After one of the most hectic elections in the American history followed by claims of the elections being rigged and culminating in the siege of the Capitol, the inauguration of Joseph Robinette Biden, the 46^th president of the United States of America, took place in the U.S. Capital on 20^th January. Biden’s win ended the 4-year long presidency of Donald Trump and started a new era in American politics.

 New president – a political veteran and a trailblazer

Majoring in history and political science and obtaining a law degree, Joe Biden started his career with a strong background. https://joebiden.com/joes-story/. He has been part of the U.S. political scene since 1973. His first position was as a Delaware senator in the U.S. Senate and he remained in office till 2009. During his time in the Senate, Biden worked in foreign relations and advocated woman’s and environmental rights in years when these topics were still taboo. Biden unsuccessfully campaigned for President in 1988 and 2008. However, his qualities as a politician were recognized by Barrack Obama in 2009 when Biden became the 47^th vice president and joined office alongside the first Afro-American president of the USA for the next 8 years. In January 2017 at the end of their office in the White House, the Obama’s and Biden’s companionship was crowned in a very emotional way when Obama awarded Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States. Nevertheless, this was not the end of Biden’s political career. The success in his 2020 elections confirmed the saying that the third time is the charm so Biden became President at the age of 78 which makes him the oldest president to enter office. Another unusual thing about his presidency is that he won the elections joining forces with Kamala Harris who is the first woman and the first person of Asian-African descent to be elected as Vice President. With so many years of being in politics, Biden can truly be called a veteran of politics who wisely recognizes the importance of new political and social trends.

“For your faith in fellow Americans, for your love of country and for your lifetime of service that will endure through generations” – part of Obama’s speech while awarding Biden with the Medal of Freedom

Joe’s vision

Some of the most prominent items of Biden’s plan are: providing affordable healthcare to every American, beating COVID-19 with the help public health professionals, start a clean energy revolution by minimizing the emission of greenhouse gases and encouraging other countries to join, making higher education more accessible to the middle class by doubling the maximum of Pell grants. Biden pledges to be the president who “seeks not to divide, but to unify” and that can be seen through his plans to aid minority groups in America. More about Joe’s plans can be seen on his official website: https://joebiden.com/joes-vision/

A commited husband, father and grandfather

Biden is a man to whom family comes first as can be seen in his Instagram bio: “husband to drbiden, proud father and grandfather”. Biden’s personal life was filled with love and horrible tragedies. A few weeks after he was elected in the U.S. Senate in 1972, Biden’s wife Neilia and daughter Naomi tragically died in a car accident and his sons Beau and Hunter were critically injured. Biden was sworn into the Senate in a hospital by his sons’ bedsides. Joe, being a single father, commuted every day from Wilmington to Washington by train to be with his sons when they wake up in the morning and tuck them into bed every night. Biden later married Jill Jacobs with whom he has a daughter Ashley Blazer. Jill can be seen by Joe’s side at every important moment in his life supporting and loving him. In 2015 another tragedy struck the Biden family when Biden’s eldest son Beau died of cancer. Biden’s personal connection with cancer made ending cancer as we know it his life mission. The Obama family and Biden family are very close, and Joe and Barrack call each other brother. Their “bromance” was all over the internet and is still today a symbol of friendship for life.

Although Joe Biden’s presidency had a rough start, his experience and plans give us hope of a better future of the United States. Regarding U.S.A’s power, Biden’s leadership will surely have a positive impact on the whole world as some of his first activities show, such as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement on his first working day as US President.

Written by Stela Šegović