Joe Biden's career in pictures: From one of the US's youngest ...

After intense pressure from his party, US President Joe Biden has chosen not to contest the presidential election later this year.

It makes him the first sitting American president since Lyndon B Johnson to choose not to run for re-election.

Mr Biden has had a long career in politics, having spent more than half a century in public life.

He won his first elected position in 1970, becoming a councillor on the New Castle County Council in the state of Delaware.

He then spent about 36 years in the US Senate, which saw him leave his mark on some of the biggest political moments in America over the past few decades.

He ran for president unsuccessfully on two occasions, in 1988 and 2008, before he was chosen to be the vice-presidential nominee on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential ticket.

After choosing not to run for president in 2016 following the death of his son Beau, he ran in 2020 and defeated incumbent president Donald Trump, leading to his return to the White House for what is now set to be a single term.

Here's a look back at Joe Biden's career in pictures.

Mr Biden celebrates with his first wife Neilia (right) and family after he was elected to the US Senate in 1972. Mr Biden almost left politics before being sworn into office after Neilia and their daughter Naomi died when their car collided with a truck.(Getty Images)

In 1975, Mr Biden received criticism for sponsoring a bill that would have limited the power of courts to racially desegregate schools with "bussing". At the time, he described bussing as "an asinine concept, the utility of which has never been proven to me". This would later be used against him during his 2020 primary campaign.(AP: Henry Griffin)

In 1987, Joe Biden announced he would seek the Democratic Party's nomination for the 1988 presidential election. But his campaign was short-lived, ending just months later following allegations he had plagiarised a speech by former British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.(AP: Lana Harris)

Back in 1991, Joe Biden led the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Clarence Thomas's appointment to the US Supreme Court. Mr Biden has since faced criticism for not fully investigating sexual harassment allegations against Justice Thomas.(AP: John Duricka)

US President Bill Clinton alongside Mr Biden and other members of a US congressional delegation to Spain after a NATO summit in the late 1990s.(AFP: Joyce Naltchayan)

Joe Biden was the chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for about 11 years. During that period, he voted in favour of the Iraq War.(AP: Terry Ashe)

After initially attempting to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election, Mr Biden became an unlikely running mate for Barack Obama. Their victory ended his more than three decades in the US Senate.(Reuters: John Gress)

US President Barack Obama presents Mr Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the State Dining Room of the White House in 2017, one of his final acts as president.(Reuters: Yuri Gripas)

Mr Biden delivers his victory speech in Delaware after defeating Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.(Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)

A few weeks after the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, Mr Biden is sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts, as his wife Jill holds a Bible.(Reuters: Andrew Harnik)

Mr Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris leave the Capitol after delivering speeches to mark the first anniversary of the January 6 attack.(Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)

Mr Biden delivers his 2023 State of the Union address to Congress.(Reuters: Al Drago)

Before he became president, one of Mr Biden's election promises was to address skyrocketing student debt. During his term to date, his administration has cancelled up to $US153 billion in student debt for around 4.3 million Americans.(Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)

Mr Biden wears his trademark aviator sunglasses during the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in 2023.(Reuters: Al Drago)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with Mr Biden after the pair signed a bilateral security agreement earlier this year.(AP: Alex Brandon)

Mr Biden speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu early in the Israel-Gaza war. In June, Mr Biden announced a plan for a "full and complete ceasefire". It is yet to be implemented or fully agreed upon.(AP)