Joe Biden by Beatrice Gormley

Author:Beatrice Gormley [Gormley, Beatrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2020-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

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By January 1987, Joe Biden had a good feeling about his chances in the 1988 presidential race. He was on the point of publicly announcing that he was running for president. But one problem he’d ignored up until now was that he didn’t have a good relationship with the national media.

In a way this was odd, for someone as friendly and social as Biden. But during his first years in the Senate, when he was suffering grief over Neilia’s death, he’d avoided talking to the press as much as possible. Even after that period, he still dashed for the train at the end of the day, anxious to get home to Beau and Hunter. Other politicians, staying around to have a cup of coffee or dinner with the reporters who covered the Capitol, made valuable personal connections.

As a result, Biden’s image with the national media was almost a cartoon: a tall guy with a great smile and a flair for connecting with an audience, but not much else. Joe Biden looked like a senator, and he talked like a senator—in fact, he had a reputation for talking on and on. But was there anything behind the image?

As one reporter put it, was Biden “more of a show horse than a work horse”? His fellow senators knew how hard he worked, but the national reporters might not dig up that information. However, Joe was confident that at least his character—his honesty, his “word as a Biden”—could not be attacked.

These days he had another problem to ignore: headaches. He’d never had headaches before this year, but by early 1987 he often felt as if his head were in a vise. He gulped extra-strength Tylenol, sometimes ten a day, as he flew from California to Iowa to Alabama to give speeches and shake hands. During one appearance in New Hampshire in March, Biden’s pain was so severe that he had to duck backstage, retching. He barely managed to finish that speech.

At another event, he lost his temper at a questioner in the audience. That day Biden was not only suffering from splitting headaches but was also coming down with the flu. He thought the questioner was doubting his intelligence, and he went into a rant about his IQ and his outstanding record in college and law school. He hardly knew what he was saying. Afterward, he realized he’d exaggerated quite a bit.

This same year, Biden’s duties in the Senate were heavier than ever. In January he’d become chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He knew that the Reagan administration was hoping to appoint a conservative judge to the Supreme Court. There were several older justices on the court who might retire or die, giving the president the chance to replace them. The question was, could Joe Biden do his vital work as a senator and run for president of the United States at the same time?

Even more important, as Jill pointed out, could Joe be the devoted husband and father he

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