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Biden has also been active in the diplomatic work around recent political movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, something journalists refer to collectively as the Arab Spring.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., born in 1942, is an American politician with a long career in the U. S. Senate. Biden is currently the Vice President of the United States of America, under President Barack Obama.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden attended the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School before being elected to the United States Senate in 1971. Biden started serving as a senator beginning in 1972, becoming an important part of the legislative body. Biden has been cited as a participant in key legislation on crime, including a 1994 crime bill.
Joe Biden ran for President twice before accepting a Vice Presidential role in Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In 1988, Biden ran against others for the Democratic nomination, which was eventually awarded to Michael Dukakis.
Many Americans first heard of Biden in the 2008 presidential campaign. After running against Obama in the primary, Biden accepted the role of VP candidate. Obama and Biden ran against republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Along with the other candidates, Biden was regularly lampooned on Saturday Night Live, a sketch comedy television show. Like Palin, the other candidate in the vice presidential race, the resulting satire on Saturday Night Live and in other venues highlighted many of the character traits for which Biden is generally known, at least to many in the general public. The counterpoint to comedienne Tina Fey's wild caricatures of Palin, which featured some of the Republican candidate's perceived foibles, consisted of media figures reporting on Biden "gaffes." For example, Biden's characterization of Barack Obama as "clean" and "articulate" drew derision from the media. Another remark credited to Biden was his characterization of Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani as "only saying three things in a sentence: a noun, a verb, and 9-11."
Eventually, the Obama/Biden ticket won with 365 electoral votes compared to 173 votes for the McCain/Palin team. The Obama/Biden ticket carried California, one of the most influential electoral states, along with the entire New England area and East Coast states like Pennsylvania and Virginia, while the McCain/Palin ticket carried Texas and much of the Midwest.
As the vice president, Biden has been deeply involved in many aspects of crafting policy and in many diplomatic activities in various parts of the world. Biden has been an essential part of implementation of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, or ARRA, a governmental response to the 2008 financial crisis that utilizes shovel-ready projects and attempts to mimic some of the public works initiatives of the famous New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt. Biden was also a proponent of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, going so far as to use an expletive in calling the bill a "big deal." When a camera picked up this remark, it was added to the list of colorful remarks attributed to the vice president.
During his term, Biden has also been involved in many ground efforts in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's made over six trips to Iraq, including the 'attendance of a Change of Command and Change of Mission Ceremony in 2010. On this and other trips, Biden consulted with high levels figures in the Iraqi administration to help make progress in developing the joint policies of the American and Iraqi governments. Biden has also consulted the new Iraqi government on its own internal negotiations in order to help move the country toward stability and the ability to handle internal conflicts.
Most recently, journalists have cited Biden's role in American debt negotiations as a major contribution to the administration. Biden has also been active in the diplomatic work around recent political movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, something journalists refer to collectively as the Arab Spring.
Some have used Biden's role as an illustration of how the office of the vice president is different than it was in past eras of American government. In particular, experts have marked the Carter administration as a point where the Vice President's office became a more powerful part of the executive branch. Others have claimed that the two terms of Dick Cheney resulted in more authority and independence for the vice president's role.
Biden currently chairs the Middle Class Task Force. The Obama administration set up the project to help America's middle class prosper and to alleviate some of the burdens of the financial crash on American families.
Chicago Sun-Times; February 10, 2012
Gallup Poll News Service; July 23, 2009
Gallup Poll News Service; October 26, 2009
Business Wire; April 27, 2009
States News Service; November 9, 2010
States News Service; March 17, 2010
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