Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. built a long career in U.S. public service, rising from local government in Delaware to nearly five decades in federal office. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1942, he earned degrees in history, political science, and law before serving on the New Castle County Council. He became a U.S. Senator for Delaware in 1973, held the vice presidency under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, and was elected the 46th President of the United States in 2020, serving from January 20, 2021 until January 20, 2025.

Throughout his career, Biden has focused on foreign policy, justice, and working-class issues.

At the intersection of his presidency and disclosure discourse, he holds the ultimate authority over declassification of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) records and secret programs, and he has signed major laws that include UAP-related stipulations.

He played a central role in signing U.S. laws that expanded congressionally mandated transparency around UAP, particularly through National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs). Under his presidency, the FY 2023 NDAA created new protections for whistleblowers, required review of government non-disclosure agreements relating to UAP, and expanded the mandate of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to investigate historical and ongoing UAP encounters. Sections of the FY 2024 NDAA included a “records collection” provision under which the Archivist of the United States is charged with gathering UAP-related documents across government agencies. Biden signed that bill into law on December 22, 2023.

Although several stronger disclosure-bill proposals were pared back in legislative negotiations, the laws passed still establish formal, lasting obligations on agencies to identify, preserve, and in some cases release UAP records when consistent with national security concerns. Biden’s public posture toward UAP has often been cautious. He has sometimes been dismissive in conversation; for example, when asked what he made of a former president’s remarks about UAP, he replied, “I would ask him again,” before walking away. At other times he has addressed specific incidents—such as a series of unidentified air objects over North America in early 2023—to assert that actions taken (including shoot-downs) followed established aerospace and military protocols.

The relevance of Biden in disclosure discussions lies in both his legal actions and decision-making prerogatives. Through legislation he enacted, he has imposed requirements for review of UAP programs, dossier collection, whistleblower protections, and limited declassification paths. By virtue of the presidency, he also controls what remains classified, determining how compliance with disclosure-oriented laws plays out in practice. That combination places him at the confluence of political power, national security, and public transparency debates.