John Gaines

Vpotus - the Life and Times of Vice President Joe Biden John Gaines

At precisely 9:18 local time in the evening of November 4, 2008 John McCain climbed behind a podium set up on the lawn of the Biltmore Squaw Peak in Phoenix, Arizona, the same lawn where he had wed Cindy Lou Hensley 24 years before, and conceded the race for president of the United States to his Democratic opponents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. An historic American political victory had been achieved. But for Joe Biden it was not his first victory of the night or even his most historic. Four hours earlier, as soon as the polls closed in his home state of Delaware, Joe Biden had been elected to his seventh term as United States Senator with just under 65% of the vote. No American so young had ever won seven senatorial elections. Biden would delay his resignation from the Senate until after being officially sworn in on January 6, 2009. He cast the last of more than 10,000 votes from the Capitol floor - he had been the youngest Senator ever to reach that milestone - and surrendered his seat to assume the responsibilities as the 47th Vice-President of the United States, leaving the centerpiece of his life behind. No Delawarean had ever advanced so far onto the national stage. Find out more about the vice president in this mini biography (it is app. 10,000 words).