Joe Biden has two brothers: James Brian Biden, usually called Jim, and Francis W. Biden, usually called Frank. They were two of the four children of Catherine Finnegan Biden and Joseph Biden Sr.; their siblings are Joe and their sister, Valerie Biden Owens. James has a documented role in Joe’s early political career and later became a focus of congressional scrutiny over family business dealings. Publicly available details about Francis are much more limited. Joe Biden pardoned both brothers on January 20, 2025, while stating that the pardons did not acknowledge wrongdoing or imply guilt.
Who are Joe Biden’s brothers?
Joe Biden was the oldest of four children. His siblings were Valerie, James and Francis. An archived White House biography identifies the family as having four children, while the Miller Center at the University of Virginia names the siblings as Valerie, James and Frank. A 2016 White House family statement gives the brothers’ fuller names as James Brian Biden and Francis W. Biden.
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| Brother | Documented public role or detail | How much is established in the cited accounts |
|---|---|---|
| James (Jim) Biden | Chief fundraiser for Joe Biden’s 1972 Senate campaign; later involved in business ventures and congressional scrutiny of Biden-family business dealings. | More extensive public reporting, including his own statements and a committee account of a 2018 payment. |
| Francis (Frank) Biden | Identified in a 2016 White House statement as one of Joe Biden’s younger brothers and as being of Florida; the statement names his daughter, Alana Jaquet Biden. | Limited biographical information in the cited official account; it does not provide a detailed career history. |
What is known about James (Jim) Biden?
His role in the 1972 Senate campaign
James had a defined role in his brother’s first Senate campaign. In a Miller Center biography, historian Barbara A. Perry describes Valerie as campaign manager and Jimmy as chief fundraiser for Joe Biden’s 1972 Delaware Senate campaign. That account supports describing James as the campaign’s chief fundraiser; it does not establish that he managed the entire campaign.
His business ventures and congressional testimony
James later faced questions from congressional investigators about Biden-family business dealings. In a voluntary interview with lawmakers, as reported by the Associated Press on February 21, 2024, he said: “I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures. Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities.” The 50-year description was James’s characterization of his own career, and the denial of Joe Biden’s involvement was his assertion, not an independent finding about every venture.
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The AP reported that Republican lawmakers said James’s testimony contradicted his opening statement. It also reported that multiple witnesses said they had seen no evidence of Joe Biden’s direct involvement. These are attributed accounts of the dispute, not a judicial finding that resolves it.
What the House committee said about a $200,000 payment
In an October 20, 2023 release, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said bank records showed James and Sara Biden paid Joe Biden $200,000 on March 1, 2018, by check. The committee said the payment occurred on the same date Americore wired $200,000 to James and Sara, and that James characterized the check to Joe as repayment of a loan. The committee used the transaction to raise questions about Joe Biden’s financial relationship with his brother.
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That release presented the committee’s account and interpretation as part of its investigation; it does not establish that the payment proved wrongdoing. The Associated Press later reported that House Democrats pointed to records they said indicated repayment of a loan Joe had provided. The competing descriptions should be understood as claims made by the committee and lawmakers, rather than as an adjudicated finding.
What is known about Francis (Frank) Biden?
The public details in the cited official record are sparse. A 2016 White House family statement identifies Francis W. Biden as one of Joe’s younger brothers, says he was of Florida, and names his daughter, Alana Jaquet Biden. That statement does not provide a detailed account of Francis’s career, so a fuller biography cannot be established from these sources.
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On January 20, 2025, the Associated Press reported that Joe Biden issued pardons for James and Francis, along with other relatives. Biden’s statement said: “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.” A pardon is not, by itself, evidence that the recipient committed an offense; Biden’s stated qualification expressly rejected treating the pardons as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
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