Joe Biden accomplishments

List of Joe Biden’s accomplishments — including his Senate accomplishments, legislative accomplishments, accomplishments as Vice President, and other major accomplishments:
1960: “[O]ne of the best pass receivers I had in 16 years as a coach.” — E. John Walsh, football coach at Archmere Academy.

1965: Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware in Newark, with a double major in history and political science and a minor in English.

1968: Graduated from Syracuse University College of Law with a law degree.

1969: Admitted to the Delaware bar.

1970-72: Served on New Castle County Council.

1972-77: Single parent to two sons, commuting on Amtrak 75 minutes each way between his home in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, D.C.

Joe Biden accomplishments as U.S. Senator

1973-2009: U.S. Senator from Delaware, initially focussing on consumer protection, environmental issues, government accountability, and arms control. In his 6 terms as a senator, Joe Biden sponsored or co-sponsored 348 pieces of legislation that became law.

1981-97: Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years.

1986: Introduced his Global Climate Protection Act, one of the first bills aimed at addressing climate change.

1990s: Authored every major piece of crime legislation this decade, including the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

1992-1995: Strongly guided Balkans policy in the mid-1990s during the Bosnian War, producing a successful NATO peacekeeping effort.

1994: Spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act, criminalizing violence against women and creating unprecedented resources for survivors of assault, which was followed by a 64% drop in domestic violence from 1993 to 2010.

1997-2009: Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, leading legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.

1997: Led the Senate to approve ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

1998: Led the Senate to approve NATO enlargement and passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.

1999: Co-sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milošević over Yugoslav actions in Kosovo.

2000: Sponsored the Kids 2000 Act, establishing a public-private partnership to provide computer centers, teachers, Internet access, and technical training to young people, particularly low-income and at-risk youth.

Vice President Joe Biden talks with staff

Joe Biden accomplishments as Vice President

2009-2017: Vice President of the United States.

2009: Oversaw and implemented the $840 billion stimulus package in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to end the Great Recession which began under President George W. Bush.

2009: Chaired the Middle Class Working Families Task Force.

2010: Fought for Congressional approval of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which inserted accountability into the financial sector and fortified the stability of the financial system.

2011: Led negotiations between Congress and the White House in resolving federal spending levels for the rest of the year and avoiding a government shutdown. Negotiated with Mitch McConnell to agree on the deficit-reducing Budget Control Act of 2011.

2012: Headed the Gun Violence Task Force in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

2012: Negotiated a deal with Mitch McConnell that led to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, averting a fiscal cliff and implementing the largest middle-class tax cut in history.

2014: Co-chaired White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

2014: Served as the Obama administration’s emissary to Eastern European governments like Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine worried over Vladimir Putin’s ambitions in the region.

Obama White House Archives: Vice President Joe Biden

Joe Biden accomplishments as President

2020: Elected President, defeating Donald Trump in the Electoral College 306 to 232, with a popular vote margin of more than 7 million votes.

2021: Directed USA to rejoin Paris Climate Agreement.

2021: Halted the Keystone XL pipeline.

2021: Repealed Trump’s travel bans.

2021: Repealed Trump’s transgender military ban.

2021: Ordered an additional 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

2021: Pledged $4 billion to COVAX global vaccine alliance.

2021: Signed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. It includes:

  • Small business support.
  • $1,400 per person checks.
  • Increases to the Child Tax Credit, Earned-Income Tax Credit, and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credits.
  • $300 extended unemployment insurance.
  • Lower health insurance premiums for lower- and middle-income families enrolled in health insurance marketplaces.

2021: Canceled $1.5 billion in student debt for victims of for-profit school fraud.

2021: Ended the War in Afghanistan after 20 years.

2021: Negotiated and signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. It includes:

  • $110 billion for roads, bridges, and major projects
  • $73 billion for power infrastructure
  • $66 billion for passenger and freight rail
  • $65 billion for broadband
  • $55 billion for clean drinking water
  • $50 billion for water resilience and Western water storage
  • $39 billion for public transit
  • $25 billion for airports
  • $21 billion for removal of pollution from water and soil
  • $17 billion for port infrastructure
  • $7.5 billion for electric vehicles
  • $7.5 billion for zero/low emission busses and ferries
  • $1 billion for the revitalization of communities

2021: U.S. gross domestic product grew at 5.7 percent for the year, the strongest economic growth in 37 years.

2021: Favorability of the United States improved sharply around the world.

2022: Approved a U.S. special forces mission that killed ISIS leader Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

2022: Nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first Black woman in history to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

2022: Signed the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

2022: Led a massive international response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

2022: Signed the first major gun safety legislation passed by Congress in nearly 30 years.

2022: Ordered the drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and the world’s most wanted terrorist.

2022: Unemployment falls to 3.5 percent, matching the lowest rate in 50 years.

2022: Signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, providing $52.7 billion for chip manufacturing and research and $170 billion for scientific research, innovation, and space exploration.

2022: Signed ratification documents approving NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, strengthening the NATO alliance and reinforcing democracy in the face of Russian brutality against Ukraine.

2022: Signed PACT Act strengthening health care and benefits for America’s veterans and their survivors.

2022: Signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. It includes $369 billion to provide energy security, fight climate change, and create clean domestic manufacturing jobs. It also lowers healthcare costs by extending Affordable Care Act subsidies for 3 years, expanding vaccine coverage, and reforming prescription drug pricing. The act also raises revenue by establishing a 15% corporate minimum tax on companies with at least $1 billion in profits. Through revenue and savings, the Inflation Reduction Act reduces the deficit by a net $305 billion dollars.

2022: Less than 2 years into his presidency, Biden is already one of the most legislatively successful presidents of the modern era.

2022: Thanks to a Biden executive order, hearing aids become available over the counter without a prescription, lowering costs by up to $3,000 per pair for 30 million Americans.

2022: Led the Democratic Party to the best midterm election performance of either party since 1934.

2022: Signed legislation to avoid a potentially catastrophic rail strike after brokering a deal approved by 8 of 12 railway unions, raising workers’ wages by 24%, increasing health care benefits, and preserving two-person crews.

2022: Approved a deal to bring WNBA star Brittney Griner home after 10 months of wrongful detention in Russia.

2022: Signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring federal recognition of marriage regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin, ten years after publicly declaring his support of same-sex marriage on Meet the Press.

2023: Forced congressional Republicans to swear off Medicare and Social Security cuts on live television while delivering his State of the Union Address.
2023: Took a 10-hour train trip, each way, through war-torn Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and reconfirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s criminal aggression.

2023: Signed an executive order greatly expanding access to long-term care and child care.

2023: Mounted a major diplomatic effort that got Turkey to agree to admit Sweden into NATO, making that alliance stronger than it has ever been.

2023: Invested more than $42 billion in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program to bring affordable, high-speed internet access to the entire country.

2023: Announced $39 billion in student debt relief for 804,000 borrowers.2023: 13.68 million jobs created during first 30 months — compared to 5.39 million jobs during Trump’s first 30 months and 6.57 million during Obama’s first 30 months.

2023: Secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully detained Americans around the world since taking office.

2023: Created the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

2023: First president to join a picket line with striking union members.

For more information:

The White House: The Biden-Harris Record

JoeBiden.com

FactCheck.org: Biden’s NumbersWikipedia: Joe Biden