Joe Biden is the senior United States Senator from Delaware. He is both the Democratic vice presidential nominee for the November 2008 presidential election and a candidate for re-election in the U.S. Senate.
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and lived there for ten years prior to moving to Delaware. He became an attorney in 1969 and was elected to a county council in 1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and became the fifth-youngest senator in U.S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002 and has served for the sixth-longest period among current senators.
Biden is a long-time member and current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. His strong advocacy helped bring about U.S. military assistance and intervention during the Bosnian War. He voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution, but later proposed resolutions to alter U.S. strategy there. He has served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee—dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties—and led creation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and Violence Against Women Act. He chaired the Judiciary Committee during the contentious U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.
Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008, both times dropping out early in the process. Barack Obama selected Biden to be the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 U.S. election. If elected, he will be the first Roman Catholic Vice President and the first Vice President from Delaware. (From Wikipedia)