The Longevity of Joe Biden and His Long Term Career

Longevity isn’t something that is common in the brutal terrain of Washington politics. Scandals and the perennial hurdles of re-election make it really difficult to sustain a long stay at the nation’s capital, some have been better at it than others. One of those is former US Vice President Joe Biden.

Very few American politicians get to serve in the United States Senate for 37 years. When you top that off with an 8-year stint as Vice President, then you know that this fellow has spent their life truly in service of their nation. Senator Joe Bidden is an American politician who served as America’s 47th Vice President and Senator representing the good people of Delaware from 1973 to 2009.

How Old is Joe Biden?

Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942, to Joseph Robinette Biden Sr and Catherine Eugenia Jean Finnegan in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Young Joe was the first of four siblings – a sister and two brothers. Raised in a catholic household, Biden’s father was a working-class man who had been wealthy but started to struggle economically after the economic downturn of the Scranton area. His working-class roots would play a part in shaping the young Bidens political ideologies.

How Long Has He Been in Politics?

By all standards, Joe Bidden has had a distinguished career in public service spanning about five decades. His first taste of government came in 1970 when was elected into the New Castle County Council. Two years later in 1972, a 29-year-old Biden decided to run for Senate against Republican Senator Caleb Boggs. Senator Boggs was at the time a ranking member of the Senate with contacts in capitol hill that could match that of any of his contemporaries. That a young rookie lawyer could even contemplate going against him was a daunting proposition.

Without a political base unlike his opponent, Biden relied on family members to run the campaign. He employed a face to face approach in his campaign – a strategy that in hindsight was suited to the constituency because of its size and demographic peculiarities.

Biden won with a margin of 3,162 votes to become the fifth-youngest elected U.S. senator in the country’s history. With this victory in the bag, the nation had to turn and take note of the rising star from Delaware.

His foray into the Senate in 1972 was the beginning of a glittering career in the Senate that would span all the way to 2009. The early parts of his Senate career-focused environmental issues and consumer-protection. Over time Biden gravitated more to Foreign policy and served as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations for several years. He also chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1987 till 1995. Senate, Biden joined the race for the Presidency in 1988 in an attempt to yet again becoming the youngest President since JFK. He would later pull out of the race after he had been accused of plagiarizing his speech and exaggeration of some facts.

In 2007, Bidden resurrected his bid to become US President, after an underwhelming showing, he pulled out of the race. After the then-Senator Barrack Obama clinched the ticket of the Democratic party, he chose Senator Joe Bidden to be his running mate. On the 2nd of November 2008, a joint ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden defeated Arizona Senator John McCain to clinch the US Presidency.

Barrack Obama and Joe Bidden

Joe Biden served as America’s Vice President for two terms between 2009 and 2017. During his tenure as Vice President, he played a major advisory role in President Obama’s administration, bringing to bear his huge wealth of experience in Foreign affairs. He also oversaw the execution of the Presidents infrastructure stimulus package.

After the end of his tenure as Vice President, there were calls for him to run for the top job, but after the death of his son, he cited a lack of emotional energy and drive. On April 25, 2019, Biden announced that he was running for the office of President Of The United States in 2020.

Over the course of his political career, Bidden has always been a member of the Democratic party and has been broadly seen as a moderate Democrat who has avoided the extremes of the political-ideological spectrum. He believes the government should take global warming more seriously, he also has a track record for supporting increased infrastructure spending, he supported reduced military spending as Vice President. Joe Biden is also on record as a supporter of same-sex marriage. He is also a supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Biden is also the first Catholic Vice President of the United States of America.