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Zusammenfassung von Promises to Keep

Name: Promises to Keep
Rating: 4 (68 reviews)
Author: Joe Biden

Joe Biden

On Life and Politics

4 (68 Bewertungen)

31 Min.

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Promises to Keep by Joe Biden is a memoir that covers his life and political career from 1972 to the present. He reflects on his family, tragedies, and accomplishments, including his time as Vice President under Barack Obama.

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What’s in it for me? Learn about the man who might become the US president in 2021.

Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden has been in politics for half a century. His long track record gives voters a chance to see how his beliefs have changed over time, as well as the kind of president he might turn out to be.

In these blinks, you’ll learn about Biden’s early life and career until 2008, when he made his second run for the Democratic nomination. Discover how a Catholic upbringing influenced his ideas on fairness and public service, and how facing adversity made him into the politician he is today.

You’ll also gain fascinating insights into some of the key challenges that have shaped the US over the last decades, including the civil rights movement and the political infighting that followed the attacks of 9/11. While the Senate we know now is splintered along party lines, Biden’s autobiography paints a very different picture – where collegiality reigned supreme, and senators followed their convictions. Understanding that past gives us a vision into the future this presidential candidate is aiming for.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why stuttering was one of the best problems Biden ever had;
how Biden became an early environmental campaigner; and
why Jill turned down his offer of marriage five times.

Joe Biden’s childhood experiences equipped him well for leadership.

Throughout his childhood, Joe Biden struggled with a bad stutter. When he was nervous, or had to speak up in class, it would creep up on him, trapping the words in his throat and making him burn with shame.

But the young Joe was determined to teach himself how to speak in public. He memorized speeches and poems, and recited them to himself as he stood in front of the mirror. If he stuttered, he simply started again, practicing how to relax the muscles in his face as he spoke.

Remarkably, over time, this stubborn practice began to work. Joe Biden came to love public speaking, and went on to address crowds of thousands with ease.

The key message here is: Joe Biden’s childhood experiences equipped him well for leadership.

Today, Biden credits his stutter for preparing him to become a political leader. It gave him a blueprint for tackling adversity through sheer determination, something which has seen him through countless difficult situations. It also gave him some of the empathy for which he’s so well-known. Biden has never forgotten what it felt like to be bullied and humiliated.

Much of Biden's political philosophy can be traced back to his experiences in childhood, and how his parents taught him to respond. He recalls being humiliated by a nun at school who mocked his stutter, calling him “Mr. Bu-bu-bu-biden.” Joe told his mom what had happened, and she, furious, went straight to the school, threatening to yank off the nun's habit if she did it again. It didn't matter that the nun was a respected figure in the church, Biden's mother judged her on her behavior, and there was nothing she hated more than a bully.

This willingness to stand up to bullies is seen throughout Biden's career, whether in the fight against racial discrimination, in reigning in crooked colleagues, or in opposing foreign dictators. Joe Biden was taught by his parents, and through his Catholic faith, that to serve others was a sacred responsibility, and that those in power must use it to uplift the disenfranchised. Biden was inspired to become a public servant in the broadest sense of the word. Whether as a public defender, senator, or contender for the presidency, his desire has always been to serve his constituents the best way he knows how.

Falling in love gave Biden the courage to pursue his ambitions.

It may surprise you to hear that the Democratic nominee for the presidency was a very mediocre student in college. He had the brains, but he wasn't motivated to put in the hard graft. In fact, like many of us, Joe Biden often ended up frantically cramming for exams just a few days before they began.

For his first two years at the University of Delaware, Biden was much more interested in hanging out with his friends in the student lounge than hitting the books.

Biden’s early career convinced him to use the law to protect vulnerable people.

Joe Biden will never forget the trial that changed the course of his career. The law firm he had just joined was representing a company against one of their employees – a welder – who’d been badly injured at work and would be permanently disabled. During the course of the trial, Biden’s boss found a loophole in the law which meant the company could avoid paying compensation.

His boss was doing nothing wrong. In fact, he was doing his job very well and following the letter of the law. But, as Biden saw the distress on the faces of the welder's family, he realized he couldn't spend his life practicing law in this way. While the ruling was legal, it didn't mean it was morally right.

Biden entered politics on a platform of protecting the environment.

Biden’s entry into politics was not very auspicious. In 1969, local Democrats asked him to consider running for a seat on the New Castle County Council, a small Delaware district that was mainly Republican.

It seemed unlikely he’d win. Still, he decided to give it a try, and appointed his sister, Valerie, as campaign manager. She ran a meticulous campaign, canvassing every block in every neighborhood.

Against all odds, Biden won a seat in the Senate.

Biden was flabbergasted at being asked to run. After all, he was only 29 and just beginning his political career. But with the support of Neilia and his family, he decided to take it on. Valerie Biden was once again put in charge of the campaign, his younger brother took on fundraising, and Neilia was a constant ally.

From the start, theirs was an underdog campaign. They had no money, and funders weren't willing to invest in a candidate they were sure would lose. After all, no one had beaten the Republican incumbent for nearly three decades! Why did this young upstart think that he could?

After a car crash turned his life upside down, Biden began to question his commitment to politics.

Joe Biden's 30th birthday should have heralded one of the happiest years of his life. He was heading to the Senate in just a couple of weeks, where he’d begin what promised to be an illustrious political career. He and Neilia had just moved into their dream home in the suburbs of Wilmington. And they had three beautiful children.

But his life took an abrupt and painful turn when Neilia and the children were in a major car crash just before the Christmas of 1972. Neilia, and their youngest child, Naomi, were killed in the accident. Their sons, Beau and Hunter, were badly injured, and doctors warned that Hunter might be permanently affected by his head wounds.

Slowly, Biden became more engaged in his work in the Senate.

The early months in the Senate proved rocky, to say the least. Biden was in a constant haze of grief and rage; it was all he could do to get through the day. He always showed up for work and went to important briefings, but he left to take the train home as soon as possible. He didn't make any effort to get to know his colleagues, and ended up eating lunch alone at his desk.

Luckily, that didn't stop his colleagues trying to get to know him. Mike Mansfield and Hubert Humphrey continued to check in on him at least once a week. Teddy Kennedy turned up to take him to the gym, and numerous colleagues invited him for dinner at their homes. Eventually, their efforts paid off.

Joe Biden knew long before Jill that they were meant to build a life together.

In March 1975, two years after he became a senator, Biden went out on his first date with Jill Jacobs and felt something he hadn't experienced for a long time: joy. Biden had been given the number of the young school teacher by his brother, and called her up on a whim.

As they chatted about their lives and families, Biden felt a rare sense of connection and ease. He realized almost immediately that this was the woman he'd been looking for.

Joe Biden underestimated how brutal it can be to run for national office.

Biden thought that his years of political wrangling in the Senate had prepared him for the race to become the Democratic nominee. But when the time came – in 1987 – it was more grueling than he anticipated.

Biden’s relationship with the press was already shaky. When he’d joined the Senate, he’d felt they were invading his privacy to find out about the deaths of Neilia and Naomi. From then on, he'd avoided them as much as possible.

In the face of death, Biden was forced to reconsider how he’d been living his life.

In the end, pulling out of the race was a godsend. Throughout the campaign, Biden had suffered agonizing headaches, sometimes having to take more than ten painkillers a day. He’d shrugged them off as stress and overexertion, but the real cause was much more sinister.

One night, after delivering a long speech, Biden returned to his hotel room and passed out. Doctors found an aneurysm lodged underneath his brain. If he’d still been actively campaigning, it’s possible it would have killed him before he could get a diagnosis.

It was the senseless war in Iraq that finally compelled Biden to run for the presidency again.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon changed the United States in ways Joe Biden could never have imagined.

In the immediate aftermath, he was bowled over by the outpouring of solidarity from the rest of the world. He thought that the tragedy would bring opportunities to unite with other countries and fight terrorism on an international scale.

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Worum geht es in Promises to Keep?

In Promises to Keep (2007), Joe Biden recounts personal anecdotes from his childhood and long career in politics. He reveals how he was taught by his parents to always follow his convictions, and how he entered politics as an underdog, but quickly built a career in the Senate that spanned four decades. Lastly, he recounts how personal and professional adversity have made him a more resilient and insightful father, husband, and political leader.

Bestes Zitat aus Promises to Keep

Neilias absence was like a companion that never left my side.

—Joe Biden

Wer Promises to Keep lesen sollte

Voters wanting to know more about one of the US presidential candidates
Memoir-lovers who want to learn about the personal life of a remarkable politician
Historians interested in how Senate politics has changed over the last four decades

Über den Autor

Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for the presidency in 2020. He represented Delaware for 36 years in the US Senate before serving as vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. After leaving the White House, he published the second volume of his autobiography, entitled Promise Me, Dad (2017). Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, do extensive philanthropic work through the Biden Foundation and the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

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