Joe Biden

Joe Biden

The 36-year Democratic senator from Delaware was picked as Barack Obama's running mate after his own short-lived presidential bid this year (he made a previous unsuccessful run in 1988).

Biden has had long service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he currently chairs, and his pick as Obama's running mate was seen as a move to shore up an Obama weakness- a lack of foreign policy experience.

Biden is often mocked as long-winded and made a notable gaffe on the campaign trail recently, telling Katie Couric that Franklin Roosevelt went on TV to reassure the public after the stock market crashed in 1929 - which was before FDR was president and before TV. But he also is viewed as knowledgeable and articulate.

Birthdate: November 20, 1942

Birthplace: Scranton, Pa.

Hometown: New Castle, Del.

Home: Wilmington, Del.

Family: Wife Jill Tracy Jacobs; 3 children living, 1 deceased

Religion: Catholic

Current job: U.S. Senator from Delaware, elected 1972

Employment history: Adjunct Professor, Widener University School of Law, 1991 - present; private practice attorney, 1968 -1972

Education: University of Delaware; J.D., Syracuse University College of Law

Website: www.barackobama.com

Joe Biden stories from Star Tribune

• Hospitals, Democrats near deal on health care
  
  Key Senate Democrats and the White House are closing in on a deal with hospitals to help pay for President Barack Obama's proposed expansion of health coverage, at the same time they hope for a comprehensive agreement with Republicans on a bipartisan bill.
• Specter shift puts Dems near filibuster-proof mark
  
  Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate's defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities.
• 63 million TV viewers tuned in for the debate
  
• Palin vs. Biden: Polite yet pointed -- and no gaffes
• Analysis: A singular show of two styles
• Neither Palins nor Bidens are hurting
• Help him? or hurt him?
• Conservative Parker calls for Palin to go
• It's not what the candidates know; it's what they think
• Both tickets share personal stake in fate of Iraq war