Joe Biden on Principles & Values Former Vice President; previously Democratic Senator (DE)

Sub-sections under Principles & Values:
• Campaign Themes
• Past Campaigns
• Personal Background
• President Obama
• Religion
• Other issues under Principles & Values

Democracies rising to the moment in battle with autocracy

America is an idea: we are all created equal

Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart? America's adversaries, the autocrats of the world, are betting we can't. They believe we're too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted the Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. We have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works, that our government still works, and we can deliver for our people.

Democracy is fragile; democracy has prevailed

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders--leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation--to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

Do I look like a socialist? I've taken on Castro & Putin

FactCheck: No, only 50% of recent presidents were Ivy league

We checked, and no, it's not even close to true. Rasmussen College published "U.S. Presidents with College Education: From Learners to Leaders," on 4/24/2013, including the following list. Of recent presidents, the list is split evenly into 8 Ivy Leaguers and 8 not:

• Donald Trump, U. Penn (Ivy League)
• Obama, Columbia & Harvard (Ivy League)
• W. Bush, Yale & Harvard (Ivy League)
• Clinton, Yale (Ivy League)
• H. W. Bush, Yale (Ivy League)
• Reagan, Eureka College (not Ivy)
• Carter, US Naval Academy (not Ivy)
• Ford, Yale (Ivy League)
• Nixon, Whittier (not Ivy)
• Johnson, Texas State (not Ivy)
• Kennedy, Harvard (Ivy League)
• Eisenhower, US Military Academy (not Ivy)
• Truman, U. Missouri (not Ivy)
• Roosevelt, Harvard (Ivy League)
• Hoover, Stanford (not Ivy)
• Coolidge, Amherst (not Ivy)

Trump could have saved 37,000 lives if he had shared info

BIDEN: Not at all. If he had just acted one month, one week earlier, he would have saved 37,000 lives. But he knew it. He knew it and did nothing. It is close to criminal.

Asking if 70+ year old is fit is legitimate question

BIDEN: Watch me. Mr. President, watch me. Look at us both, what we say, what we do, what we control, what we know, what kind of shape we're in. Come on. I think it's a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they're fit and whether they're ready. But I just, only thing I can say to the American people, it's a legitimate question to ask anybody. Watch me.

Q: You have said that you are a transition candidate. Does that mean a one-term president?

BIDEN: I want to make sure when this is over, we have a new Senate, we won back statehouses, we're in a position where we transition to a period of bringing people up to the visibility that they need to get to be able to lead nationally. And that's about raising people up. And that's what I'm about.

Q: So you're leaving open the possibility you'll serve eight years if elected?

BIDEN: Absolutely.

Four historic crises, all at the same time: a perfect storm

I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't support me as I will for those who did. That's the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. America isn't just a collection of clashing interests of red states or blue states. We're so much bigger than that. We're so much better than that.

Coronavirus: Trump should do his job, not personalize it

BIDEN: No. But every single day, I speak to all five of my grandkids either on my phone, or I text with them. Two of them, Beau's children, live a mile as a crow flies from our home. We sit on our back porch and they sit out on the lawn with two chairs there, and we talk about being home from school, and who's driving whom crazy, and so on and so forth, but at least I get to see them.

Q: What should President Trump do differently regarding coronavirus?

When he talks to governors, he says, be careful when you talk to that governor, they're not very good, or calls another governor a snake. This is not personal. It has nothing to do with you, Donald Trump, nothing to do with you. Do your job. Stop personalizing everything. One of the governors I spoke to, when they called and asked for help in terms of masks and other things, the president allegedly told her that, no, you take care of yourself. That's not my responsibility.

Leadership: reassure, rely on experts, management

BIDEN: Number one, understanding that you have to be both reassuring, but you have to look to experts to give you advice on, in this case, scientists. The second most important thing is to be able to manage. What I found was you have to manage it every single day. It's about management. It's about day to day to day. And I give you my word for the better part of that 18 months, I was literally on the phone at least three to four hours a day with my team talking about the detailed implementation.

Biden will run on most progressive Democratic platform ever

People not looking for a revolution: looking for results

Won't promise to serve one term unless change in health

There's nothing beyond the capacity of the American people

President has to reach out & pull country together

A bigger uphill climb with a democratic socialist ticket

Trump's lies about me are so bad that TV won't show them

BIDEN: It's irrelevant. There's no choice but to move [forward with impeachment. Trump] has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses. I understand how these guys are, this Republican Party. They've savaged my surviving son, gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won't even carry on television because they're flat-out lies. I've got to be in a position that I think of the American people. I can't hold a grudge.

Q: President Trump has no problem mocking people, using insulting nicknames, slinging mud and telling lies. Are you prepared for that?

BIDEN: I am prepared for that. Look, I've been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on this stage. I have to be able to not only fight, but also heal. And as president of the United States, that's what I will attempt to do.

No evidence of any corruption by Biden in Ukraine

Constitutional necessity to impeach; do not re-elect Trump

AdWatch: World laughs at Trump for dangerous incompetence

Narrator 1: "World leaders caught on camera laughing about Pres. Trump"

Narrator 2: "Several world leaders mocking Pres. Trump"

Narrator 3: "They're laughing at him"

Pres. Trump [speaking at the United Nations in Sept. 2018]: "My administration has accomplished more than almost any other administration in the history of our country"

[Audience laughs]

President Trump: "Didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK."

Narrator 4: "World leaders mocking and ridiculing him for being completely off-balance."

Joe Biden: "The world sees Trump for what he is--insincere, ill-informed, corrupt, dangerously incompetent, and incapable, in my view, of world leadership. And if we give Donald Trump four more years, we'll have a great deal of difficulty of ever being able to recover America's standing in the world, and our capacity to bring nations together."

Video text: "We need a leader the world respects. Biden for President."

Keep the Justice Department independent of politics

BIDEN: I don't think it's a good idea that we model ourselves after Trump and say "lock him up." We have to bring this country together.

Q: When Pres. Ford pardoned Pres. Nixon, he said it was to heal the country. What would you do about criminal investigation into Pres. Trump after he leaves office?

BIDEN: I wouldn't direct my Justice Department like this president does. I'd let them make their independent judgment. I would not dictate who should be prosecuted or exonerated. That's not the role of the president. It's "the attorney general of the United States," not "the president's private attorney." If the attorney general's independent judgment was that he violated the law and he should be, in fact, criminally prosecuted, then so be it. But I would not direct it. Follow the law, period.

FactCheck:Yes, entered & left Congress as one of the poorest

We looked for outside data on [entering Congress poor] and did not find much, but indications are Biden didn't have much wealth. Roll Call magazine has done wealth rankings, but only for members of Congress and dating back only to 1990. The summary Biden reported outside income in 1973 of $6,050, all from speeches.

On Biden's second claim about leaving as one of the poorest officials in government, Biden's estimated net worth was -$52,493 in 2007. In other words, it appeared that his debts outpaced his assets. Biden again ranked near the bottom: 577 of 581 officials in 2014: his estimated net worth was -$947,987. Since leaving the White House, Biden has reaped millions.

Congress had no choice but to move on impeachment

Deal with loss by finding purpose in what you do

BIDEN: I think the most critical setback that can occur to anyone is to lose family. [The philosopher Soren] Kierkegaard said "faith sees best in the dark." Right after I got elected, my wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident. And I lost my faith for a while. I came back.

And then later, when my son Beau came home from Iraq with a terminal disease, and a year later, losing him was like losing part of my soul.

But the fact is that I learned that the way you deal with it is you deal with finding purpose, purpose in what you do. We've all been through that, in some form or another. And for me, the way I've dealt with it is finding purpose. And my purpose is to do what I've always tried to do and stay engaged in public policy.

But there's a lot of people been through a lot worse than I have who get up every single morning, put their feet one foot in front of another, without the help I had.

Memory of lost family members will someday bring a smile

Never, never bet against the American people

OpEd: McConnell can work with Biden; he talks AND listens

1973: Base Nixon's resignation on violations, not politics

1987: Anti-Bork most organized opposition to Court nominee

Most decisive moment: engaging in civil rights movement

A: I worked in the African-American community, as the only white employee for a long while when I was a kid. And I got involved in the civil rights movement. The decisive moment in me life that put me on the broader path was the civil rights movement. When I realized that it does make a difference if you’re engaged. You actually can change people’s lives. You can actually change the state of the nation.

Under Trump we're weaker, sicker, poorer, and more divided

BIDEN: Under this president, we've become weaker, sicker, poor, more divided and more violent.
• When I was vice president, we inherited a recession. I was asked to fix it. I did. We left him a booming economy and he caused the recession.
• With regard to being weaker, I've gone head to head with Putin and made it clear to him we're not going to take any of his stuff. He's Putin's puppy. He still refuses to even say anything to Putin about the bounty on the heads of American soldiers.
• Thirdly, we're poorer. The billionaires have gotten much more wealthy by a tune of over $3- $400 billion more just since COVID. You at home, you're in more trouble than you were before.
• In terms of being more violent: When we were in office there was 15% less violence in America than there is today.
• And with regard to more divided: the nation can't stay divided. We can't be this way.

Unity Agenda: Four big things we can do together

• First, beat the opioid epidemic.
• Second, let's take on mental health.
• Third, support our veterans.
• And fourth, let's end cancer as we know it.

Can't change past divisions, we can change moving forward

The nation is not as divided as we make it out to be

I take issue with what everybody says about the division. The nation is not divided. You go out there and take a look and talk to people, you have fringes on both ends, but it's not nearly as divided as we make it out to be. There's so many things that we agree on that we don't focus enough on. And that's because we don't just condemn the things that are so obviously wrong that everybody agrees on. We have to be more decent and treat people with respect and just decency.

OpEd: Biden no moderate: highly liberal record

At this historic moment, unity is the path forward

Promises to be a president to all Americans

BIDEN: I represent all of you, whether you voted for me or against me. We're going to choose science over fiction. We're going to choose hope over fear. We can grow this economy, we can deal with systemic racism. At the same time, we can make sure that our economy is being run and moved and motivated by clean energy, creating millions of new jobs. What is on the ballot is the character of this country. Decency, honor, respect. Treating people with dignity, making sure that everyone has an even chance.

TRUMP: We have to make our country successful, as it was prior to the plague. Now we're rebuilding it. And you know what? The other side wanted to get together. They wanted to unify. Success is going to bring us together. I'm cutting taxes, and he wants to raise everybody's taxes and he wants to put new regulations on everything. He will kill it. If he gets in, you will have a Depression.

Am I worthy of your vote? It's a sacred opportunity

BIDEN: Well, I'd say first of all, as my buddy John Lewis said, "It's a sacred opportunity, the right to vote. You can make a difference." If young Black women and men vote, you can determine the outcome of this election. Not a joke. You can do that. Then the next question is, am I worthy of your vote? Can I earn your vote?

In politics, you don't hold grudges, even if you're Irish

BIDEN: An author said "I doubt whether Biden is really Irish. He doesn't hold a grudge." In politics, grudges don't work. They make no sense. We got to change the nature of the way we deal with one another. You don't question another man or woman's motive. You can question their judgment, but not their motive. Even when it's obvious on its face what the motive is, stick to the subject and listen to the other guy.

Got to heal the nation, can't do it divided

BIDEN: It could say I'm a lousy candidate, and I didn't do a good job. But I hope that it doesn't say that we are as racially, ethnically, and religiously at odds with one another as it appears the president wants us to be. We got to heal this nation, because we have the greatest opportunity to any country in the world to own the 21st century. And we can't do it divided.

There's nothing we can't do if we do it together

BIDEN: The fact is that there is racial insensitivity. It's a little bit like how this guy and his friends look down on so many people. They look down their nose on people like Irish Catholics, like me, who grow up in Scranton. They look down on people who don't have money. They look down on people who are of a different faith. They looked down on people who are a different color. In fact, we're all Americans. The only way we're going to bring this country together is bring everybody together. There's nothing we cannot do, if we do it together. We can take this on and we can defeat racism in American.

I am the Democratic Party right now

BIDEN: The party is me. Right now, I am the Democratic Party.

TRUMP: And they're going to dominate you, Joe. You know that.

BIDEN: I am the Democratic Party right now.

TRUMP: Not according to Harris.

BIDEN: The platform of the Democratic Party is what I, in fact, approved of.

Bring together a divided nation and a world in disarray

BIDEN: The next President is going to inherit two things, a divided nation and a world in disarray. I was roundly criticized during the primaries: I plan to unite the nation. I'm running as a Democrat, but I'm going to be everyone's President. I'm not going to be a Democratic President. I'm going to be America's President. I have made my whole career based upon bringing people together and bringing the parties together. I've been relatively good at doing that. COOPER

Q: Do you think it's still possible to reach across the aisle?

BIDEN: Yes, I do. A group of Republicans said they're prepared to work with Joe Biden if he's elected. It was recently published, in "The Hill." I'm a Democrat, proud of it, but America's President.

Q: You think you can...

BIDEN: I'm confident I can. I'm confident that with President Trump out of the way, there are going to be Republicans who are ready to get things done.

President's job is to heal; country needs healing

Expect government to understand people's problems

I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness

"In this dark moment, I believe we're poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more," Biden later continued. "This is a battle we will win, and we'll do it together."

I believe America ready to face difficult crises

President's job is to represent all of us, not just his base

We have a great purpose: to be a light to the world again

Americans are strong and tough; tell them the truth

I commit to nominating a woman as my Vice President

Joe Biden: Number one, I commit it that if I'm elected President and have an opportunity to appoint someone, I'll appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court. It's required that they have representation; now it's long overdue. Secondly, my Cabinet & my administration will look like the country. And I commit that I'll pick a woman to be Vice President. There are a number of women who are qualified to be President tomorrow, I would pick a woman to be my Vice President.

Q: Mr. Vice President, just to be clear, you just committed here tonight that your running mate, if you get the nomination will be a woman?

Joe Biden: Yes.

Q: Senator Sanders, will you make that same statement, committ to picking a woman as your running mate?

Bernie Sanders: In all likelihood, I will. For me, it's not just nominating a woman. It is making sure that we have a progressive woman.

People are looking for results, not a revolution

We need to defeat Trump AND gain a Senate majority

BIDEN: Well, look, the next president is going to have to do two things. Defeat Donald Trump, that's number one. And, number two, going to have to be able to go into states like Georgia and North Carolina and other places and get a Senate majority. That's what I'll do. And by the way, I learned something about these impeachment trials. I learned, #1, that Donald Trump doesn't want me to be the nominee. That's pretty clear. Secondly, I found out that Vladimir Putin doesn't want me to be president. But the bottom line is, I think we have to ask ourselves the honest question: Who is most likely to do what needs to be done, produce a Democratic majority in the United States Senate, maintain the House, and beat Trump?

With age comes wisdom; and for me, experience on Day One

Sen. Bernie SANDERS: Let me invite you all to a major rally we're having in Queens, New York. We're going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people.

Q [to BIDEN]: If you're elected you will turn 80 during your first term. Former President Jimmy Carter said he undertaken the duties of the presidency at 80. Why are you so sure you can?

BIDEN: Because I've watched it, I know what the job is. One of the reasons I'm running is because of my age and my experience. With it, comes wisdom. We need someone to take office this time around who on day one can stand on the world stage, command the respect of world leaders from Putin to our allies, and know exactly what has to be done to get this country back on track.

Better positioned than any country to own 21st century

A united America can move forward

We are in a battle for the soul of this nation

"With those words, the president of the United assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it," Biden charged. "And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had seen in my lifetime. We are in the battle for the soul of this nation."

Restore America's soul: bigotry is not an American value

Biden Doctrine: Stick up for the little guy

Personal connection is key trait of all world leaders

"Caring about your colleague as they're dealing with a sick parent, or their child [who] graduated from college, or the child was in an accident. That's the stuff that fosters real relationships, breeds trust, allows you to get things done in a complex world. The person on the other side of the negotiating table, the other side of the political debate; a person who doesn't look like you, who lives in a community you've never visited. They're not some flattened version of humanity, reducible to a collection of parts and attributes. They're a whole person, flawed, struggling to make it in the world just like you."

35-year track record of accomplishments

BIDEN: I will place my record and Barack’s record against John McCain’s or anyone else in terms of fundamental accomplishments. Wrote the crime bill, put 100,000 cops on the street, wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which John McCain voted against both of them, was the catalyst to change the circumstance in Bosnia.

PALIN: But even more important is that world view that I share with John McCain. That world view that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism. And we are to be that shining city on a hill, as President Reagan so beautifully said, that we are a beacon of hope. We are not perfect as a nation. But together, we represent a perfect ideal. And that is democracy and tolerance and freedom and equal rights. Those things that we stand for that can be put to good use as a force for good in this world.

Failure is at times inevitable but giving up is unforgivable

Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you

Politics is a noble calling

If you do politics the right way, you can actually make people’s lives better. And integrity is the minimum ante to get into the game. Nearly 40 years after I first got involved, I remain captivated by the possibilities of politics and public service. I believe my chosen profession is a noble calling.

Former president created web of lies; can't accept he lost

My fellow Americans in life, there's truth. And tragically, there are lies. Lies conceived and spread for profit and power. We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. And here's the truth: the former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle.

Because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest and America's interest. And because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution. He can't accept he lost.

You can't love your country only when you win

To me, the true patriots for the more than 150 Americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box. The election workers who protected the integrity of the vote and the heroes who defended this Capitol. You can't love your country only when you win. You can't obey the law only when it's convenient. You can't be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies.

Resounding victory among SC blacks turned primary around

As Biden ran up the score on Sanders in March, the Vermont senator became torn between competing forces within the Democratic Party and his own campaign. Some allies and operatives urged him to bow out of the race, warning that prolonging the primary fight could damage the party's chances of defeating President Trump in November, especially at a time when the country was dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

If Putin interferes, there will be consequences

I'm the only Dem candidate who's gotten big things done

2007 debates: Pundits say Biden won; people say Obama won

But pundits saw a different outcome. Many recognized Bidens strength on stage, particularly in foreign policy, even calling him the top performer of the night. His answers were focused, not verbose. On CNN, John King declared, "If I had to pick a winner tonight. I would pick Senator Biden." Obama, too, was struck by Biden's understanding of the quagmire in Iraq and his skills on the debate stage."

1972: unseated Republican incumbent Senator Caleb Boggs

A few names were tossed around. Then came one that most people had never even heard--"How about this Joe Biden kid?" (At the time Biden was a fresh-faced New Castle County councilman and had been networking with the Delaware political scene.)

We can imagine the chuckles. "Joe Biden! Good one." Biden was only 29 years old. "That's too young to be a senator." (It is, literally, too young to be a senator, as Article I of the Constitution says, "No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of 30 years."). Biden knew the odds were close to impossible. In one early poll, 18% of Delawareans had heard of Biden. Boggs? 93%. [Biden won].

1972 campaign ad: "Do you trust me?"

The shoppers would say, "No, why should I trust you?"

He flipped the message to say, "That's what's wrong with America right now. I promise you if you elect me, you'll know exactly where I stand. You'll be able to trust me." The ad was as shoestring as it gets.

Accused of plagiarism in 1987 presidential primary debate

So he began quoting Kinnock in his own stump speeches. Each time, he was careful to clearly reference Kinnock.

Then came the primary debates. On August 23, 1987, at the close of the debate, Biden just did his normal riff on Kinnock. But he rushed it, and forgot to credit Kinnock.

The New York Times unleashed a front-page headline: DEBATE FINALE: AN ECHO FROM ABROAD, which charged that Biden had "lifted Mr. Kinnock's closing speech, without crediting Mr. Kinnock."

Biden was soon accused of ANOTHER bout of plagiarism, suggesting a troubling pattern. Earlier in the year, he had given an inspiring address that clearly lifted language from a 1967 Robert Kennedy speech. It was devastating. William Safire called him "Plagiarizing Joe."

1987: Accused of plagiarizing Neil Kinnock's speech

Kinnock said of his predecessors, "Anybody really think they didn't get what we have because they didn't have the talent, or the endurance, or the commitment? Of course not. It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand."

That last phrase particularly captured Biden's attention. At the Iowa debate, the campaign hadn't prepared closing remarks. An aide suggested, "Why don't you use the Kinnock stuff?"

Biden closed with, "Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to university? Were they not smart? Were they weak? No, they didn't have a platform on which to stand." He hadn't made the attribution to Kinnock that he usually did. [Newspapers called it plagiarism].

1966: Required to retake law school course for plagiarism

2008: Lawsuits accused him of defrauding business partner

Insulted Indian-Americans in attempt to compliment vibrancy

MoveOn.org has not changed politics

A: I don’t think they’ve changed politics.

Q: Have they been a positive force in politics?

A: On some things, yes. I mean, look, I don’t think you can castigate them for the ad [saying “Patraeus or Betray Us?”]. But the idea that I was initially told--I’m going to get in trouble for this, but--that the quote, “It’s their party”--they’re part of the party. It’s not their party.

1970: won first election, to County Council, in GOP district

I asked my sister, Val, if she’d run the campaign. She was a methodical organizer. She got voter records going back several elections, had an index card for every block in every neighborhood and started recruiting block captains. I spent most of my time in Democratic precincts, but I also spent time going door to door in the middle-class neighborhoods like the one I grew up in. They were overwhelmingly Republican in 1970, but I knew how to talk to them. I understood they valued good government & fiscal austerity & the environment. I promised to fight for open space. Those voters were key for me. The 1970 elections were a washout for the Democratic Party in Delaware, but I won election to the County Council by 2,000 votes.

1972: beat GOP incumbent; 2nd youngest Senator ever elected

When the political reporters started to find out how hard I was working to win over voters, none of them called my running for the Senate ridiculous. I was “one of the bright young men of the Democratic party.” I think they liked fresh blood to write about. At the same time, the smart guys covering Delaware politics didn’t give me a snowman’s chance in August. They’d note my lack of a war chest, Sen. Boggs’s long-standing popularity, his quarter century of serving Delaware, and the slew of Democratic challengers he’d left by the roadside. [In 1972, Biden won by 3,000 votes and became the 2nd youngest senator ever elected.]

His book “Promises to Keep” written before presidential race

A: Well, I wrote a book back when I thought I was going to be working with John Kerry in a Kerry administration. It had nothing to do with presidential politics. I was encouraged to write it by a guy named Richard Ben Cramer, who wrote the book “What it Takes,” and asked how my personal values inform my public policy. And I talk about everything from the Supreme Court to the Balkans to Iraq, and how I think that the most significant thing about what we need in leadership is people who are willing to get back up. My dad used to have an expression. He used to say, “The measure of success is not whether you get knocked down; it’s how rapidly you get back up.” And the American people always get back up. And I think what they’re doing is looking for somebody who is going to give them the opportunity to be able to take on the tough issues that are out there and just tell them the truth.

Knocked out of 1988 race due to plagiarizing a speech

Biden has gained some credibility with his articulate, objective and forthcoming analysis of the Iraq War, given from his perch atop the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he is, after all, another has-been who never was.

Not about my family or his; about the American people

BIDEN: This is not about my family or his family. It's about your family, the American people. He doesn't want to talk about what you need. You, the American people, it's about you. That's what we're talking about here.

Member of the same club: those who stutter

Best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose

Son Beau died of brain cancer despite experimental surgery

School nuns helped Joey overcome boyhood stuttering

At Catholic school, after hearing his speech, a nun suggested that instead of trying to blast out a sentence in one gushing torrent, he carve it up into its natural pauses, its rhythm, its cadence. So instead of trying to say, "I love eating ice cream cones on Amtrak," you would say, deliberately, "I love--eat-ing--ice cream-cones--on Amtrak."

This strategy helped. But there was a catch: It required him to rehearse sentences, so he couldn't really use it on the fly. What would he do when a teacher called on him in class?

So, he devised a few clever hacks. [Before each class, he would count the number of paragraphs and] memorize the one that he was likely to recite.

1988: suffered brain aneurysm and 9-hour emergency surgery

At the hospital they scanned his brain. He had an intracranial aneurysm, and he needed surgery ASAP.

"Doc, what are my chances?" Biden asked, just before the surgery.

"35% to 50%." Then there was the added risk of morbidity: Paralysis. Loss of speech.

Joe Biden's brain was under the knife for nine hours. The aneurysm exploded literally seconds after they had pried open his skull. (It's possible that the invasion of the knife itself had caused the burst, but still.)

Biden would live. And then it hit him: "Dropping out of the '88 election saved my life." If he had been campaigning, then he likely would have been wooing votes in N.H., in the snow, and if he had collapsed there, he would have been too far away from the life-saving surgery at Walter Reed.

Greatest gift God gave mankind is the ability to forget

As the speech goes on, he toggles back and forth between Detroit's bright future and his darker past. "My dad, [a used-car salesman], didn't have a lot of money, but he [bought us] a brand-new 1967 Corvette convertible as a wedding gift. Well, I still have it. I still love it." The audience erupts when he tells them his two sons, Beau and Hunter, who were grievously hurt in the 1972 crash, bought him a new clutch as a Christmas present last year.

Favorite movie: “Chariots of Fire”, for real heroism

A: “Chariots of Fire” is probably my favorite movie. There is a place where someone put personal fame & glory behind principles. That to me, is the mark of real heroism, when someone would do that.

Q: Do you remember your favorite scene from that movie?

A: The favorite scene is when he is making the decision & talking about, “Do I do this?” He so desperately wanted to run, but concluded he couldn’t. It was that moment of decision that was my favorite scene

Childhood stuttering strengthened me

It’s a funny thing to say, but even if I could, I would not wish away the darkest days of the stutter. That impediment ended up being a godsend for me. Carrying it strengthened me and made me a better person. The very things it taught me turned out to be invaluable lessons for my life as well as my chosen career.

1972: Wife & child killed in pre-inauguration auto accident

Washington & the Senate had no hold on me. I was supposed to be sworn in two weeks, but I could not bear to imagine the scene without Neilia. I told the Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield, that I wasn’t going to be a Senator. Mansfield was relentless. He called the hospital every day to tell me he needed me in the Senate and to keep me up to date. Mansfield told me I owed it to Neilia to a Senator. My wife had worked too hard for me to kick it away. Give me six months, Joe, Sen. Mansfield kept saying. So I agreed. Six months.

Remarried in 1977, willing to give up Senate for Jill

I’d given her my word. I’d already let a few people know they might want to be ready to run for the Senate in case I got out. I was going to have to show Jill I meant it, [so I concluded] “I’ll tell Bill Frank I’m not running.” Frank was the chief political reporters at the Wilmington News-Journal. I could hear Frank’s phone ringing. Then I heard a dial tone. Jill had her finger on the phone cradle. She’d cut off the call. She told me later why: “If I denied you your dream, I would not be marrying the man I fell in love with.”

Jill and I were married by a priest at the UN chapel in NYC in 1977. Beau and Hunter stood with us at the altar. The way they thought of it, the four of us were getting married.

1988: suffered aneurysm requiring brain surgery

The size of the worst bulge and the leak meant that a fatal rebleed could be imminent. Surgery to shore up the spot where I’d bled was the best chance I had of survival. My chances of surviving the surgery were certainly better than 50-50. But the chances of waking up with serious deficits to my mental facilities were more significant. Any incidental damage could leave me seriously impaired.

The most likely incidence was loss of speech. Dr. George said what he was about to do was going to be difficult, but he had done many of these before. But he recommended I speak to my family--it might be my last chance. [Biden fully recovered from the surgery.]

VP should be the last one in the room on major decisions

BIDEN: I asked her what Barack asked of me. I want you to be the last person in the room on every major decision because I know she'll not be intimidated by the Oval Office. I know she'll not be reluctant to tell me exactly what she thinks. And I know she'll have a perspective--different in many cases than mine just by nature of who we are and our backgrounds and that's why I thought it was so important as well to have a woman as vice president.

We had to wait until after election to tell about it

BIDEN: In retrospect, there is something. We were informed by the director of central intelligence, that there was evidence that they were interfering in electoral process, trying to break in everything from machines, to changing voter registration. That was in August; Barack Obama was worried, if we spoke out against it, without having more proof and support, then what would have happened is they'd say we're trying to interfere in the election. And so it wasn't until after [the election]--before we left the White House--that we knew the detail of how deep they were. But we went to the Republican leadership in the House, they said, "no, we don't want any part of pointing this out." We had clear, overwhelming circumstantial evidence that it was being done. And Obama did confront Putin, saying that stop it. Putin denied he was doing it. We believed he was doing it.

Vice-presidency is derivative; it reflects president's power

Almost all White House partnerships deteriorate in the end, undone by diverging politics, festering policy disputes--or simply human fatigue amid the strains of trying to turn what is inevitably a shotgun marriage into a love match. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were barely on speaking terms by the time the disputed 2000 election came around, with Gore furious at Clinton's sexual indiscretions and Clinton appalled at Gore's lame political skills. Even the celebrated team of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney came unraveled by the final few years, as Bush abandoned the hawkish policies of his veep and turned to a more conciliatory set of advisers.

2008: Preferred Secretary of State role to Vice Presidency

It was that kind of cogitating that had gotten Biden into the 2008 race in the first place--that and a hunger for redemption. At 64, he saw it as his last chance. But his respect for Hillary Clinton was undiminished. In fact, he told Obama point blank that he should pick her as his running mate.

Obama knew Biden was the right call. The working-class thing. The gray-hair thing. The foreign-policy thing. Oh, and the attacking-dog thing. Obama was convinced that he could count on Biden to maul McCain.

We need a wise leader like Obama, not just a good soldier

We should embrace change just like the previous generations

Apologized for saying Barack Obama was clean and articulate

A: Look, this is a very rough game. My referring to Barack as articulate, it was a mistake. The good thing about being around a long time is people have a basis upon which to judge you. And I didn’t find any serious person in the civil rights community, because of my long history and long support for civil rights, thinking that I was trying to insult Barack Obama in any way. I didn’t find anyone suggesting that anything else I have said goes to the heart of whether or not my record is being undercut by what I’ve stated. But it is true. It is true that my candor sometimes get me in trouble.

Segment of American Church questions Biden's Catholicism

Having won numerous elections as Senator since 1973, two national elections to the US Vice Presidency, and now as president in 2020, Joe Biden lacks no political legitimacy. And yet significant sectors of the Catholic (and otherwise Christian) electorate question his morals.

Publicly open about his faith without imposing it on others

"What I'm not prepared to do is propose a precise view that is borne out of my faith on other people," he said in a 2015 interview with the Jesuit Magazine America. A stutterer like Moses, Biden's speeches are often referenced to God, the bible, or the Pope but without sounding aggressive. During the election campaign, he often spoke of, "a battle for the soul of America."

Cited hymn "On Eagle's Wings" in his victory speech

Catholic doctrine taught me faith without works is dead

Thought about priesthood, but dated a lot of girls

So, he went to the University of Delaware, dated more girls, and basically turned himself into Hot Young Biden. It's possible that Hot Young Biden might have been a little too hot for his own good. He basically loafed about, and later confessed: "I probably started my first year of college a little too interested in football and meeting new girls. There were a lot of new girls to meet."

He was still trying to meet girls in his junior year, when he drove to Fort Lauderdale with some buddies for Spring Break. Yet he was bummed to find a mob of silly drunken college kids, all of them acting stupid.

1973: Reconsidered priesthood after losing wife in car crash

Prayer gives you strength, but doesn’t prevent crises

A: My mom has an expression. She says that, “God sends no cross you’re unable to bear.” The time to pray is when you’re told, as I was, that my wife and daughter are dead, to have the courage to be able to bear the cross. Pray that God can give you the strength to deal with what everyone is faced with in their life, serious crosses to bear. The answer to the question is, no, all the prayer in the world will not stop a hurricane. But prayer will give you the courage to be able to respond to the devastation that’s caused in your life and with others to deal with the devastation.

Religion informs my values; my reason dictates outcomes

Voted NO on confirming Samuel Alito as Supreme Court Justice.

Voted NO on confirming John Roberts for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Religious affiliation: Catholic.

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