Here is a look at the life of US President Joe Biden.
Personal
Birth date: November 20, 1942
Birth place: Scranton, Pennsylvania
Birth name: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
Father: Joseph Robinette Biden Sr., car salesman
Mother: Catherine Eugenia (Finnegan) Biden
Marriages: Jill (Jacobs) Biden (June 17, 1977-present); Neilia (Hunter) Biden (August 27, 1966-December 18, 1972, her death)
Children: with Jill Biden: Ashley; with Neilia Biden: Naomi Christina, Robert Hunter, Joseph Robinette “Beau” III
Education: University of Delaware, B.A., 1965; Syracuse University Law School, J.D., 1968
Religion: Roman Catholic
Other Facts
Had a stuttering problem as a child.
Biden’s son, Beau Biden, was the attorney general of Delaware.
Delaware’s longest serving senator.
Timeline
1968-1970 - Defense attorney for criminal cases in Wilmington, Delaware.
1970-1972 - Serves on the New Castle County Council in Delaware.
1972 - Is first elected to the Senate at age 29, defeating Republican Senator J. Caleb Boggs. Wins reelection in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002.
December 18, 1972 - While Christmas shopping, Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and daughter, Naomi Biden, are killed in a car accident. His sons are badly injured, but survive.
January 5, 1973 - Is sworn in as US senator of Delaware at son Beau Biden’s bedside in the hospital.
1987-1995 - Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
June 9, 1987 - Enters the 1988 presidential race, but drops out three months later following reports of plagiarism and false claims about his academic record.
February 1988 - Undergoes surgery to repair an aneurysm in an artery that supplies blood to the brain.
January 20, 1990 - Introduces a bill that becomes the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The act addresses sexual assault and domestic violence. It is signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
2001-2003 - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
2002 - Votes to authorize military intervention in Iraq, but later becomes a vocal critic of the conflict.
2007-2009 - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
January 31, 2007 - Files a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission to run for president.
August 1, 2007 - His memoir, “Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics,” is published.