Joe Biden has been a fixture of American politics for four decades, but the President’s right-hand man remains largely unknown to many.
Vice President Biden held a seat in the Senate for more than three decades, served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and was a long-time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
President Obama has imparted significant responsibility on Biden since he took office in 2004, and in his most recently assigned role, Vice President Biden will head the development of a new set of gun-control proposals in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
It remains to be seen if this will be Biden’s most lasting legacy.
Jules Witcover is a veteran political reporter and the author of the 2010 biography “Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption.”