约瑟夫·罗宾内特·“乔”·拜登(Joseph Robinette“Joe”Biden，Jr)1942年出生于美国一个中产阶级家庭，美国特拉华州的律师和政治家，美国现任副总统，前任特拉华州资深联邦参议员，拜登毕业于美国著名的雪城大学，并于1972年当选美国参议员，是美国历史上排名第五的最年轻的参议员。也是特拉华州在任时间最长的参议员(1973-2009年)。他曾于1988年和2008年两度竞选美国总统，均告失败，并于2008年和2012年两度作为奥巴马的竞选搭档。

　　拜登在耶鲁讲述了自己的故事：

　　30岁成为全美第二年轻的参议员，6个月后妻女遭遇致命车祸，妻女死亡，两个儿子身受重伤。而他如何在苦难中寻找救赎，实现抱负?演讲后的半个月，他的一个儿子又死于脑瘤

　　【Wikipedia Intro】

　　Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is the 47th and current VicePresident of the United States, jointly elected twice with President Barack Obama, and in officesince 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Biden represented Delaware as a United StatesSenator from 1973 until assuming the office of Vice President in 2009.

　　Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1942, and lived there for ten years before moving toDelaware. He became an attorney in 1969, and was elected to the New Castle County council in1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972, and became the sixth-youngest senator inU.S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, and was the fourth most senior senator atthe time of his resignation to assume the Vice Presidency in 2009. Biden was a long-time memberand former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. His advocacy helped bring about U.S.military assistance and intervention during the Bosnian War. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991. Hevoted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, but later proposed resolutions to alter U.S.strategy there. He has also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing withissues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties, and led the legislative efforts forcreation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and the Violence Against WomenAct. He chaired the Judiciary Committee during the contentious U.S. Supreme Court nominationsof Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.

　　Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008, both timesdropping out early in the race. Obama selected Biden to be the Democratic Party nominee for VicePresident in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, which they won. Biden is the first Roman Catholic,and the first Delawarean, to become Vice President of the United States.

　　As Vice President, Biden has been involved in Obama's decision-making process and held theoversight role for infrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package aimed atcounteracting the Great Recession. His ability to negotiate with Congressional Republicans played akey role in bringing about the bipartisan deals that resulted in the Tax Relief, UnemploymentInsurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 that resolved a taxation deadlock, theBudget Control Act of 2011 that resolved that year's debt ceiling crisis, and the American TaxpayerRelief Act of 2012 that addressed the impending "fiscal cliff". Obama and Biden were re-elected in2012, since which time Biden has publicly considered running to succeed Obama as president in2016.

　　Throughout his career, Biden's political style has combined appeal to middle and working classvoters with a penchant for gaffes.

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（编辑：何莹莹）