Joe Biden Biography

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Barack Obama has named his running mate for the presidential election campaign. That running mate is Joe Biden, a senator from Delaware.

Joseph Biden Jr. was born on Nov. 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pa. His family moved to Delaware when he was 10, and Biden has lived there ever since.

A degree in history and political science prepared him well for a law career, and he graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Two years before that, he had married Neilia Hunter. The couple had three children.

Biden decided to run for Congress in 1972. He won election to the Senate that year, but his elation was overshadowed by extreme tragedy, as his wife and infant daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car crash that also severely injured his two sons, Joe and Robert. Biden was sworn into office at the boys' bedside in the hospital.

Both boys eventually recovered fully from their injuries, and Biden began his long career in the U.S. Senate. Among the highlights of his career are stints as Chairman of both the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees.

Biden remarried, to Jill Jacobs, in 1977. The couple have one child together, Ashley.

Biden has run for president himself, twice, in 1988 and in 2008.