New Castle County Council

After briefly serving as a public defender and working in corporate law, Biden quickly realized that he didn't wanna be a lawyer after all.

In 1970, he registered as a Democrat for the first time and ran for the fourth district seat on the New Castle County Council with a platform calling for more public housing, and he won.

Less than a year later, at just 29 years old, Biden made the bold decision to run for the United States Senate.

With a grassroots campaign run out of a tiny office and powered by family and friends, he pulled off a major upset, defeating a heavily favored Republican incumbent.