Barring unforeseen circumstances, the political career of Joe Biden is over. The 72 year-old U.S. vice president has decided not to run for higher office. Biden is the embodiment of how one’s political views evolve with age. At 29, he was one of the youngest people ever elected to the Senate in 1972. But that Joe Biden may be unrecognizable to his would-be supporters for a third presidential run. Pro-civil rights and pro-civil liberties. Anti-busing and anti-abortion. He co-sponsored the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established harsher sentences for crack cocaine than powder cocaine convictions — something his current boss, President Barack Obama, is working to reform. Personal tragedy has bracketed Biden’s professional tenure, helping fuel his ambition, and eventually, sapping it. While he likely will not achieve his livelong goal of being president, his life is long on achievements.