Joe Biden

Jon Sterngass

Description

Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, has led an extremely eventful life. In 1972, Biden became a seven-term U.S. Senator from Delaware, serving 37 years in the Senate and casting more than 12,000 votes. He then served eight years as 47th U.S. Vice President under U.S. President Barack Obama. Along the way, he overcame personal tragedy, life threatening illness, and career setbacks to become a foreign policy expert and one of the most respected legislators in the United States.

Sujets

• Young Adult Nonfiction
• Historical
• Lettres et linguistique
• Partido Demócrata de los Estados Unidos
• América
• Biography
• Senate
• President
• Politics
• Government
• Democrat
• American
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438199597
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Joe Biden
Copyright © 2020 by Infobase
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Contents Chapters A Comeback for the Ages A Promising Young Man Tragedy, Triumph, and Politics 12,810 Votes Veep Our Best Days Lie Ahead Support Materials Timeline Bibliography Further Resources About the Author Learn More About Middle-Class Joe Joe Biden and Bipartisanship The Impeachment of President Trump Index
Chapters
A Comeback for the Ages
Democratic Candidate for President

Biden at his presidential kickoff rally in Philadelphia, May 2019
Source: Michael Stokes
On the night of February 11, 2020, Joe Biden's presidential campaign was in tatters. In the recently completed New Hampshire Democratic primary, he had finished fifth, receiving only 8 percent of the vote. A week before, Biden had finished a weak fourth in the Iowa caucuses. He had been having trouble generating popular interest, fumbling for a message, and looking every bit his 77 years of age. His rivals were drawing bigger crowds and political analysts declared him over the hill.
Joe Biden had already failed at two presidential campaigns. The first, for the Democratic nomination for president for 1988, never made it out of 1987. That campaign self-destructed over accusations that he had plagiarized a British politician's words without attribution and had enhanced his academic achievements. His second attempt, in 2008, never caught fire and he was out of the race by the Iowa caucuses.
However, the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump opened the door for many Democratic candidates; Biden thought he would give it one more try. Throughout 2019, he led his rivals in most national polls and was considered the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential primaries. Only his early performances before the voters did not match the hype. His debate speeches seemed unfocused and he sometimes yielded the floor with the unfortunate phrase, "My time is up."
Most Democrats appreciated his eight years of service as vice president during the Obama presidency (2009-2017). However, many candidates for the Democratic nomination, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker, urged the Democratic Party to move far beyond Biden's positions on race, criminal justice, health care, the regulation of banks, the environment, income inequality, and immigration. Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire seemed to agree, viewing Biden as a likeable and decent politician who was now too timid, too conservative, or just plain dated. In the Nevada caucuses on February 22, he performed better but still finished second to Sanders by more than 20 percent. Some commentators were calling the battle for the nomination over.
The South Carolina primary on February 29 was Biden's last chance to stay in the race. If he had lost, his campaign would likely have been dead. But Biden racked up crucial Democratic endorsements in the state. On the campaign trail and in the South Carolina debate, he appealed to the state's Black voters, who made up 60 percent of the Democratic electorate there. When the votes were counted, Biden had far exceeded everyone's expectations, winning the South Carolina primary by 28 percentage points over Bernie Sanders. "And we are very much alive," Biden said during his victory speech.

February 29, 2020: After winning the South Carolina Primary, Democratic nomination hopeful Joe Biden speaks at University of South Carolina in Columbia.
Source: Newscom.
Somehow, everything fell into place for Biden with astonishing speed. He gained momentum and his speeches reflected his renewed confidence. In the crucial Super Tuesday primary races three days after South Carolina, Biden won 10 of 14 states. His stunning victories on Super Tuesday rocketed him to the lead over Bernie Sanders. Following the primaries, Democratic candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar suspended their campaigns and endorsed Biden. Biden and Michael Bloomberg were the only Democratic moderates remaining in the race.
The majority quickly rallied around Biden. His moderate policy positions were seen as the best bet to defeat President Donald Trump in the general election. One by one, his remaining rivals dropped out and endorsed him—first Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, then Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg. Bernie Sanders stayed in the race for a while longer, but when he suspended his campaign operations on April 8, Biden had become the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for the presidential election. Within a week, Sanders and former President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden for President. 
On August 18, 2020, Biden was officially nominated at the 2020 Democratic National Convention as the Democratic Party nominee for president. In less than two months, Biden had completed an astonishing political reversal. He had taken a campaign that looked dead in the water and not only revived it, but completely swept away his opponents. He capped it with an acceptance speech which was considered one of the finest efforts of his career. He promised, "If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst...It's time for us, for 'We the People,' to come together."
Biden presented himself as a unifier, a steady pair of hands, contrasted with the chaos and division of the Trump presidency. "This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. It's a moment that calls for hope and light and love. Hope for our futures, light to see our way forward, and love for one another." One newspaper analyst called Biden's rally "a comeback for the ages."
Dedicated Public Servant and Family Man
Joe Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and lived in Wilmington, Delaware, but he spent more than half his life in Washington, D.C.—36 years in the Senate and 8 more as vice president. His life story was filled with tragedy and resilience. In 1972, the 29-year-old Biden won a shocking upset victory to become the U.S. Senator from Delaware. Only weeks after the election, Biden's wife and infant daughter were killed in a car accident (and his two sons seriously injured) while shopping for a Christmas tree. In 1988, Biden survived two near-fatal brain aneurysms. He was so close to death that a priest was preparing to administer the Catholic sacrament of last rites. His condition required tricky surgery that came with high chances of long-term brain damage. Biden's presidential campaigns of 1988 and 2008 were both flops. And as if that wasn't enough, his oldest son, Beau, served as Delaware Attorney General and then died of a rare brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.
Biden has survived so much personal and political catastrophe that very little seems to get him down, at least on the surface. He is a tenacious optimist. In the prologue to his memoir Promises to Keep , Biden offered his view of the proper way to approach life. "The art of living," he said, "is simply getting up after you've been knocked down... After the surgery, Senator, you might lose the ability to speak?  Get up!  The newspapers are calling you a plagiarist, Biden?  Get up!  Your wife and daughter—I'm sorry, Joe, there was nothing we could do to save them?  Get up!  Flunked a class at law school?  Get up!  Kids make fun of you because you stutter, Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-Biden?  Get up! "
And Biden has been true to his philosophy. Although he wanted to quit after the death of his wife and daughter, Biden rallied to serve in the Senate for 37 years, winning seven separate elections. He carved out a reputation as one of the most respected legislators in the country and an expert on foreign affairs. In his Senate career, Biden recorded more than 12,000 votes on almost every possible subject. He helped end genocide in the Balkans and secured the passage of the Violence against Women Act, two actions which he counted as his "proudest moments in public life." In 2008, he became the 47th vice president of the United States, working closely with President Barack Obama. The two men, so different in personality, would eventually become good friends.
Biden's personal life also recovered. He admitted that the pain of his wife and child's death "seemed unbearable in the beginning, and it took me a long time to heal, but I did survive the punishing ordeal. I made it through, with a lot of support, and reconstructed my life and my family." Biden married Jill Jacobs in 1977 and she became stepmother to his two young sons from his first marriage. In 1981, Joe and Jill Biden had a daughter, Ashley. Jill "put us back together," Biden said later. "She gave me back my life. She gave us back a family." They have been together ever since.
Through the highs and the lows, Biden has persevered with the help of his faith, his intelligence, his determination, and a decidedly optimistic attitude. In 2017, Biden wrote, "Nobody ever told me a life in politics and public service would be easy; like life, I never expected politics to be free of disappointment or heartache. But I have always believed it was worth the effort."
A Centrist Democrat
President Donald Trump has described Joe Biden as a "giant radical socialist" who promised "a dark and depressing future," but Biden's long career record says otherwise. Biden has consistently taken a middle Democratic position on almost all the major issues of the day. He was a strong supporter of civil rights legislation but opposed the use of busing to achieve racial balance. He supported a woman's right to an abortion but opposed federal funding for the proc