Vice presidency of Joe Biden in the context of 2010 United States elections

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A Democratic party member, he represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009 and was the 47th vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 and the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. He was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and the U.S. Senate in 1972. As a senator, Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. He drafted and led passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Violence Against Women Act. Biden also oversaw six U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including contentious hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991 but voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. Biden ran unsuccessfully for the 1988 and 2008 Democratic presidential nominations. In 2008, Obama chose him as his running mate, and Biden was a close counselor to Obama as vice president. In the 2020 presidential election, Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate, and they defeated Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, member of the Democratic Party, had previously served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, took office after defeating the Republican incumbent president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by Ronald Reagan. Alongside Biden's presidency, the Democratic Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 117th U.S. Congress following the 2020 elections, thereby attained an overall federal government trifecta. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.

Day one actions of his presidency included restoring U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and halting funding for the Mexico–United States border wall. On his second day, he issued a series of executive orders to reduce the impact of COVID-19, including invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950, and set an early goal of achieving one hundred million COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States in his first 100 days. The first major legislation signed into law by Biden was the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that temporarily established expanded unemployment insurance and sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans in response to continued economic pressure from COVID-19. He signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a ten-year plan brokered by Biden alongside Democrats and Republicans in Congress to invest in American roads, bridges, public transit, ports and broadband access.

Mike Pence served as the 48th vice president of the United States during the first presidency of Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, to January 20, 2021. Pence, a member of the Republican Party who previously served as the Governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, was selected as Trump's running mate and took office following their electoral college victory in the 2016 presidential election over Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. The defining moment of Pence's vice presidency was his refusal to obey Trump's orders to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election during the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Pence's vice presidency was not as influential in day-to-day governance as his three predecessors, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, and Joe Biden. Alongside Pence's vice presidency, the Republican Party also held their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 115th U.S. Congress following the 2016 elections, attained an overall federal government trifecta. During Pence's tenure as vice president, he chaired the National Space Council and the White House Coronavirus Task Force.