Joe Biden Fast Facts

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 (Jacobs) Biden: Ashley; with Neilia (Hunter) 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 re-election in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008.

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 - Releases his memoir, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics."

January 3, 2008 - Announces his withdrawal from the presidential race.

August 23, 2008 - Is named the vice presidential running mate of Barack Obama.

November 4, 2008 - Is elected vice president of the United States.

January 15, 2009 - Resigns from the Senate.

January 20, 2009 - Is sworn in as vice president of the United States.

February 7, 2009 - Delivers first major speech as vice president at a security conference in Germany.

September 1, 2010 - Presides over a ceremony in Iraq to formally mark the end of the US combat mission in Iraq.

November 6, 2012 - US President Obama and Biden are re-elected, defeating Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

January 20, 2013 - Is sworn in for his second term as vice president of the United States.

October 2, 2014 - Speaking at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Biden tells attendees that ISIS has been inadvertently strengthened by actions taken by Turkey, the UAE and other Middle Eastern allies to help opposition groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

October 4, 2014 - Biden speaks by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding remarks made at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He apologizes "for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or other violent extremists in Syria."

May 30, 2015 - Biden's eldest son, Beau Biden, passes away from brain cancer at age 46.

October 21, 2015 - Says he will not seek the presidency, announcing that the window for a successful campaign "has closed."

December 6, 2016 - Doesn't rule out running for president in 2020, saying "I'm not committing not to run. I'm not committing to anything. I learned a long time ago fate has a strange way of intervening."

January 12, 2017 - Obama surprises Biden by presenting him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a White House ceremony.

February 1, 2017 - Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, launch the Biden Foundation, an organization that will work on seven issues: foreign policy; Biden's cancer initiative; community colleges and military families; protecting children; equality; ending violence against women; and strengthening the middle class.

February 7, 2017 - Is named the Benjamin Franklin presidential practice professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. He will also serve as the founding chair of the University of Delaware's Biden Institute, the university announces.

March 1, 2017 - Biden receives the Congressional Patriot Award from the Bipartisan Policy Center. He receives the honor in recognition of his work crafting bipartisan legislation with Republicans and Democrats.

November 14, 2017 - Biden's memoir "Promise Me Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose" is published.

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