page_title: Joe Biden
section_title: 2020 presidential election
hierarchical_section_title: Joe Biden / 2020 presidential election
caption_attribution_description: Former Vice President Joe Biden's kickoff rally for his 2020 Presidential campaign
context_page_description: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., known as Joe Biden is an American politician. Biden was the 47th Vice President of the United States from 2009 through 2017 during the Barack Obama presidency. Biden is the 2020 Democratic nominee. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is from Wilmington, Delaware. Before becoming Vice President, he was a U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009. He had served in the Senate longer than any other Vice President.
  He tried to become the Democratic candidate for President in 1988 and 2008, but did not win. He ran again in 2020. During the 2008 election, then-Senator Barack Obama picked him to be his running mate. He is a Roman Catholic. Biden has received several awards. He has five honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater and one from where he has taught law. He has also earned the "Best of Congress Award" and an award from the Pakistani government.
  After finishing his second term as vice president, Biden began working at the University of Pennsylvania. On April 25, 2019, Biden launched his presidential campaign for the 2020 election.
context_section_description: During a tour of the U.S. Senate with reporters before leaving office, on December 5, 2016, Biden said that a presidential bid was possible in the 2020 presidential election, after leaving office as Vice President. If he were to run in 2020, Biden would be 77 years old on election day and 78 on Inauguration Day in 2021. While on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on December 7, in which he stated "never say never" about running for President in 2020, while also admitting he did not see a scenario in which he would run for office again. On January 13, 2017, exactly one week before Donald Trump took office, that he would not run. However, four days later, on January 17, he took the statement back, saying "I'll run if I can walk."
  Biden was mentioned by many news media as a potential candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination. In March 2019, he said he may run. 
  He formally launched his campaign on April 25, 2019.
  In April 2020, Biden became the only candidate in the primary making him the presumptive nominee for the nomination. At first, he lost the first three primary contests to Senator Bernie Sanders. After winning the South Carolina primary, he gained traction and won most of the Super Tuesday races. 
  Biden promised when elected he would protect Roe v. Wade decision, create a public option for health insurance, decriminalization of recreational cannabis, passing the Equality Act, free community college, and a $1.7 trillion climate plan supporting the Green New Deal. He supports regulation instead of a complete ban on fracking.
  In early 2020, Biden promised he would pick a woman as his running mate. In August 2020, he picked California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.
caption: Biden at his first presidential campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 2019
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