US Presidents · 21st century

Joe Biden

1942– · American

Democratic

In office: 2021–2025

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., the 46th president, served 36 years as a senator from Delaware and eight as Barack Obama's vice president before defeating Donald Trump in 2020. His presidency saw the COVID-19 recovery, major infrastructure, climate and semiconductor laws, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and support for Ukraine; in July 2024 he abandoned his campaign for re-election and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.

How to spot them

▸Senator from Delaware for 36 years; born in Scranton, Pennsylvania
▸Obama's vice president; Kamala Harris, the first female vice president, served under him
▸Oldest president at his inauguration in 2021 (78) until Trump in 2025
▸'Amtrak Joe'; second Catholic president after JFK; withdrew from the 2024 race

In office

Rejoining the Paris climate agreement (2021)

Among his first actions on inauguration day

The American Rescue Plan (2021)

COVID-19 economic relief package

The withdrawal from Afghanistan (2021)

End of the US military presence, with evacuation from Kabul airport as the Taliban took power

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021)

Bipartisan infrastructure law

Making Juneteenth a federal holiday (2021)

Commemorating the end of slavery in the United States

The CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022)

Semiconductor manufacturing investment; climate, health and tax law

Appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson (2022)

First Black woman on the US Supreme Court

Withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race (2024)

Announced on 21 July 2024, weeks after a televised debate with Trump

Quick-fire facts

•46th president; born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on 20 November 1942
•Elected to the Senate from Delaware in 1972, aged 29; he turned 30, the minimum age, before taking his seat
•His first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash in December 1972
•Ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008
•Commuted daily by train between Delaware and Washington, earning the nickname 'Amtrak Joe'
•Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction by Obama in 2017
•The second Roman Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy
•In May 2025 his office announced he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources

Miller Center, University of Virginia — Joe Biden
Encyclopaedia Britannica — Joe Biden