesday, but lost the American Samoa contest. Phillips suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden on March 6. On March 12, Biden secured the delegates needed to become the presumptive nominee.
In 2024, Trump defeated Harris in the general election. 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%.
In 2024, after renewed scrutiny about his cognitive ability, Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy from the presidential election.
In 2024, journalist Jake Tapper, who co-moderated the Joe Biden–Donald Trump 2024 presidential debate with Dana Bash, called Joe Biden's presidency a "Greek tragedy".
In 2024, many members of Joe Biden's party called on him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election and criticized him for initially running for a second term given his age and unpopularity after Kamala Harris lost.
In 2024, public perception of the economy, particularly frustration over inflation, was worse only in 2008 and 1992, helping Trump win the 2024 presidential election.
Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election was compared to Lyndon B. Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 presidential election.
The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert survey ranked Joe Biden the 14th best president.
On January 9, 2025, Joe Biden eulogized Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, 2024.
In January 2025, Biden declared the lapsed Equal Rights Amendment ratified as the "28th Amendment" to the constitution. The declaration has no formal effect.
In January 2025, Gallup reported that Joe Biden's final approval rating was 40%, which was low, but still higher than several other presidents' final approval ratings.
In January 2025, after Trump defeated Harris in the general election, Biden claimed he could have defeated Trump had he not been persuaded to withdraw from the election, despite lagging behind Trump in polling.
In January 2025, an AP-NORC poll found that Americans viewed Joe Biden's presidency less favorably than they did Barack Obama's at the end of his second term or Donald Trump's at the end of his first.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which suspended the debt limit until January 2025.
On January 20, 2025, Biden's term ended with Trump's second inauguration, and Biden moved back to Wilmington, Delaware. He later signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to represent him in public engagements.
On February 7, 2025, Trump revoked Biden's security clearance, ending his access to classified information. The White House said the decision was part of a broader review of security clearances for former officials.
According to an analysis released in 2022 by the Rhodium Group, the Inflation Reduction Act is projected to lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions between 31 and 44 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Biden announced the U.S. would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
In 2021, President Biden promoted an agreement at COP26 for the U.S. and the European Union to cut methane emissions by a third by 2030.
Biden wants to achieve a carbon-free power sector in the U.S. by 2035.
Biden wants to stop emissions completely by 2050.
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is an American singer...
TikTok also known as Douyin in China is a short-form...
Vladimir Putin is a Russian politician who has dominated Russian...
Home Box Office HBO is a flagship American pay television...
Ukraine is an Eastern European country the second largest on...
Donald John Trump is an American politician media personality and...
3 minutes ago Lorde Teases New Music Snippet After a Long Hiatus, Sparking Excitement.
4 minutes ago Bill Russell: A Basketball Legend and Champion, Remembered
4 minutes ago Amanda Nunes teases UFC return, potentially against Peña-Harrison winner after retirement.
4 minutes ago Ronda Rousey's Historic WWE WrestleMania 34 Debut: A Look Back
1 day ago UFC to debut in Azerbaijan with Hill vs. Rountree on June 21
1 hour ago Sean King, West Coast Eagles Pioneer, Passes Away at 60: Tributes Flood In
Doug Ford is a Canadian politician and businessman currently serving...
Peter Navarro is an American economist and author known for...
Justin Trudeau served as the rd Prime Minister of Canada...
The Real ID Act of is a US federal law...
Donald John Trump is an American politician media personality and...
Bruce Pearl is an American college basketball coach currently head...