Essay on Joe Biden

Who is Joe Biden? 

Joe Biden (full name Joseph Robinette Biden Jr) is the 46th president of the United States. He beat Donald Trump, after overcoming Bernie Sanders (Vermont senator) at the primary election, which ended in August. 

Biden was born in Scranton (Pennsylvania) the 20th November 1942 from a working-class family of Irish descendants and he achieved a degree in Political Science at Newark University in 1965. Consequently, he specialised in Law at Syracuse University and he became a lawyer in 1969. After a brief career as a lawyer, he decided to undertake politics. He became not only the fifth-youngest senator of the United States but also the long-lived senator of Delaware and considered as one of the most brilliant.  

During his politic career, Joe Biden runs for the presidency three times. The first time, in 1988, he was beaten at the primary by Michael Dukakis. He had the same fate in 2008 when he was overcome by Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2020, Joe Biden won the election, with Kamala Harris, a progressist attorney, who is the first vice-president with Indian and Afro-American origins.

Biden’s life was signed by family tragedies such as the death of his wife and daughter because of a car accident in 1972 and, the death of his son Beau due to brain cancer. This last event was the cause of postponing his candidacy after 4 years.

Political orientation 

Biden, owing to his family tragedies, was a strong supporter of public health, a priority in Obama’s administration, who introduced the Affordable Care Act intending to extend the medical cover to people who were not able to afford it. Biden was also very appreciated by the Afro-American community for his battles in favour of ethnic-minority rights. Biden, during Obama’s presidency, tried to improve the economy in the States and the occupation rate after the economic crisis in 2008. 

The presidential plane for the 2020 election was focused on: improving the minimum wage to 15 dollars; blocking the restrictions on trade union rights; creating 10 million work occupation in a sustainable economy. For helping youths, instead, Biden promised to reduce student loan debt throughout some concessions. Furthermore, he will sign again the Paris Agreement for climate change, which committed the members to maintain an increase of the terrestrial temperature to no more than 2 degrees (Celsius) comparing to the pre-industrial temperature. 

The electoral campaign 

During the primaries, Biden was favoured since the beginning; however, he struggled in Iowa and the New Hampshire initially. He further climbed thanks to the results obtained in South Carolina and, he consolidated his victory after having the support from other candidates such as Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. Eventually, he won in 10 out of 14 States on the Super Tuesday.

Joe Biden candidacy was officialised in August during a Democratic convention, where he achieved a nomination. Since then, he was ahead of Trump due to how the ex-president managed George Floyd death and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Differently from Trump, Joe Biden – who defined the election a battle for “America’s soul”, showed himself as more sensitive regarding the manifestation’s revindications, proposing to cut funds to the police and, as a consequence, to reform it. Concerning the pandemic, Joe Biden formulated several proposals based on expert recommendations. For instance, he proposed to make tests accessible to the whole population and, similarly, for a vaccine.