On foreign policy, Biden was a close counselor to the president and took a leading role in designing the withdrawal of U.S.
He also oversaw infrastructure spending in 2009 to counteract the Great Recession. Obama and Biden were reelected in 2012, defeating Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.ĭuring eight years as vice president, Biden leaned on his Senate experience and frequently represented the administration in negotiations with congressional Republicans, including on the Budget Control Act of 2011, which resolved a debt ceiling crisis, and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which addressed the impending " fiscal cliff". Biden was reelected to the Senate six times and was the fourth-most senior sitting senator at the time when he became Obama's vice president after they won the 2008 presidential election, defeating John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 19. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including the contentious hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995, dealing with drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties issues led the effort to pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act and oversaw six U.S.
Biden was the chair or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years and was influential in foreign affairs during Obama's presidency. history after he was elected to the United States Senate from Delaware in 1972, at age 29. He was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and became the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. He studied at the University of Delaware before earning his law degree from Syracuse University in 1968. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.īiden was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, moving with his family to New Castle County, Delaware in 1953 when he was ten. ( / ˈ b aɪ d ən/ BY-dən born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States.