_2.jpg) Official portrait, 2013 | |
| Vice presidency of Joe Biden January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | |
President | |
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| Cabinet | See list |
| Party | Democratic |
| Election | |
| Seat | Number One Observatory Circle |
| Archived website | |
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Personal U.S. Senator from Delaware 47th Vice President of the United States Vice presidential campaigns 46th President of the United States Tenure   | ||
Joe Biden served as the 47thvice president of the United States during thepresidency of Barack Obama from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. Biden, a member of theDemocratic Party whopreviously served as asenior U.S. senator representingDelaware from 1973 to 2009, wasselected as Obama's running mate and took office following their victory in the2008 presidential election overRepublican nomineesJohn McCain andSarah Palin. Four years later, in the2012 presidential election, they defeated Republican nomineesMitt Romney andPaul Ryan, to win re-election. Biden was the firstvice president from Delaware and the firstRoman Catholic vice president in U.S. history.
Alongside Biden's vice presidency, the Democratic Party also held their majorities in theHouse of Representatives and theSenate during the111th U.S. Congress following the2008 elections, attained an overall federalgovernment trifecta. Biden was more influential than most vice presidents due to his longSenate career and relationships with both members of Congress and politicians abroad. His relationship with Republican Senate leaderMitch McConnell was particularly important after the Republicans regained control of Congress in the2010 and2014 elections, and the two were instrumental in ending the2011 and2013 debt-ceiling crises.
Near the end of his tenure, Biden didn't run for president as theDemocratic nominee in the2016 presidential election and endorsedHillary Clinton, who became the nominee andselected junior Virginia senatorTim Kaine as her running mate. They lost the 2016 election to the Republican ticket of businessmanDonald Trump and his running mate,Indiana governorMike Pence. As vice president in his capacity as thepresident of the Senate, Biden oversaw thecertification of Trump and Pence as the winners of the election on January 6, 2017. Obama and Biden were succeeded in office by Trump and Pence onJanuary 20, 2017.
After his vice presidency, Biden would go on to become the second Catholic president following his victory in the2020 presidential election. Biden and his running mateKamala Harris defeated Republican incumbent president and vice president, Trump and Pence, making Biden the first president to serve with a woman vice president,Black American vice president, andAsian American vice president. Biden became the first vice president to be elected president sinceGeorge H. W. Bush and first sinceRichard Nixon to have not been elected following the end of their tenure as vice president.
After exploring running in several previous cycles, in January 2007, Biden declaredhis candidacy in the 2008 elections.[1][2][3] Biden focused on theIraq War, his record as chairman of major Senate committees, and his foreign-policy experience.[4] Biden was noted for hisone-liners during the campaign; in one debate he said of Republican candidateRudy Giuliani, "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and9/11."[5]
Biden had difficulty raising funds, struggled to draw people to his rallies, and failed to gain traction against the high-profile candidacies of Obama andHillary Clinton.[6] He never rose above single digits innational polls of the Democratic candidates. In the first contest on January 3, 2008, Biden placed fifth in theIowa caucuses, garnering slightly less than one percent of the state delegates.[7] He withdrew from the race that evening.[8]
Despite its lack of success, Biden's 2008 campaign raised his stature in the political world.[9]: 336 In particular, it changed the relationship between Biden and Obama. Although they had served together on theSenate Foreign Relations Committee, they had not been close: Biden resented Obama's quick rise to political stardom,[10][11] while Obama viewed Biden as garrulous and patronizing.[9]: 28, 337–338 Having gotten to know each other during 2007, Obama appreciated Biden's campaign style and appeal to working-class voters, and Biden said he became convinced Obama was "the real deal".[11][9]: 28, 337–338
In August 2008, Obama and Biden met in secret to discuss the possibility of a place for Biden in the Obama administration,[12] and developed a strong personal rapport.[11] On August 22, 2008, Obama announced that Biden would be hisrunning mate.[13]The New York Times reported that the choice reflected a desire for someone withforeign policy andnational security experience.[14] Others pointed out Biden's appeal to middle-class andblue-collar voters.[15][16] Biden was officially nominated for vice president on August 27 at the2008 Democratic National Convention inDenver.[17]
Biden's vice-presidential campaigning gained little media attention, as the press devoted far more coverage to the Republican nominee,Alaska governorSarah Palin.[18][19] Under instructions from the campaign, Biden kept his speeches succinct and tried to avoid offhand remarks.[20][21] Privately, Biden's remarks frustrated Obama. "How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?", he asked.[9]: 411–414, 419 Obama campaign staffers called Biden's blunders "Joe bombs" and kept Biden uninformed about strategy discussions, which irked Biden.[22] Relations between the two campaigns became strained for a month, until Biden apologized to Obama and the two built a stronger partnership.[9]: 411–414
In September 2008, during the2008 financial crisis, Biden voted for the $700 billionEmergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which passed in the Senate.[23] On October 2, he participated in thevice-presidential debate with Palin atWashington University in St. Louis. Post-debate polls found that while Palin exceeded many voters' expectations, Biden had still won the debate overall.[24] On November 4, Obama and Bidenwere elected.[25][26][27]
As Biden was running for vice president, he was also running for reelection to the Senate,[28] as permitted by Delaware law.[1] Having beenreelected to the Senate as well as the vice presidency,[29] Biden made a point of not resigning from the Senate before he was sworn in for his seventh term in January 2009.[30] Heresigned from the Senate on January 15.[31][32]
Biden's vice presidency succeeded theVice presidency of Dick Cheney, which was controversial. Biden said he intended to eliminate some explicit roles assumed byGeorge W. Bush's vice president,Dick Cheney, and did not intend to emulate any previous vice presidency.[33] He was sworn in on January 20, 2009.[34] He was the first vice president from Delaware[35] and the firstRoman Catholic vice president.[36][37] Members of the Obama administration said Biden's role in the White House was to be a contrarian and force others to defend their positions.[38]Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, said that Biden helped countergroupthink.[39] The Bidens maintained a relaxed atmosphere at theirofficial residence in Washington, often entertaining their grandchildren, and regularly returned to their home in Delaware.[40]
Biden visitedKosovo in May and affirmed the U.S. position that its "independence is irreversible".[41] Biden lost an internal debate to Secretary of StateHillary Clinton aboutsending 21,000 new troops to Afghanistan,[42][43] but his skepticism was valued,[44] and in 2009, Biden's views gained more influence as Obama reconsidered his Afghanistan strategy.[45] Biden visited Iraq about every two months, becoming the administration's point man in delivering messages to Iraqi leadership about expected progress there.[44] More generally, overseeing Iraq policy became Biden's responsibility.[46] By 2012, Biden had made eight trips there, but his oversight of U.S. policy in Iraq receded with the exit of U.S. troops in 2011.[47]
Biden oversawinfrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package intended to help counteract theongoing recession.[48] When he completed that role in February 2011, he said the number of fraud incidents with stimulus monies had been less than one percent.[49]
Biden's off-message response to a question in April 2009, during the beginning of theswine flu outbreak, led to a swift retraction by the White House.[50] The remark revived Biden's reputation forgaffes.[51][45][52] Confronted with rising unemployment through July 2009, Biden acknowledged that the administration had "misread how bad the economy was", but maintained confidence the stimulus package would create many more jobs once the pace of expenditures picked up.[53] Ahot mic picked up Biden telling Obama that his signing thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act was "a big fucking deal" on March 23, 2010. Despite their different personalities, Obama and Biden formed a friendship, partly based around Obama's daughter Sasha and Biden's granddaughter Maisy, who attendedSidwell Friends School together.[22]
Due to the large Democratic majority in Congress, Biden became the first vice president sinceDan Quayle tocast zero tie-breaking votes as President of the Senate. Biden campaigned heavily for Democrats in the2010 midterm elections, maintaining an attitude of optimism in the face of predictions of large-scale losses for the party.[54] Following big Republican gains in the elections and the departure of Emanuel, Biden's past relationships with Republicans in Congress became more important.[55][56] He led the successful administration effort to gain Senate approval for theNew START treaty.[55][56] In December 2010, Biden's advocacy for a middle ground, followed by his negotiations with Senate minority leaderMitch McConnell, were instrumental in producing the administration's compromise tax package that included a temporaryextension of the Bush tax cuts.[56][57] The package passed as theTax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.
Obama delegated Biden to lead negotiations with Congress in March 2011 to resolve federal spending levels and avoid a government shutdown.[58] TheU.S. debt ceiling crisis developed over the next few months, but Biden's relationship with McConnell again proved key in bringing about a deal to resolve it, in the form of theBudget Control Act of 2011.[59][60][61] Some reports suggest that Biden opposed proceeding with the May 2011U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden,[62] lest failure adversely affect Obama's reelection prospects.[63][64]
Obama named Biden to head theGun Violence Task Force, created to address the causes ofschool shootings and consider possiblegun control measures in the aftermath of theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in December 2012.[65] Later that month, during the final days before the United States fell off the "fiscal cliff", Biden's relationship with McConnell again proved important as the two negotiated a deal that led to theAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 being passed at the start of 2013.[66][67]
In a May 2012Meet the Press interview, Vice President Biden reversed his previous position and publicly supportedsame-sex marriage, saying he was "absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction beyond that."[68] Prior to Biden's statement onMeet the Press, the Obama administration endorsedcivil unions, but not same-sex marriage.[69] Biden's decision reportedly forced Obama's hand, pressuring Obama to accelerate his own public shift to support same-sex marriage.[70][71] In 2013, Section 3 of DOMA was ruled unconstitutional and partially struck down inUnited States v. Windsor. The Obama Administration did not defend the law and congratulated Windsor.[72]
Biden was inaugurated to a second term on January 20, 2013, at a small ceremony atNumber One Observatory Circle, his official residence, with JusticeSonia Sotomayor presiding (a public ceremony took place on January 21).[73] He played little part in discussions that led to the October 2013 passage of theContinuing Appropriations Act, 2014, which resolved thefederal government shutdown of 2013 and thedebt-ceiling crisis of 2013. Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid and other Democratic leaders cut him out of direct talks with Congress, feeling Biden had given too much away during previous negotiations.[74][75][76]
Biden's Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized again in 2013. The act led to related developments, such as theWhite House Council on Women and Girls, begun in the first term, as well as theWhite House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, begun in January 2014 with Biden andValerie Jarrett as co-chairs.[77][78] He talked about sexual violence while introducingLady Gaga at the88th Academy Awards in 2016, receiving astanding ovation from the audience.[79]
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Biden favored armingSyria's rebel fighters.[80] As theISILinsurgency 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.[81][82] He had close relationships with several Latin American leaders and visited the region 16 times during his vice presidency, the most of any president or vice president.[83] In August 2016, Biden visitedSerbia, where he met with the Serbian Prime MinisterAleksandar Vučić and expressed condolences for civilian victims of the bombing campaign during the Kosovo War.[84] Biden nevercast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, making him the longest-serving vice president with this distinction.[85]
Biden supported the U.S. Supreme Court's 5–4 ruling inObergefell v. Hodges (2015), which held that same-sex couples have a federal constitutional right to marry. Biden issued a statement saying that the ruling reflected a principle that "all people should be treated with respect and dignity – and that all marriages, at their root, are defined by unconditional love."[86] In an event with the groupFreedom to Marry, Biden described the decision as "the civil rights movement of our generation" and as consequential asBrown v. Board of Education.[87]Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the case, endorsed Biden's 2020 presidential run, as did other LGBT leaders.[88]
During his second term, Biden was often said to be preparing for a bid for the2016 Democratic presidential nomination.[89] With his family, friends, and donors encouraging him in mid-2015 to enter the race, and withHillary Clinton's favorability ratings in decline at that time, Biden was reported to be seriously considering the prospect and a "Draft Biden 2016"PAC was established.[89][90][91]
By late 2015, Biden was still uncertain about running. He felt his son Beau's recent death had largely drained his emotional energy, and said, "nobody has a right... to seek that office unless they're willing to give it 110% of who they are."[92] On October 21, Biden announced his decision not to run for president in 2016.[93][94][95]
Between 2009 and 2019, satirical newspaperThe Onion consistently portrayed Biden as an outrageous character who shared almost nothing in common with his namesake besides the title of vice president of the United States.[96][97] The character was also known as "Diamond Joe".[98] The publication portrayed Biden as ablue-collar "average Joe", an affable "goofy uncle", amuscle car driver, an avid fan of 1980shair metal, a raucous party animal, a shamelesswomanizer, a recidivistpetty criminal, and adrug-dealingoutlaw.[99][100]The Onion briefly revived its fanciful version of Biden in 2019, but subsequently took its satirical coverage of him in a more critical and straightforward direction. Biden's character became one ofThe Onion's most popular features during theObama presidency, garnering critical acclaim and a large readership.[99][101] Despite the extreme differences between the fictional character and the real politician,The Onion was regarded as having a significant, mostly positive influence on Biden's public image.[96][101] Commentators noted that the character likely reinforced public perceptions of Biden as a political figure withpopulist working-class appeal and a good-natured, easy-going disposition.[96][97]
Jason Sudeikis portrayed Biden during the2008 United States Presidential election and has since returned to the role numerous times.[102] In 2016,Greg Kinnear portrayed then Senator Biden in theHBO television filmConfirmation about thecontroversial Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings.Kerry Washington portrayedAnita Hill andWendell Pierce playedClarence Thomas. Kinnear said he took the role because, "[Biden] is an interesting character, I understood his predicament, I understood the situation that he was in and I felt like that would be a great part to play."[103] Brian Lowry ofVariety described his performance as "uncanny".[104] Emma Brockes ofThe Guardian described Kinnear as "particularly excellent".[105] Joe McGovern ofEntertainment Weekly cited his performance as being "fantastic", adding "Kinnear nails the duality of Biden’s position, attempting on one hand to maintain comity among his colleagues in the Senate while also trying, often fecklessly, to be sensitive to Hill".[106]
In January 2017, President Obama called Biden “the best Vice President America has ever had”. Political observers described Biden's high level of influence and effectiveness as vice president.[107][108]
After leaving the vice presidency, Biden became an honorary professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, developing thePenn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Biden remained in that position into 2019.[109][110] In 2019, Biden launched his2020 presidential campaign. BidenselectedKamala Harris as his running mate, and they defeatedRepublican incumbentsDonald Trump andMike Pence in the2020 United States presidential election, making Biden the first president to serve with a woman vice president,Black American vice president, andAsian American vice president, and the first former vice president to be elected sinceRichard Nixon in1968. PresidentDonald Trump refused to concede the election andattempted to overturn it in theJanuary 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack. Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021.
As president, Biden signed theAmerican Rescue Plan Act,Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,CHIPS and Science Act, andInflation Reduction Act in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic andsubsequent recession. HeappointedKetanji Brown Jackson to theSupreme Court of the United States. Inhis foreign policy, the U.S. reentered theParis Agreement. Biden oversaw thecomplete withdrawal of U.S. troops that ended thewar in Afghanistan, leading tothe Taliban seizing control. Heresponded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposingsanctions on Russia and authorizingaid to Ukraine. During theGaza war, Biden condemned the actions ofHamas as terrorism, strongly supportedIsrael's military efforts, and sent limited humanitarian aid to theGaza Strip. A temporaryceasefire proposal he backed was adopted shortly before he left office.
Concerns about Biden's age and health persisted throughout his term. He became the first president to turn 80 while in office. He began his presidency with majority support, but saw his approval ratings decline significantly throughout his presidency, in part due to public frustration overinflation, which peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 but dropped to 2.9% by the end of his presidency. Biden initiallyran for reelection and, after theDemocratic primaries, he became the party's presumptive nominee in the2024 presidential election. After his poor performance in thefirst presidential debate, renewed scrutiny from across the political spectrum about his cognitive ability led him towithdraw from the race. Bidenimmediately endorsed Vice PresidentKamala Harris as his replacement. Harris subsequently became the Democratic nominee in the2024 Democratic National Convention withTim Walz asher running mate, but they subsequently lost the general election to Trump andJD Vance. Biden's administration isranked favorably by historians and scholars, diverging frompublic assessments of his tenure. He is theoldest living former U.S. president.
| Senate leaders | House leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congress | Year | Majority | Minority | Speaker | Minority |
| 111th | 2009–2010 | Reid | McConnell | Pelosi | Boehner |
| 112th | 2011–2012 | Reid | McConnell | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 113th | 2013–2014 | Reid | McConnell | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 114th | 2015 | McConnell | Reid | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 2015–2016 | McConnell | Reid | Ryan[a] | Pelosi | |
| 115th[b] | 2017 | McConnell | Schumer | Ryan | Pelosi |
| Congress | Senate | House |
|---|---|---|
| 111th[b] | 59[d] | 257 |
| 112th | 53 | 193 |
| 113th | 55 | 201 |
| 114th | 46 | 188 |
| 115th[b] | 48 | 194 |
He was also the in-house skeptic on the use of force, arguing against a troop surge to Afghanistan, military intervention in Libya and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Twelve vice presidents, including Biden, never broke a tie; Biden was the longest-serving vice president to never do so.
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