When Mr Obama picked Mr Biden as his running mate in 2008 for his successful White House campaign, he selected a man from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who understood and knew how to communicate with the working class voters that were kingmakers in the swing states. US President Joe Biden visiting Knock Shrine and Basilica in Mayo with Fr Richard Gibbons (Andrew Downes/Julien Behal/PA)US President Joe Biden arriving to address the Oireachtas Eireann, the Parliament of Ireland, at Leinster House (Liam McBurney/PA)US President Joe Biden walks with Sabina Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain, in Phoenix Park, Dublin, on day three of his visit to the island of Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA)He wasted no time in returning to the UK and Ireland after taking the keys to the Oval Office. US President Joe Biden embraces James Martin, who starred in the Oscar winning short film An Irish Goodbye, as he visits Ulster University in Belfast (Aaron Chown/PA)US President Joe Biden and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with camogie players at Farmleigh House, Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrive for a reception hosted by the King at Buckingham Palace (Markus Schreiber/AP)US President Joe Biden addresses US Air Force personnel at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk (Joe Giddens/PA)Queen Elizabeth II speaks to US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill at a reception at the Eden Project (Jack Hill/The Times/PA)Mr Biden had already forged important personal relations with British and Irish leaders during his spell as Mr Obama’s number two. Then prime minister Gordon Brown meets then US vice president Joe Biden (right) (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Britain’s then prime minister David Cameron greets then US vice president Joe Biden at the British Residence in Washington (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Joe Biden with other world leaders in Cornwall (Leon Neal/PA)The president met Pope Francis during the G7 summit in Italy. (Left to right) Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden attending the D-Day 80 International Ceremony at Omaha Beach, Normandy (Abaca Press/Alamy Stock/PA)US President Joe Biden (right) welcomes Pope Francis ahead of a working session on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Energy, Africa-Mediterranean, during the G7 leaders’ summit at the Borgo Egnazia resort, in Puglia, Apulia, Italy (Christopher Furlong/PA)
