Biden's experience, foreign policy expertise boosts VP candidacy
Bailey McBride
Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: News
Joe Biden is a sixth-term senator for the state of Delaware and Barack Obama's vice-presidential nominee.
Biden's family has a long history of public service, and Biden began his own political career in 1970 at age 27, when he ran for city council and won in a Republican district.
Two years later, Biden launched a campaign to unseat a two-term Republican senator. With his sister as his campaign manager, Biden defeated Sen. Boggs by 3,162 votes.
Just weeks after that election, Biden's wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed and their two sons critically injured in an automobile accident. Biden was sworn in to the Senate at his son's hospital bedside and began traveling to Washington D.C. every day by train, a habit he has continued throughout his career in the Senate.
In 1977, Biden married his current wife, Jill Biden, who holds a PhD in education and is a professor at Delaware Technical Community College.
Biden's three children, Beau, Hunter and Ashley, have also dedicated their lives to public service. Beau currently serves as Delaware's attorney general and is a captain in the 261st Signal Brigade of the Delaware National Guard, which was deployed to Iraq this October. Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is an attorney.
In 1988, Biden suffered a cranial aneurysm and nearly died. He had fully recovered less than a year later after two surgeries and has had no major health problems since.
Biden, who is now well-known for his foreign policy experience, became the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1997 and served as chairman of the committee from 2001 to 2003 and from January 2007 to present. He has also served as chairman or ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for 16 years.
Biden's key issues of interest include drug policy, crime and issues important to women and middle-class families. More recently, Biden has been a huge proponent of helping to stop the genocide in Darfur.
Biden's family has a long history of public service, and Biden began his own political career in 1970 at age 27, when he ran for city council and won in a Republican district.
Two years later, Biden launched a campaign to unseat a two-term Republican senator. With his sister as his campaign manager, Biden defeated Sen. Boggs by 3,162 votes.
Just weeks after that election, Biden's wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed and their two sons critically injured in an automobile accident. Biden was sworn in to the Senate at his son's hospital bedside and began traveling to Washington D.C. every day by train, a habit he has continued throughout his career in the Senate.
In 1977, Biden married his current wife, Jill Biden, who holds a PhD in education and is a professor at Delaware Technical Community College.
Biden's three children, Beau, Hunter and Ashley, have also dedicated their lives to public service. Beau currently serves as Delaware's attorney general and is a captain in the 261st Signal Brigade of the Delaware National Guard, which was deployed to Iraq this October. Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is an attorney.
In 1988, Biden suffered a cranial aneurysm and nearly died. He had fully recovered less than a year later after two surgeries and has had no major health problems since.
Biden, who is now well-known for his foreign policy experience, became the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1997 and served as chairman of the committee from 2001 to 2003 and from January 2007 to present. He has also served as chairman or ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for 16 years.
Biden's key issues of interest include drug policy, crime and issues important to women and middle-class families. More recently, Biden has been a huge proponent of helping to stop the genocide in Darfur.
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