JoeBiden's profile

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Relationship

Married

Hometown

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Education

• University of Delaware, History and Political Science - 1961 to 1965
• Syracuse University, Law School - 1965 to 1968

Work

• New Castle County Council, Member - 1970 to 1972
• United States Senate, Senator - 1972 to 2007

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Joe Biden was born November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four siblings in an Irish-Catholic family. The family later moved to a middle-class neighborhood in Delaware. His father was a car salesman, and together with his mother, they workedhard to teach their children to stand up for what matters most.

Joe graduated from The University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council. Then, at age 29, against almost impossible odds, he became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate, beating an incumbent Republican.

He never forgot where he came from. While most Senators live in Washington, he commutes home every night using public transportation to be with his wife of almost 30 years, Jill, a school teacher, and his now 89-year-old mother.

They have three children - Beau, Hunter, and Ashley - and five grandchildren.

Today Joe Biden often quotes poetry on the Senate floor. He picked up the skill as a way to stop a debilitating stutter he had as a child. He would stand in front of a mirror for hours reciting poems to relax his muscles and gain confidence to be able to speak.

Right after being elected to the Senate in 1972, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. People rallied around him, and for the next five years, he raised his two sons as a single parent, never forgetting family comes first, and gaining a genuine appreciation for single parents who get up everyday, put one foot in front of the other, and make their families work.

For three decades, Joe Biden has served on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, becoming its Chairman in January. 

Activities

Joe Biden on Charlie Rose

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