Joe Biden (1942-), a man who spent nearly a half-century in public service as a senator and vice president, and who endured profound family loss, became the 46 th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. Biden’s presidency followed a highly contentious election carried out during a pandemic, a national reckoning over racial injustice and a deepening of political divisiveness in the country. Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden won over 81 million popular votes—the most in U.S. presidential election history—while his opponent, President Donald Trump , won more than 74 million. Just over a week before Biden’s inauguration, a mob of extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol in the name of Trump, who had made baseless claims that he had won the 2020 election. Five people, including one police officer, died following the insurrection and the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for a second time. Biden t...