Since the mid-twentieth century and following the 25th Amendment (1967) the office of the US vicepresident has changed significantly. Although the formal powers have remained the same — and largely a formality — the vice-president’s importance and influence has increased remarkably, and the kind of politicians that fill the office are mostly political heavyweights — Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Joe Biden, to name but some. Dick Cheney (2001–09) was regarded as having been the most powerful and consequential vice-president ever.
Joe Biden was born on 20 November 1942, so he was 66 a few days after he was elected vice-president. That makes him 6 years older than Dick Cheney was when he was elected vicepresident in 2000 and the sixth oldest vice-president of the 47 individuals who have held the office. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, into an Irish Catholic family and, while young Joe was growing up, his father was first unemployed and then a used-car salesman in Wilmington, Delaware.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
