President - Joe Biden

Presumptive Democratic nominee for President

video clips:

When Barack Obama asked Joe to be his running mate in 2008, he reportedly told Joe that there were three reasons he wanted Joe to be his vice president:

• I know you will always tell me the truth, without varnish.

• I need help in governing.

• Your experience in foreign policy will be very helpful.

When Barack asked Joe what assurances he would need in order to accept the post, Joe responded: “I want two things. One, to be able to completely be level with you and to argue with you if we disagree, privately. And secondly, I want to be the last person in the room, on every major decision.”

When presenting Joe with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2017, President Obama said: “It was 8½ years ago that I chose Joe to be my vice president. There has not been a single moment since that time that I've doubted the wisdom of that decision. He was the best possible choice, not just for me, but for the American people. This is an extraordinary man with an extraordinary career in public service…He served as chair or ranking member of the Judiciary and Foreign Relation Committees. Domestically, he championed landmark legislation to make our communities safer, to protect our women from violence. Internationally, his wisdom and capacity to build relationships has shaped our Nation's response to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, to counterterrorism, Iraq, Afghanistan. And for the past 8 years, he could not have been a more devoted or effective partner in the progress that we've made. He fought to make college more affordable and revitalize American manufacturing as the head of our Middle Class Task Force. He suited up for our Cancer Moonshot, giving hope to millions of Americans touched by this disease. He led our efforts to combat gun violence, and he rooted out any possible misappropriations that might have occurred…And all of this makes him, I believe, the finest vice president we have ever seen…He's got a voice of vision and reason and optimism and love for people.”

Senate career

At age 29, Joe became one of the youngest people ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Weeks later, his wife and daughter were killed and his two sons were critically injured in an auto accident. Joe was sworn into the Senate at his sons’ hospital, and then began commuting from Delaware to Washington each day in order to tuck his sons in bed at night and see them get up in the morning.

Joe served in the Senate for 36 years, one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history. During his early years, he focused on consumer protection, environmental issues and arms control -- and called for greater government accountability. In 1986 he introduced one of the first climate change bills.

Joe noted: "I consider the Violence Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that I've crafted during my…tenure in the Senate." That landmark legislation criminalizes violence against women, and creates unprecedented resources for survivors of assault.

To address gun violence, in 1993 Joe secured the passage of the Brady background check bill, defeating an NRA-supported filibuster. In 1994, he championed the passage of bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

When Secretary of State George Schultz appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1986 and defended President Reagan’s opposition to sanctions on the South African white-minority government, Joe got angry and charged that the Reagan administration lacked “moral backbone” in dealing with apartheid. Joe said to Schultz: ''I hate to hear an administration and a Secretary of State refusing to act on a morally abhorrent point.''

As a Senator, Joe met with at least 150 leaders from nearly 60 countries and international organizations. In 1998, Congressional Quarterly named Joe one of "Twelve Who Made a Difference" for playing a lead role in several foreign policy matters, including NATO enlargement and the successful passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.

Vice Presidential career

As Barack Obama’s vice president from January 2009 to January 2017, Joe was more actively involved in providing advice and counsel to the president than any previous vice president. President Obama said: "The best thing about Joe is that when we get everybody together, he really forces people to think and defend their positions, to look at things from every angle, and that is very valuable for me." As vice president, Joe traveled over 1.2 million miles to more than 50 countries. He convened sessions of the president’s Cabinet, led interagency efforts, and worked with Congress to raise the living standards of middle-class Americans, reduce gun violence, address violence against women, and end cancer. President Obama and Joe secured passage of the Affordable Care Act, which reduced the number of uninsured Americans by 20 million by the time they left office and banned insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions. After 26 first-graders and educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Joe led an effort to improve the gun background check system and narrow the gun show loophole.

Presidential priorities

Joe’s priorities for his presidency are set forth on the “Joe’s Vision for America” page of his campaign website – 33 “Bold Ideas”, including:

• Plan for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19)

• Agenda for Women

• Plan for Immigration

• Plan for Infrastructure

• Plan for Campaign Finance and Government Reform

• Plan for Ending Gun Violence

• Plan for Criminal Justice Reform

• Plan for Rural America

• Plan for Health Care

• Plan for Climate Change

• Plan for K-12 Education

• Agenda for The Black Community

• Agenda for The Latino Community

That same page about Joe’s Vision states: “It’s time for respected leadership on the world stage—and dignified leadership at home. It’s time for equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal justice. It’s time for an economy that rewards those who actually do the work. It’s time for a president who will stand up for all of us…The next president must repair our relationships with our allies and stand up to strongmen and thugs on the global stage to rally the world to meet these challenges. We can reclaim our longstanding position as the moral and economic leader of the world.”

Endorsements

Among the many who endorsed Joe in April was Senator Elizabeth Warren. She said: “Empathy matters. And in this moment of crisis, it is more important than ever that the next president restores Americans faith in good, effective government. Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service. He knows that a government run with integrity, competence and heart will save lives and save livelihoods. And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American…Joe Biden is a selfless public servant. He is committed to the fight for social, racial and economic justice. Joe Biden will lead a government that works for the American people. And now it’s up to all of us to help make Joe Biden the next president of the United States…Let’s get to work. We’re all in this together now.”

When former President Obama endorsed Joe in April, he said: “I am so proud to endorse Joe Biden for president of the United States. Joe has all of the qualities we need in a president right now…Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery, and I know he will surround himself with good people: experts, scientists, military officials who actually know how to run the government and care about doing a good job running the government and know how to work with our allies and who will always put the American people’s interests above their own.”

The gravity of this election

We need to help Joe defeat Donald Trump. And the more who vote for Joe, the more likely it is that Democrats will win the close Senate and House races across the country – with a real chance to take back the Senate while keeping control of the House. A Biden presidency will bring to an end the appointment by Donald Trump of far-right judges to the Supreme Court and federal courts.

Former President Obama said in April: “So our country’s future hangs on this election, and it won’t be easy. The other side has a massive war chest; the other side has a propaganda network with little regard for the truth…Right now, we need Americans of goodwill to unite in a great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance and just plain meanness, and to change that, we need Americans of all political stripes to get involved in our politics and our public life like never before.”

Joe Biden’s character, track record and policies and their contrast to Trump drive home what we already knew: this is the most consequential election of our lifetimes. It will be a very close election. He needs your help to win.