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Childhood -

Joe Biden was born in 1942 to Catholic parents. He's pictured here with his mother Catherine, who lived to be 94 years old.

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Birthplace - He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the same town where 'The Office' is set!

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Speech disorder - Biden used to suffer from a stammer when he was younger. Children at school would call him "bye-bye" when he tried to say his last name.

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Speech disorder - He says that he used to recite poems in front of the mirror to train his speech and the condition is now massively improved.

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Neilia Hunter Biden -

Biden married his first wife, Neilia, in 1966. They had three children, Beau, Robert, and Naomi.

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Campaign for senator -

In December of 1972, Biden won his race to become senator of Delaware. He was 29 years old at the time, making him one of the youngest senators in history.

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The first tragedy - Shortly after, he suffered a terrible tragedy. Neilia was driving with the children when they got into a serious crash. His wife and two-year-old daughter were killed, and his two sons injured.

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Sworn in at the hospital -

He considered resigning to care for his sons, but he was convinced not to as they were both predicted to make a full recovery. He was sworn into office in his son's hospital room.

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Life in politics -

Biden spent several hours a day commuting to Washington for work so that he could see his sons every evening. He admits he had lost his appetite for politics and life itself at this point.

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Finding Jill - Biden was a single father for five years until his brother set him up on a blind date with Jill Jacobs. The two were married in 1977.

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The First Lady - Jill Biden is a teacher which has informed her priorities as First Lady. In a speech Biden said, “Just think of your favorite educator who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself, that’s the kind of First Lady Jill will be.”

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First presidential campaign -

Joe Biden had already run for president twice. His first campaign was in 1987, but he decided to step down when several conflicts arose.

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First presidential campaign -

He was accused of plagiarism after he allegedly forgot to attribute the content of one of his speeches to the correct source. This became a huge scandal that impacted his campaign.

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The Supreme Court -

At the same time, he was serving as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and desperately trying to keep a conservative judge proposed by President Ronald Reagan off the Supreme Court. He decided to bow out of the presidential race and focus his efforts on one task.

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Medical issues -

The Senate successfully kept the judge off the Supreme Court, so his choice was vindicated. However, within a few months he was in serious trouble with his health.

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Brain aneurysm -

In 1988, Biden suddenly collapsed and was taken to hospital. It was discovered that he had a brain aneurysm and he quickly underwent brain surgery to remove it.

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Recovery and refocus -

He had a second aneurysm in April that year, but luckily he recovered. He refocused on his political career and served as a senator for the next two decades.

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The Violence Against Women Act -

One of his proudest achievements was his work on the Violence Against Women Act. The resulting federal law was groundbreaking in its acknowledgement of the seriousness of domestic abuse.

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Second presidential campaign - Biden ran for president again in 2008, but dropped out to become the running mate of future president Barack Obama.

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The White House bromance - Biden and Obama became a presidential dream team when Obama was elected in 2008.

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Biden and Obama - Their strong friendship and partnership was well documented throughout their two terms in the White House.

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Family politics -

Joe Biden wasn't the only success story in his family. His eldest son Beau, who survived the car accident decades earlier, grew up to be a major in the US Army, and the Attorney General of Delaware.

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A second tragedy -

In another blow to the Biden family, Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.

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Cancer Moonshot - In his final address as president, Barack Obama tasked Biden with heading up a national mission to eradicate cancer.

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Difficult decisions -

Despite his age and his previous failed presidential campaigns, Biden decided to run for president again. His decision was motivated by some of the worrying events he observed during Donald Trump's presidency.

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Charlottesville, 2017 -

His family and advisors say it was the violent clash in Charlottesville that really pushed him to action. A protest turned violent when a white nationalist drove his car into the crowd, resulting in the death of a young woman.

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Biden and Harris - On August 11, 2020, he named Kamala Harris as his running mate. Three months later they both made history.

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Oldest president in history - Joe Biden is the oldest candidate to be elected president. At the time of his inauguration he was 78 years old.

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Presidential pets -

Many were happy to know that dogs were back at the White House again. Biden and his wife have two German Shepherds called Champ (pictured) and Major (a rescue dog). But unfortunately after a biting incident involving Major, both dogs had to move out.

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Most votes ever -

Biden received the most votes of any US president in history, more than 76 million.

Sources: (The New York Times) (Independent) (Time) (PBS)

See also: Pets of presidents: fun facts and odd stories

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