Joe Biden (born November 20, 1942) was the 46th president of the United States, serving from January 2021 to January 2025, after 36 years in the Senate and eight as vice president. He is the oldest person to have served as president and the first to turn 80 in office. Here are 15 things worth knowing about his career, his money and what he has done since leaving the White House.
As always, here’s the YouTube upload for this topic:
Joe Biden at a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | November 20, 1942, Scranton, Pennsylvania |
| Education | University of Delaware (1965), Syracuse University College of Law (1968) |
| US Senator for Delaware | 1973 to 2009 |
| Vice President | 2009 to 2017 (47th, under Barack Obama) |
| President | 2021 to 2025 (46th) |
| Party | Democratic |
1. Where did Joe Biden come from?
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the oldest child in a Catholic family of mostly Irish descent. His father’s business setbacks meant the family moved in with relatives before settling in Claymont, Delaware, when Biden was ten. His father later became a successful used-car salesman and kept the family middle class.
2. What did he study?
Biden graduated from Archmere Academy in 1961 and earned a double major in history and political science at the University of Delaware in 1965. He took his law degree at Syracuse in 1968 and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1969. To overcome a childhood stutter, he memorized lines from poets such as Yeats and Emerson.
3. When did he enter politics?
He started as a public defender and then won a seat on the New Castle County Council in 1970. Two years later, with minimal campaign funds and trailing by almost thirty points a few months out, he beat Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs to win a US Senate seat. He was 30 when first elected, the seventh-youngest senator in US history.
4. How long did he serve in the Senate?
Biden was reelected six times, usually with about 60% of the vote, and remains one of the longest-serving senators in history. For 36 years he commuted by train between Washington and Wilmington, which earned him the nickname “Amtrak Joe”.
5. Which laws did he lead as a senator?
Biden chaired both the Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. He drafted and led passage of the Violence Against Women Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, both passed in 1994, and he oversaw six Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
6. How many times did he run for president?
Three times before winning. He ran in the 1988 and 2008 Democratic primaries without success. He was Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 and served as vice president from 2009 to 2017. He won the White House in 2020 with Kamala Harris as his running mate, defeating the Republican incumbents.
7. What did he sign as president?
Biden’s biggest economic laws were the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (March 2021), the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act (signed August 9, 2022) and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022). His larger Build Back Better proposal did not pass as written, but part of it was folded into the Inflation Reduction Act.
8. Who did he put on the Supreme Court?
He appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. He also rejoined the Paris climate agreement on taking office.
9. What did he do on foreign policy?
His administration withdrew US troops from Afghanistan under a deal negotiated in 2020, imposed sanctions on Russia and sent aid to Ukraine after the 2022 invasion, and backed Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
10. Why did he not run in 2024?
Biden won the 2024 Democratic primaries and became his party’s presumptive nominee, but on July 21, 2024, after the first presidential debate, he withdrew and endorsed Harris. It was the first time an eligible incumbent president had stepped aside from a general election race in this way. His term ended on January 20, 2025.
11. How much is Joe Biden worth?
Biden was long counted among the least wealthy members of the Senate, which he put down to being elected so young. After the vice presidency, he and his wife reported earning more than $15 million between 2017 and 2019 from speaking and book sales. We do not have a verified current net worth figure for him, so we do not publish one.
12. What books has he written?
His memoirs include Promises to Keep (2007) and Promise Me, Dad (2017). A third, Promise Me, America, focusing on his presidency, was announced in July 2026 and is scheduled for release on November 17, 2026. Want to go deeper? Audiobook fans can try the biography “A Good and Decent Man: Joe Biden, Rescuing America” through our Audible link.
13. What is he known for in his image?
“Middle Class Joe” and “Amtrak Joe” are the nicknames that stuck. He is also known for plain-spoken, sometimes off-script remarks, which he has called being a “gaffe machine”.
14. What has he done since leaving office?
Biden signed with the talent agency CAA after leaving office, and his former advisers were tasked with raising funds for the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library. Earlier, after the vice presidency, he was an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he developed the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
15. How did his approval rating end up?
Biden entered office with majority support, but his approval declined over his term, particularly over inflation and immigration. Gallup found it averaged 49% in his first year and 39% in 2024, for a presidential average of about 42%.
Keep reading
- The rich who gave their money away: another look at what leaders and the wealthy do with their money.
FAQ
Who is Joe Biden?
Joe Biden is an American politician who was the 46th US president (2021 to 2025), vice president under Barack Obama (2009 to 2017) and a senator from Delaware (1973 to 2009).
How old is Joe Biden?
Born on November 20, 1942, he turns 84 on November 20, 2026. He is the oldest person to have served as president.
Why did Biden drop out of the 2024 election?
He withdrew on July 21, 2024, after the first presidential debate, saying it was in the best interest of his party and the country, and endorsed Kamala Harris.
What are Biden’s biggest laws?
The American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
How much is Joe Biden worth?
There is no verified current figure we can stand behind. He was long among the Senate’s least wealthy members, and he and his wife reported earning over $15 million from 2017 to 2019 in speaking fees and book sales.
What is Biden doing now?
Since leaving office in January 2025 he has signed with CAA, and a third memoir, Promise Me, America, is scheduled for release on November 17, 2026.
How we put this list together
We built this profile from public records of Biden’s offices, signed legislation, election results and published memoirs. Dates and figures were checked against those records in October 2026.
Last updated: October 2026.
