Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now

I just cant recommend this book to anyone. Its really tedious and details often trivial conversations and events in excruciating linear fashion. It will take a Senate bill and spend ten pages describing what person x said, then what person x said, what person y did, what Biden said, how someones aide reacted, and on and on. And for all the meticulous tracking of conversations and events, it fails to capture the essence or answer the questions that any biography should: Who is this man, what makes him tick, and what is his impact in the world? This book misses the forest for the trees, never gets out of the weeds, doesnt separate the wheat from the chaff, etc. I think part of the problem is that it was published in 2009, just after Obamas election and the author may have rushed it out to ride the wave of positive energy and book sales. A far more readable and thoughtful book is Barack and Joe by Levingston, published in 2019.

Until the definitive life of Joe Biden is written, this respectful but not fawning biography will have to do. Balanced and solid, but hardly penetrating. Biden deserves better.

I know Trumpo calls him “Slow Joe” but this biography could have easily been edited down about forty percent and it would have been much more pleasant to read.

Here we have a good, basic biography of Joe Biden, currently serving as the 47th Vice President of the United States.

It starts out with his childhood first in Scranton, Pennsylvania and later when his family moves to Wilmington, Delaware. During his time there, Biden became interested in politics and dreamed of one day being able to serve in the United States Senate. He went to law school and became a lawyer working to help minorities in Delaware. He still wanted to serve in the Senate, but was convinced that he needed more name recognition. So he got elected to the New Castle County Council and served there for almost two years before seeking election to the Senate.

During the campaign, he faced veteran Delaware politician Cale Boggs. A man considered by some to be unbeatable. But Biden, against all odds managed to beat him. He was only twenty-nine years-old at the time, and only reached the constitutional age of thirty weeks later. However, tragedy would strike Biden when both his wife and his daughter were killed in an automobile accident the next month after the election. Biden considered giving up his Senate seat, but was convinced otherwise by Mike Mansfield. He was sworn-in at the bedside of his sons, injured in the accident, in the hospital becoming one of the youngest senators in U.S. history.

Biden would go on to serve about thirty-six years in Senate. Most of the book covers his time there. He served on the important Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees. Much attention is given to the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Biden was against both nominations and was successful in having Bork rejected. He also tackled other issues such as protecting women against violence.

In 1987, Biden decided to run for president in next year’s election. Unfortunately, his campaign was barely off the ground when he made a speech with quotations and forgot to give credit. He was widely accused of plagiarism and ended his bid shortly afterward.

He stayed in the Senate. Biden was against the proposed Iraq War in the early 2000s. Despite this, he decided to vote in favor of the resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq. It was a decision Biden would come to regret.

In 2007, he launched another bid for the White House. This time he was careful to avoid mistakes he made the last time. He was viewed as knowledgeable, if long-winded, during the debates. Despite this, he was behind the much more popular candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He barely polled at all. He decided to drop his bid after a terrible showing at the Iowa Caucus.

However, after it was clear that Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination, he approached Biden with the offer to be his running mate. Biden accepted. He ended up staying rather low-profile during the campaign. He was overshadowed by the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, plus the Obama campaign was afraid of Joe just being Joe might lead to some bad gaffes.

The Obama-Biden ticket would go on to win the 2008 election. Biden was sworn-in as vice president in January. During his vice presidency, he sought to be involved in the administration as an important advisor, but not to create an overly-powerful (as he saw it) vice presidency like his predecessor, Dick Cheney.

Overall I found this to be a good biography of Joe Biden. A good explanation of the major events in his life. There is nothing too detailed, but I felt I learned a lot about the man currently serving as Vice President of the United States. I would recommend this to people interested in learning about Joe Biden.

Joe Biden is the real deal. What you see is what you get. He is extremely versed on foreign affairs, domestic politics, you name it. I would recommend this book to anyone considering the candidates in the upcoming election. Perhaps the third time’s the charm!

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