30 Pictures That Define Joe Biden's Career

Sen. Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, January 1973.

Biden points out a friend in the crowd at the Padua Academy to then-president Jimmy Carter during a fundraiser, Feb. 20, 1978.

From left: Sens. Biden, Charles Percy, Edward Zorinsky, and Secretary of State designate George Shultz, during Shultz's confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, July 1, 1982.

Biden holds his daughter, Ashley, while taking a reenacted oath of office from Vice President George H.W. Bush, as his sons Beau (foreground) and Hunter hold the Bible, Jan. 3, 1985.

Democratic presidential candidate Biden walks into the center of picketers against his plans to block the confirmation of nominated Supreme Court justice Robert Bork, July 11, 1987, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Biden sits in his office after undergoing operations for two near-fatal brain aneurysms and a lung embolism, 1989.

Sen. Biden holds up the book Order and Law by Charles Fried during the Clarence Thomas hearings, Sept. 20, 1991.

Professor Anita Hill is sworn in before testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court nomination, Oct. 11, 1991. Hill testified before Biden and others on her charges of alleged sexual harassment by Judge Thomas. Critics continue to blast Biden's handling of the hearings.

Biden welcomes Judge Clarence Thomas to the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 10, 1991.

Biden whispers to Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg shortly before his committee began Ginsburg's confirmation hearing for the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court, July 20, 1993.

Attorney General nominee William Barr is flanked by Biden (left) and Patrick Leahy, prior to Barr’s nomination hearing Nov. 12, 1991, to join the administration of George H.W. Bush.

Biden stands behind a flag as Barbara Boxer (second from right) along with other women members of Congress meet reporters to discuss the Violence Against Women Act, Feb. 24, 1993.

Sens. Biden and Jesse Helms speak at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on chemical weapons, April 15, 1997.

President George W. Bush answers reporters' questions prior to a bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders, including Biden, at the White House, July 25, 2001.

Sen. Barack Obama talks with Biden during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 11, 2005, in Washington, DC. The committee was conducting hearings on the nomination of John Bolton to be the ambassador to the United Nations.

Democratic presidential hopeful Biden holds his wife, Jill, as they stand in a hallway awaiting his introduction for a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, Jan. 3, 2008.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Biden debates Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Oct. 2, 2008.

Vice presidential nominee Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Obama enjoy ice cream cones as they speak with local residents in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, Aug. 29, 2008.

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President–elect Biden wave to their supporters after Obama gave his victory speech during an election night gathering, Nov. 4, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois.

President-elect Obama, flanked by Vice President–elect Biden and Arne Duncan, the nominee for education secretary, takes a question from a student at a school in Chicago, Dec. 16, 2008.

Vice President Biden dances with his wife Jill at the Commander-In-Chief's Inaugural Ball, Jan. 20, 2009, in Washington, DC.

Vice President Biden extends his hand to congratulate Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following her ceremonial swearing-in at the State Department, Feb. 2, 2009.

Vice President Biden points to President Obama, who delivers his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Jan. 12, 2016.

Biden speaks closely with Stephanie Carter as her husband, Ash Carter, not pictured, delivers his acceptance speech as the new secretary of defense, Feb. 17, 2015. In 2019, Stephanie Carter described this picture as "misleading" in its implication of inappropriate contact between Biden and herself. She described Biden as a friend who had been supporting her as she was nervous.

Biden talks with his son Beau Biden, a US Army captain, at Camp Victory outside Baghdad, July 4, 2009.

President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton, and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011, in Washington, DC.

Vice President Biden places his hand on his heart as the casket of his son is carried into the church before a funeral mass for former Delaware attorney general Beau Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, June 6, 2015.

President Obama awards Vice President Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington, DC, Jan. 12, 2017.

A man holds "Run Joe Run" signs ahead of an appearance by former vice president Joe Biden in Boston, April 18, 2019.

Biden waves to supporters April 5, 2019, in Washington, DC.