Joe Biden Is the Clear Frontrunner, and the Top Target for Other Presidential Hopefuls

Candidate: Joe Biden

State of Residence: Delaware

Campaign Website: https://joebiden.com

Short Bio: Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., was born November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four siblings. In 1953, the Biden family moved from Pennsylvania to Claymont, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council. Then, at age 29, he became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate.

Just weeks after the election, tragedy struck the Biden family when Biden’s wife, Neilia and their one-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed and their two young sons critically injured in an auto accident. Vice President Biden was sworn in to the U.S. Senate at his sons’ hospital bedside and began commuting to Washington every day by train, a practice he maintained throughout his career in the Senate.

In 1977, Vice President Biden married Jill Jacobs. Jill Biden, who holds a Ph.D. in Education, is a life-long educator and currently teaches at a community college in Northern Virginia. Biden’s son, Beau, was Delaware’s Attorney General from 2007-2015 and a Major in the 261st Signal Brigade of the Delaware National Guard. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008-2009. Beau passed away in 2015 after battling with brain cancer. The vice president’s other son, Hunter, is an attorney who manages a private equity firm in Washington, D.C. and is chairman of the World Food Program USA. Biden’s daughter Ashley is a social worker and is executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice. Vice President Biden has five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel (“Maisy”), Natalie, and Robert Hunter.

As a senator from Delaware for 36 years, Biden established himself as a leader in facing some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. As chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years, then-Senator Biden was widely recognized for his work on criminal justice issues, including the landmark 1994 Crime Act and the Violence Against Women Act. As chairman or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, then-Senator Biden played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He has been at the forefront of issues and legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.

As the 47th Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden has continued his leadership on important issues facing the nation and has represented our country abroad traveling over 1.2 million miles to more than 50 countries. Biden has convened sessions of the president’s cabinet, led inter-agency efforts, and worked with Congress in his fight to raise the living standards of middle class Americans, reduce gun violence, address violence against women, and end cancer as we know it. [Obama White House Archives]

Fun Fact: As a child, Biden stuttered and was teased by his classmates. He practiced reading aloud in front of a mirror and worked hard to overcome it. During law school he befriended a stutterer and worked with him regularly on his speech. Now Biden is known as a loquacious orator. [US News & World Report]

On the Issues

Health Care: “That’s the reason Barack Obama and Joe Biden fought so hard for the Affordable Care Act. We should defend and build upon the Affordable Care Act to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable health care. And, we should dedicate the full force of our nation’s expertise and resources to tackle our greatest public health challenges, including cancer, opioid addiction, and mental health.” [Official Website]

Trade & Agriculture: “First and foremost, we must enforce existing trade laws and invest in the competitiveness of our workers and communities here at home, so that they complete on a level playing field. Then, we need to write the rules of the road for international trade through a modern, inclusive process—rules that protect our workers, safeguard the environment, uphold labor standards and middle-class wages, foster innovation, and take on big global challenges like corporate concentration, corruption, and climate change. If we don’t, other countries will write the rules for us.” [Official Website]

Jobs/Economy/Taxes: The middle class isn’t a number—it’s a set of values. Owning your home. Sending your kids to college. Being able to save and get ahead. Across the country, too many families are being left behind. The next president needs to understand what the current one doesn’t: In America, no matter where you start in life, there should be no limit to what you can achieve.

We need to rebuild the middle class, and this time make sure everybody—regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability—gets a fair shot.

The American middle class built this country. Yet today, CEOs and Wall Street are putting profits over workers, plain and simple. It’s wrong. There used to be a basic bargain in this country that when you work hard, you were able to share in the prosperity your work helped create. It’s time to restore the dignity of work and give workers back the power to earn what they’re worth.

Education is at the heart of the American Dream, and essential for the United States to compete globally in the decades to come. Every American should have the opportunity throughout their lives to obtain the skills and education to realize their full potential—starting long before they enter kindergarten, and all the way through a certificate program, on-the-job training, community college, or a four-year degree. And everyone should have the opportunity to update their skills as rapidly as the economy changes. [Official Website]