Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his bid for the White House on Thursday after months of speculation. The longtime politician is already an immediate front-runner among the crowded Democratic field, where some 20 members of the party have announced bids to unseat President Donald Trump next year. Unlike other Democrats grappling with their recent political flubs, Biden has decades of political history to sift through. The lawmaker has spent the past month attempting to address the discomfort of several women who said he inappropriately touched them in the past. But he joins the race after a storied career in Washington, campaigning on unity and the fight for American values. Here are some of the issues that arose the first day of Biden’s campaign and how the now-candidate has said he hopes to tackle them.

Rick Bowmer/ASSOCIATED PRESS Law professor Anita Hill said Thursday she would only be satisfied with Biden "when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose."

Anita Hill Hill, the law professor who testified against the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas, spoke with The New York Times on Wednesday about the former vice president. Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 when Hill leveled allegations of sexual harassment against Thomas and has faced criticism over his handling of the hearings. Biden’s campaign said he spoke with Hill after arranging a telephone call a few weeks ago in which he sought to express his “regret for what she endured” at the hands of the committee. But Hill told the Times she was unsatisfied with the attempted outreach, saying she was troubled by the reports from several women about Biden’s alleged inappropriate touching. “I cannot be satisfied by simply saying I’m sorry for what happened to you,” Hill told the Times. “I will be satisfied when I know there is real change and real accountability and real purpose. ... He needs to give an apology to the other women and to the American public because we know now how deeply disappointed Americans around the country were about what they saw. And not just women.” Biden has moved to recover from the allegations, saying he understood that “social norms are changing” in a statement several weeks ago. “Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it,” the candidate said. “I get it. I hear what they’re saying.” But it’s unclear how the ongoing fallout from the allegations and Hill’s experience will affect the former vice president on the campaign trail.

NurPhoto via Getty Images Biden's campaign said the candidate would not take money from registered lobbyists of corporate PACs. But a fundraising event Thursday has drawn scrutiny.