Talk:Joe Biden

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Joe Biden article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the subject of the article.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help. Assume good faith Be polite and avoid personal attacks Be welcoming to newcomers Seek dispute resolution if needed Article policies Neutral point of view No original research Verifiability

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives (index): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21Auto-archiving period: 21 days

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (center, color, defense, realize, traveled) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Joe Biden was one of the Social sciences and society good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones Date Process Result September 18, 2008 Good article nominee Not listed September 19, 2008 Good article nominee Listed April 22, 2020 Good article reassessment Delisted June 28, 2020 Good article reassessment Delisted October 4, 2020 Good article nominee Not listed A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on August 23, 2008. Current status: Delisted good article

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard. This page is about a politician who is running for office or has recently run for office, is in office and campaigning for re-election, or is involved in some current political conflict or controversy. For that reason, this article is at increased risk of biased editing, talk-page trolling, and simple vandalism. If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

This  level-5 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

Biography: Politics and Government Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation. This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as Top-importance). U.S. Congress High‑importance United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject U.S. Congress, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United States Congress on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. This article is about one (or many) Person(s). United States: Delaware / Presidential elections / Government Top‑importance United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Delaware portal This article is supported by WikiProject Delaware (assessed as High-importance). This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. presidential elections (assessed as Mid-importance). This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. Government (assessed as Top-importance). Presidents of the United States: Donald Trump Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Presidents of the United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Presidents of the United States on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the importance scale. This article is supported by the Donald Trump task force. Pennsylvania Mid‑importance Pennsylvania portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Pennsylvania, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Pennsylvania on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. Politics: American High‑importance Politics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. This article is supported by American politics task force (assessed as Top-importance). College football Bottom‑importance College football portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject College football, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of college football on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Bottom This article has been rated as Bottom-importance on the project's importance scale. Science Policy High‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Science Policy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Science policy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. High This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale. Barack Obama (inactive) This article is within the scope of WikiProject Barack Obama, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.

Warning: active arbitration remedies The contentious topics procedure applies to this article. This article is related to post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people, which is a contentious topic. Furthermore, the following rules apply when editing this article: You must follow the bold-revert-discuss cycle if your change is reverted. You may not reinstate your edit until you post a talk page message discussing your edit and have waited 24 hours from the time of this talk page message Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator. Editors are advised to familiarise themselves with the contentious topics procedures before editing this page. Further information Enforcement procedures: Violations of any of these restrictions should be reported immediately to the arbitration enforcement noticeboard. Editors who are aware of this topic being designated a contentious topic and who violate these restrictions may be sanctioned by any uninvolved administrator, even on a first offense. The contentious topics procedure can be used against any editor who repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process. Contentious topics sanctions can include blocks, topic-bans, or other restrictions. If you are unsure if your edit is appropriate, discuss it here on this talk page first. Remember: When in doubt, don't revert!

Other banners: Top 25 reports; media mentions; pageviews; section size

Top 50 Report and Top 25 Report annual lists This article has been viewed enough times to make it onto the all-time Top 100 list. It has had 82 million views since December 2007. This article has been viewed enough times in a single year to make it into the Top 50 Report annual list. This happened in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 25 times. The weeks in which this happened: May 31 to June 6, 2015 January 8 to 14, 2017 March 1 to 7, 2020 August 9 to 15, 2020 August 16 to 22, 2020 August 30 to September 5, 2020 September 13 to 19, 2020 September 27 to October 3, 2020 October 4 to 10, 2020 October 11 to 17, 2020 October 18 to 24, 2020 October 25 to 31, 2020 November 1 to 7, 2020 November 8 to 14, 2020 November 15 to 21, 2020 January 3 to 9, 2021 January 17 to 23, 2021 January 24 to 30, 2021 April 9 to 15, 2023 June 23 to 29, 2024 June 30 to July 6, 2024 July 7 to 13, 2024 July 21 to 27, 2024 November 3 to 9, 2024 January 19 to 25, 2025 This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations: Brian Krebs (August 29, 2008). "Wikipedia Edits Forecast Vice Presidential Picks". The Washington Post. (none) (August 17, 2009). "The 50 most-viewed Wikipedia articles in 2009 and 2008". The Daily Telegraph. Maxwell Tani (May 15, 2015). "Meet the guy who has protected Hillary Clinton's Wikipedia page for almost a decade". Business Insider. Alex Pasternack (March 7, 2020). "How Wikipedia's volunteers became the web's best weapon against misinformation". Fast Company. Kalev Leetaru (April 29, 2020). "Biden vs. Kavanaugh: How the #MeToo Numbers Stack Up". Real Clear Politics. Mayank Aggarwal (July 16, 2021). "Nobody should trust Wikipedia, says man who invented Wikipedia". The Independent. Madeleine Spence (August 1, 2021). "Larry Sanger: 'I wouldn't trust Wikipedia — and I helped to invent it'". The Sunday Times. Jack Beresford (September 2, 2021). "Wikipedia 'War in Afghanistan' Article Describes It As a 'Taliban Victory'". Newsweek. Section sizes Section size for Joe Biden (68 sections) Section name Byte count Prose size (words) Header Total Header Total (Top) 10,630 10,630 521 521 Early life (1942–1965) 1,391 7,499 52 226 Home life 4,465 4,465 104 104 Sports and young adulthood 1,643 1,643 70 70 Marriages, law school, and early career (1966–1973) 4,242 23,042 182 862 Law practices 5,316 5,316 239 239 1972 U.S. Senate campaign in Delaware 1,866 1,866 146 146 Death of first wife and daughter 3,591 3,591 96 96 Second marriage 6,870 6,870 178 178 Teaching 1,157 1,157 21 21 U.S. Senate (1973–2009) 2,706 38,968 78 1,310 Senate activities 16,358 16,358 325 325 Brain surgeries 2,393 2,393 46 46 Senate Judiciary Committee 6,542 6,542 338 338 Senate Foreign Relations Committee 4,894 10,969 260 523 Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq 6,075 6,075 263 263 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns 44 15,269 0 570 1988 campaign 9,356 9,356 319 319 2008 campaign 5,869 5,869 251 251 2008 and 2012 vice presidential campaigns 49 24,342 0 718 2008 campaign 10,799 10,799 366 366 2012 campaign 13,494 13,494 352 352 Vice presidency (2009–2017) 115 36,991 0 696 First term (2009–2013) 23,522 23,522 466 466 Second term (2013–2017) 13,354 13,354 230 230 Post-vice presidency (2017–2021) 6,682 6,682 173 173 2020 presidential campaign 78 46,752 0 973 Speculation and announcement 3,492 3,492 89 89 Campaign 23,439 23,439 539 539 Presidential election and transition 19,743 19,743 345 345 Presidency (2021–2025) 119 188,643 0 5,967 Inauguration 6,239 6,239 144 144 First 100 days 12,861 12,861 411 411 Domestic policy 8,564 84,896 369 2,969 Economic policy 22,500 22,500 557 557 Judiciary 5,595 5,595 190 190 Infrastructure and climate 14,753 14,753 506 506 Immigration 13,069 13,069 460 460 Pardons and commutations 4,102 4,102 184 184 Pardons of family members and political figures 9,286 9,286 527 527 2022 elections 7,027 7,027 176 176 Foreign policy 7,657 61,187 229 1,877 Withdrawal from Afghanistan 11,238 11,238 377 377 Russian invasion of Ukraine 12,705 12,705 249 249 China affairs 11,045 11,045 389 389 Gaza war 14,418 14,418 521 521 NATO enlargement 4,124 4,124 112 112 Investigations 23 13,660 0 318 Retention of classified documents 5,051 5,051 164 164 Business activities 8,586 8,586 154 154 Age and health concerns 9,681 9,681 248 248 2024 presidential campaign 20,140 20,140 539 539 Post-presidency (2025–present) 5,766 8,485 224 339 Health 2,719 2,719 115 115 Political positions 31,314 31,314 750 750 Public image 10,562 22,585 360 796 Job approval 9,230 9,230 320 320 Media depictions 2,793 2,793 116 116 Assessments 8,480 8,480 417 417 See also 238 238 0 0 Notes 138 138 0 0 References 17 1,676 0 0 Citations 31 31 0 0 Works cited 1,628 1,628 0 0 Further reading 2,210 2,210 0 0 External links 119 10,681 0 324 Official 461 461 0 0 Other 10,101 10,101 324 324 Total 504,765 504,765 15,181 15,181

Current consensus

• v
• e

NOTE: It is recommended to link to this list in your edit summary when reverting, as:
[[Talk:Joe Biden#Current consensus|current consensus]] item [n]
To ensure you are viewing the current list, you may wish to purge this page.

01. In the lead section, mention that Biden is the oldest president. (RfC February 2021)

02. There is no consensus on including a subsection about gaffes. (RfC March 2021)

03. The infobox is shortened. (RfC February 2021)

04. The lead image is the official 2021 White House portrait. (January 2021, April 2021)

05. The lead image's caption is Official portrait, 2021. (April 2021)

06. In the lead sentence, use who is as opposed to serving as when referring to Biden as the president. (RfC July 2021)

07. In the lead section, do not mention Biden's building of a port to facilitate American aid to Palestinians. (RfC June 2024)

Additions to Page Suggestion

Hi, I would like to highlight that, after reviewing the article, I think it might be appropriate to mention his role in the 2006 Wikipedia Scandal(

• Early to mid-2006 – A series of U.S. Congressional staff edits to Wikipedia were revealed in the press. These mostly involved various political aides trying to whitewash Wikipedia biographies of several politicians by removing undesirable information (including pejorative statements quoted, or broken campaign promises), adding favorable information or "glowing" tributes, or by replacing articles in part or whole by staff-authored biographies. The staff of at least five politicians were implicated: Marty Meehan, Norm Coleman, Conrad Burns, Joe Biden and Gil Gutknecht. In a separate but similar incident the campaign manager for Cathy Cox, Morton Brilliant, resigned after being found to have added negative information to the Wikipedia entries of political opponents.)

Marco Kotze Araujo (talk) 20:11, 24 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Such an addition would require a reliable source. Do you have one? HiLo48 (talk) 22:45, 24 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@HiLo48 Yes, I do, this is mentioned AS QUOTED on Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia Controversies..... and accompanied by references. Marco Kotze Araujo (talk) 22:47, 24 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

First sentence

The first sentence looks like this:

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025.

I propose to tighten it up as follows:

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025.

I don't believe this would go against the letter or the spirit of point 6 of the "Current consensus" list at the top of this talk page. But to avoid any possibility of cutting across that list of consensus items, I'm proposing here, rather than just being bold.

It's common practice in formal writing to slice out redundant material, especially in conspicuous places like the first sentence of an article. In particular, it's redundant to refer to a president of the United States as an "American politician". Most of our articles about presidents, except for some of the BLP's, do not say "American politician", at least not in the first sentence.

In conversation, if someone asked me "Who is Joe Biden", I would answer, "He was the president of the United States from 2021 to 2025." I wouldn't say, "He was an American politician who was president of the United States from 2021 to 2025"; if I did my listener would wonder what was my problem. Phrasing that is too pompous and repetitive for conversation is equally unsuitable for writing. Bruce leverett (talk) 02:34, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel like 'was' is reserved for biographies of people who have died. --Onorem (talk) 02:38, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It is. See MOS:BLPTENSE. Joe Biden "is" until he dies. – Muboshgu (talk) 03:07, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, yuck. I concede that MOS:BLPTENSE must be followed, but all my objections still stand. I guess that's why I will continue to avoid editing BLP's. Bruce leverett (talk) 07:11, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

donald trump hyperlink is broken

There should be two, preceded by: Donald Trump and Succeeded by: Donald Trump ~2025-43720-01 (talk) 18:10, 29 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We only link the first occurrence in the infobox. The guideline is found at MOS:REPEATLINK. Favonian (talk) 18:20, 29 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]