Joe Biden-History, Civics and Geography

Hello Reader!

We have brought this article to you to introduce you to the Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. We will start with some brief intro and facts about Mr. Biden. Later we will discuss his education, his political career, foreign policy and also his presidential campaign of 1988.

We hope you would find it interesting and informative.

Introduction

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born November 20, 1942, is an American politician. 

He served as 47th vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017

He was a seven-term U.S. Senator representing Delaware from 1973 to 2009 that makes him the longest-serving senator in Delaware history.

As of 2018, he was the 18th-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.

In May 1999, Biden became the youngest senator to cast 10,000 votes.

Biden was re-elected six times to the U.S. Senate and was the fourth-most senior senator when he resigned after winning the vice presidency

Biden was consistently ranked one of the least wealthy members of the Senate.

Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008.

Education: 

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 from the University of Delaware, with a double major in history and political science and a minor in English. He studied Law from Syracuse University and became a lawyer in 1969.

He later said he found law school “the biggest bore in the world”. 

He played halfback for the Blue Hens freshman football team. He also played university football as a defensive back.

Health

In 1988, Biden suffered two brain aneurysms, one on the right side and one on the left. Each required surgery with high risk of long-term impact on brain functionality.

In 2013, Biden said, “they take a saw and they cut your head off”, and “they literally had to take the top of my head off.” He also said he was told he would have less than a 50% chance of full recovery.

Yesterday, ie, on 25th August 2020, Dr. Kevin O’Connor of The George Washington University released a medical summary of Biden’s health where he described him as “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”

And while the condition was later complicated after his 2 surgeries in 1980s, by subsequent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, O’Connor states there are currently no serious threats to Biden’s health and medical conditions from his past are currently under control.

Politics

He was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1969.

He was elected to the New Castle county council in 1970.

Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues 

In 1974 Biden described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens’ concerns and healthcare but conservative on other issues, including abortion.

Time magazine named him one of the 200 Faces for the Future in a profile that mentioned what had happened to his family, calling him “self-confident” and “compulsively ambitious”.

He was elected as Senator from Delaware in 1972 to become the 6th Youngest Senator in American History.

In the mid-1970s, Biden was one of the Senate’s leading opponents of race-integration busing. His Delaware constituents strongly opposed it, and such opposition nationwide later led his party to mostly abandoned school integration policies.

He clashed again with the Reagan administration in 1986 over economic sanctions against South Africa.

He was Longtime member and later chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

He also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995

Biden led the efforts to pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act.

In 1993, Biden voted in favor of 10 U.S.C. §654, thereby banning gay Americans from serving in the United States armed forces in any capacity without exception.

In 1996, Biden voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act (1 U.S.C. §7), which prohibited the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriage

1988 presidential campaign

He was attempting to become the youngest president since John F. Kennedy. When the campaign began, he was considered a potentially strong candidate.  He raised $1.7 million in the first quarter of 1987, more than any other candidate.

In September 1987, the campaign ran into trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech and many more plagiarism accusations. Later, other issues came up of his copying multiple speeches from British Politicians.

During his first year at Syracuse, Biden was accused of plagiarizing five of fifteen pages of a law review article. He said it was inadvertent, and that he did not know the proper rules of citation. As a result, he failed the course and had to retake it. This plagiarism incident resurfaced in during his presidential campaign. 

Lacking a strong group of supporters to help him survive the crisis, he withdrew from the race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by “the exaggerated shadow” of his past mistakes.

Foreign policy

Biden led the efforts to pass the United States–Russia New START treaty; 

He supported military intervention in Libya, 

He helped formulate U.S. policy toward Iraq through the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011.

He opposed the Gulf war in 1991

He supported the resolution to authorize the Iraq war but he opposed the surge of US troops in 2007.

Wrapping Up

Biden is an ambitious man who is conservative, not liberal. He has been accused of racism multiple times. Once he also said “Poor children can also be as good as White children” indicating blacks as poor. So according to us there is not much ideological difference between him and trump.

His predecessors have been supporting Iran and had signed the nuclear treaty out of which Trump pulled off. They have also been very much in favor of China in the past which is again the contrast to Trump.

Democrats have also been lenient with migrants which is quiet opposite to what Trump administration has been doing.

Therefore this election in USA will not just affect the population of USA but also affect the politics of the whole world. This election will be eagerly looked upon by everyone around the globe as it should decide the fate of many international conflicts like China, Middle East and also Europe.

Read About Biden’s Vice President candidate, Kamala Harris here.