If Donald Trump was an unknown quantity on the world political stage, his successor is anything but. Serving two terms as vice president under Barack Obama, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden spent eight years shaking hands before and after meetings with European leaders.
All of this was on show over the weekend, when European politicians were quick to do two things many Republicans in America have yet to do: congratulate the longtime senator on his victory in the presidential election, and share photos of themselves next to him on social media.
What follows is a trip down memory lane for Biden and European leaders, and though it’s far from comprehensive, it is anything but brief. So once you get tired of scrolling, you may want to try searching the page for your leader of choice — past and present. Spoiler alert: You won’t find Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson or Queen Elizabeth II here — yet.
Before we dive into European leaders, and just because it popped up while searching: Here’s Biden welcoming the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg to her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 20, 1993 | Jennifer Law/AFP via Getty Images
Then-Senator Biden meets with then-German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in Biden’s Capitol Hill office on May 3, 2001 | Mario Tama/AFP via Getty Images
Jacques Chirac, then the president of France, has a laugh with Biden at the Elysée Palace on December 2, 2003 | Pool photo by AFP via Getty Images
Biden is flanked by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Ischinger, host of the Munich Security Conference, on February 7, 2009 | Johannes Simon/Getty Images
Horst Seehofer, then the state premier of Bavaria, greets Biden on stage at the Munich Security Conference on February 7, 2009 | Kai Moerk/AFP via Getty Images
Then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy laughs as Biden speaks to him at the Munich Security Conference on February 7, 2009 | Gerard Cerles/AFP via Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with then-NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels on March 10, 2009 | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Karel Schwarzenberg, then-president of the European Council, looks on as Javier Solana, then the EU’s foreign policy chief, gestures to Biden prior to a lunch meeting in Brussels on March 10, 2009 | Dominique Faget/AFP via Getty Images
Biden and then-Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy are all smiles posing for a photo before their meeting in Brussels on March 10, 2009 | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Biden lays a wreath on the spot where Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated in 2003, as Đinđić’s wife, Ružica, and then-Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković look on, May 20, 2009 in Belgrade | AFP via Getty Images
Biden speaks with then-Serbian President Boris Tadić in Belgrade on May 20, 2009 | Andrej Isakovic/AFP via Getty Images
Viktor Yushchenko, then the president of Ukraine, welcomes Biden to Kyiv on July 21, 2009 | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Yulia Tymoshenko, then-prime minister of Ukraine, greets Biden before their meeting in Kyiv on July 21, 2009 | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Biden joins then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to lay a wreath outside the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv on July 21, 2009 | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Biden waves to photographers while meeting with then-Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on October 21, 2009 | Janek Skarzynski/AFP via Getty Images
Biden kicked off a tour of Eastern Europe in Warsaw. Here, he’s meeting with then-President Lech Kaczyński on October 21, 2009 | Janek Skarzynski/AFP via Getty Images
Biden poses for photos with then-Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer before their meeting in Prague on October 23, 2009 | Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images
Biden addresses journalists with then-Romanian President Traian Băsescu at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest on October 22, 2009 | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
Biden listens to Václav Klaus, then the president of the Czech Republic, before their meeting in Prague on October 23, 2009 | Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images
Biden speaks to reporters after a private meeting with then-Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 4, 2009 | Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
Biden speaks alongside then-Prime Minister Brian Cowen of Ireland, as Obama looks on, during a St. Patrick’s Day reception in the East Room of the White House on March 17, 2010 | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Biden flashes his trademark smile while posing for a photo with then-European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek prior to a bilateral meeting in Brussels on May 6, 2010 | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Biden waves to the crowd in Brussels before a working lunch with then-President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, center, and then-President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso on May 6, 2010 | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Biden jokes with then-Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme in Brussels on May 7, 2010 | Dirk Waem/AFP via Gety Images
Biden shares a laugh with then-King Juan Carlos of Spain at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid on May 7, 2010 | Spanish Royal House via Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with then-Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during a press conference at Moncloa Palace in Madrid on May 8, 2010 | Dani Pozo/AFP via Getty Images
Biden speaks with then-British Prime Minister David Cameron at the U.K. ambassador’s residence in Washington on July 20, 2010 | Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Biden meets with then-President Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo on July 21, 2010 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington | Tim Sloan/AFP via Getty Images
Tarja Halonen, then the president of Finland, welcomes Biden to the presidential palace in Helsinki on March 8, 2011 | Antti Aimo-Koivisto/AFP via Getty Images
Biden offers a handshake to then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili during a meeting in Rome on June 1, 2011 | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images
Biden takes a walk with then-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Villa Pamphill in Rome on June 2, 2011 | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images
Biden poses for a photo with Belgium’s Prince Philippe prior to their meeting at the White House on June 28, 2011 | Pool photo by Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
Biden greets then-Greek President Karolos Papoulias before their meeting on December 5, 2011 in Athens | Pool photo by Orestis Panagiotoy/AFP via Getty Images
Biden takes a moment to wave to the cameras as then-Greek Prime Minister Loukas Papademos welcomes him to Athens on December 5, 2011 | Pool photo by Simela Pantzartzi/AFP via Getty Images
Biden welcomes then-Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen to the Roosevelt Room at the White House on June 7, 2012 | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden speaks with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, during bilateral talks at the 2013 Munich Security Conference | Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images
François Hollande welcomes Biden to the Elysée Palace on February 4, 2013 | Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images
Biden poses for photos with then-Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome on March 18, 2013 ahead of Pope Francis’ inauguration mass | Pool photo by Alessandra Tarantino/AFP via Getty Images
Toomas Hendrik Ilves, then the president of Estonia, presents Biden with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana at the White House on August 30, 2013. The award is the highest honor awarded to non-Estonians, and it was given to Biden in part due to his efforts to secure Estonia’s NATO membership | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Biden welcomes then-Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and his wife, Fionnuala to the former vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington for a St. Patricks’ Day brunch in 2014 | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Biden speaks with then-Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė after a meeting in Vilnius to discuss Ukraine on March 19, 2014 | Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images
Biden poses for a photo with then-Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta at the Victoria Palace in Bucharest on May 21, 2014 | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv on November 21, 2014 | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Biden trails then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after the two spoke on November 21, 2014 in Kyiv | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Biden has two escorts at the Berlaymont on February 6, 2015: then-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and then-EU High Representative Federica Mogherini | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Biden shares a laugh with three Belgian politicians at Egmont Palace in Brussels on February 6, 2015. From left: Then-Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, then-Prime Minister Charles Michel and then-Minister of the Interior Jan Jambon | Eric Lalmand/AFP via Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with then-European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Brussels on February 6, 2015 | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Then-Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel welcomes Biden to the Egmont Palace in Brussels on February 6, 2015 | Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Biden shares the stage with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Munich Security Conference on February 7, 2015 | Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images
Lest we think Biden only knows national leaders, here he is with Hans Bonte, mayor of Vilvoorde, Belgium and a member of the Flemish Social Democratic Party at a roundtable discussion in Washington on countering violent extremism on February 17, 2015 | Alex Wong/Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on February 17, 2015 | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Biden, in the foreground, joined Barack Obama for an Oval Office meeting with Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, on March 19, 2015 | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Biden speaks with Slovenian President Borut Pahor in Zagreb on November 25, 2015 | Pool photo by AFP via Getty Images
Biden shakes hands with then-Croatian President Zoran Milanović at the Western Balkans summit in Zagreb on November 25, 2015 | Pool photo by AFP via Getty Images
Then-Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović poses for a photo with Biden and Slovenian President Borut Pahor at a Western Balkans summit in Zagreb on November 25, 2015 | Pool photo by AFP via Getty Images
Biden meets with then-Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at Villa Taverna in Rome on November 27, 2015 | Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, welcomes Biden to Davos in 2016 | Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
Biden is greeted by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić on August 16, 2016 | Oliver Bunic/AFP via Getty Images
Biden met with then-Prime Minister Isa Mustafa of Kosovo in Pristina on August 17, 2016 | Armend Nimani/AFP via Getty Images
Biden joined then-Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis for a bilateral meeting in Riga on August 23, 2016 | Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images
Biden steps to the lectern for a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven following their meeting on August 25, 2016 in Stockholm | Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images
Biden greets then-Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen in Copenhagen on June 22, 2018 | Nils Meilvang/AFP via Getty Images
Biden poses for photographs with then-British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg prior to their 2013 meeting at Downing Street | Pool photo by Kerim Okten via Getty Images
Biden attends a security briefing at No. 10 Downing Street on February 5, 2013, seated next to Nick Clegg and former Chancellor George Osborne | Pool photo by Neil Hall/WPA via Getty Images
Joe Biden and Britain’s Prince Harry watch the U.S. play Denmark in wheelchair rugby at the Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida, on May 11, 2016 | Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Invictus Games
