Joe Biden

On November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Joe Biden was born into a working- and middle-class Catholic family that later moved to Delaware. He studied at the University of Delaware and Syracuse University College of Law, then entered politics through county-level organizing and the Senate race he won in 1972. Personal tragedy early in his Senate career became part of the public image that sustained his long political life.

Biden served for decades in the United States Senate, then as vice president under Barack Obama before winning the presidency in 2020. His administration began amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of January 6, 2021, and it pursued the American Rescue Plan, major infrastructure investment, climate legislation, and robust support for Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion. Those actions made democracy, industrial policy, and alliance repair central themes of his presidency.

Biden's years in office shaped the return of federal spending on infrastructure and manufacturing and widened debate over executive age, democratic resilience, and post-neoliberal economic policy. The Inflation Reduction Act, student debt litigation, and the politics of alliance restoration all remained tied to choices made during his administration.