[21]
Elected to the Senate in 1972, Biden was reelected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, regularly receiving about 60% of the vote.[86] He was junior senator to William Roth, who was first elected in 1970, until Roth was defeated in 2000.[87] As of 2022[update], he was the 19th-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.[88]
During his early years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues and called for greater government accountability.[89] In a 1974 interview, he described himself as liberal on civil rights and liberties, senior citizens' concerns and healthcare but conservative on other issues, including abortion and military conscription.[90] Biden also worked on arms control.[91][92] After Congress failed to ratify the SALT II Treaty signed in 1979 by Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter, Biden met with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko to communicate American concerns and secured changes that addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's objections.[93] He received considerable attention when he excoriated Secretary of State George Shultz at a Senate hearing for the Reagan administration's support of South Africa despite its continued policy of apartheid.