Joe Biden has been elected 46th President of the United States in a very contentious election.
He will be inaugurated in January 2021 if the country is not enveloped in impending armed conflict.
But Biden’s biggest challenge upon inauguration will be the attempt to unify a country deeply divided by partisan politics. This division degenerated over the last four years although it predated President Donald Trump’s time in office.
The Begining
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 20, 1942, to Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Biden (née Finnegan) and Joseph Robinette Biden Sr. He was raised in Scranton and New Castle County, Delaware.
Biden studied at the University of Delaware before earning his law degree from Syracuse University in 1968.
He married his first wife, Neilia Hunter, in 1966. They had three children: Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III (born 1969), Robert “Hunter” Biden (1970), and Naomi Christina Biden (1971).
A month after he won his first race for the U.S. Senate in 1972, Neilia and Naomi died in a car accident that also injured his sons.
During his six terms in the Senate, Biden commuted by train between his Delaware home and Washington, D.C. — 90 minutes each way.
He met his second wife, Jill, in 1975, and they married in 1977, having a daughter, Ashley, in 1981.
Presidential Attempts
Biden mounted two unsuccessful presidential bids, in 1988 (which was marred by a plagiarism scandal) and 2008 (which he lost to Barack Obama, who ultimately picked him as his running mate).
He flirted with the idea of running again in 2016 but was too grief-stricken over the loss of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
“Beau should be the one running for president, not me,” he told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough in January. “Every morning I get up, Joe, not a joke, and I think to myself, ‘Is he proud of me?’”
Joe Biden
The former vice president, who turns 78 this month, won his bid for the White House on his third attempt, becoming the oldest person ever elected president in the U.S.
Biden shrugged off disappointing performances in early primary and caucus states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. He gained his footing after a crucial win in South Carolina, where he was buoyed by the support of African American voters.
Then-candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont, had emerged as the front-runner.
Biden went on to take control of the race, winning 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday in March. Sanders dropped out of the race and quickly endorsed Biden, paving the way for his nomination.
In August, Biden, who had promised to pick a woman as his running mate, announced his choice of Senator Kamala Harris shortly before the Democratic convention.
The senator from California, who lost her own bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination, had clashed with Biden during the first primary debate by attacking his record on race.
But after ending her campaign, she endorsed the former vice president and stumped for him in Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday.
While Biden enjoyed a wave of support among Democrats, he was also backed by “Never Trump” Republicans who opposed the president from the start of his term or became disillusioned by what they considered to be his chaotic and divisive style of governing.
During the campaign, Biden was endorsed by former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, former Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, former Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, and Cindy McCain, the widow of the 2008 Republican nominee for president, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Additional report by Yahoo News
