# Promises to Keep by Joe Biden - Blinkist

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.

It didn’t help that, around this time, he also fell madly in love with a woman he met on the beach during spring break in the Bahamas. The woman who captured his heart was called Neilia Hunter.

The key message is: Falling in love gave Biden the courage to pursue his ambitions.

Neilia was different from Joe in a lot of ways. For one thing, her family wasn't Catholic. For another, she was extremely wealthy. But that didn't seem to matter to the young couple. They were in love, and knew they were meant to be together. Joe started making the 320-mile drive to see her every weekend. He even gave up playing football because practices would have meant he'd have less time for visits.

Meeting Neilia diverted a lot of Joe’s attention from college. But, it turns out, it also made him more determined to succeed. The thing is, Neilia had unerring confidence in him. So much so that he began to feel more confident in himself. Under her influence, he buckled down for his last semesters in college, and did well enough to win a place at the Syracuse University College of Law.

At law school, Joe passed his final exams, thanks to Neilia's help with revising. His next challenge was to find a place to practice law, in what was a notoriously competitive field. Luckily, his father managed to get him an introduction at the prestigious law firm, Prickett, Ward, Burt, and Sanders in their hometown of Wilmington. Despite his less-than-stellar academic transcript, Joe talked himself into the job!

Everything was falling into place. Joe and Neilia got married and soon had a child on the way. And his law career seemed set to take off. But still, Joe found himself hankering for more. He wanted to serve the public through his work.

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. 

The key message is: Biden’s early career convinced him to use the law to protect vulnerable people.

Biden was becoming more and more alarmed at the unequal treatment of Black people living in Wilmington at that time. In the 1960s, the city was in the thick of civil rights protests, which only intensified after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. In response, the governor called in the National Guard to patrol Black neighborhoods. They enforced a curfew and menaced residents with loaded weapons.

Biden realized that he’d never be able to defend disenfranchised workers or Black people while working at his prestigious law firm. He quit immediately, and began searching for another job where he could make a difference.

The most obvious place to look was the public defender's office, where Biden could represent people unable to pay for their own legal counsel. He began representing mainly Black people from the poor neighborhood of East Wilmington. He also joined a criminal defense firm where he helped to fight civil litigation suits for people in desperate circumstances.

These experiences made Biden feel like he could use his law degree to make a real difference in people's lives. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted to be a part of creating law and policy at a systemic level, not just helping individual cases. He also longed to join a more public arena. When he was invited to run for the county council in Delaware, Joe Biden saw a small opening to pursue his political dreams.

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.

And Biden found that he connected well with both sides of the political divide. Middle-class Republicans and working-class Democrats both wanted the same thing: a healthy environment for their children to grow up in.

The key message here is: Biden entered politics on a platform of protecting the environment.

Biden’s efforts to connect with voters worked. He won the seat by 2,000 votes – even though the Democrats suffered big losses in the rest of the state. And he wasted no time in making use of his new powers.

In particular, he tried to reign in the big developers, who were causing environmental devastation in the area. In the early 1970s, there were few environmental regulations. Shell had been allowed to buy several thousand acres of prime coastal land to build a new oil refinery. And, to make matters worse, developers had begun digging up swaths of land to build mega highways crisscrossing towns. The result was high levels of air pollution and problems with waste disposal.

Biden put the brakes on many of these developments and called for tougher environmental checks before permits were awarded. It made him very unpopular with developers and businesspeople, but it won him many admirers who noted his willingness to take on difficult fights.

It was that fighting spirit that the Democratic Party in Delaware now turned to as they tried to rethink their strategy after the terrible results of the 1970 election. They weren’t connecting with voters and were seen as behind the times. They created a Democratic Renewal Commission, with Biden as a member, and began some serious soul-searching.

The same Republican had controlled one of Delaware’s seats in the United States Senate since 1946. To get more influence in the state, the Democrats decided they must find a challenger to beat him. And who better than the rising star Joe Biden, who was causing such a stir with his progressive environmental policies.

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?

The key message here is: Against all odds, Biden won a seat in the Senate.

But Biden and his family used their apparent weaknesses, and turned them into strengths. When they couldn't afford to mail out literature, they recruited a network of volunteers to do deliveries, helping to increase engagement in the campaign. Instead of courting journalists and chasing publicity, they focused on small community events. Biden would host up to ten coffee meetings a day in people's living rooms, chatting with voters and answering questions in a relaxed, intimate setting.

He also took advantage of his youth to appeal to younger voters by talking regularly in high schools. Not only would some of those students be able to vote in the next election, but he was confident that the younger ones would influence their parents, encouraging them to look more thoughtfully at this new candidate for the Senate.

Biden constantly refined his policy positions until he was crystal clear about what he was fighting for, and could convey that clarity to voters. The issues he championed were civil rights, protecting the environment, voting rights, access to healthcare, and ending the war in Vietnam. By the time he got mass-media attention in bigger speeches, and on the debate stage, he had a solid base of supporters, and was projecting a strong, passionate message about what he could achieve.

Two months before the election, Joe Biden was trailing the incumbent, Senator Boggs, by nearly 30 points in the polls. But on election day he surprised everyone – including himself – by winning the election, and by 3,000 votes!

The senator wasn't unbeatable, after all. The Democrats just needed a candidate with enough youthful courage to give it a try.

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.

The key message is: After a car crash turned his life upside down, Biden began to question his commitment to politics.

Biden was in Washington interviewing new staff when the accident happened, but he immediately rushed back to Wilmington, to be by his sons’ bedsides.

He felt trapped in a waking nightmare. His pain was so intense that he questioned whether he could carry on, and understood for the first time why suicide can seem like a rational way out for people who are suffering.

What kept him going was the sight of his boys, lying bandaged in their hospital beds. They were so small and vulnerable. How could he possibly leave them? Focusing on that, he managed to survive day by day.

But Biden completely lost interest in the political world that had dominated his life just weeks before. He decided he couldn't join the Senate. After all, senators can be replaced, but fathers can't, and now his boys needed him more than ever. He told the Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield, that they’d need to find someone to fill his place.

Biden's political career might have ended right there were it not for the persistence of his colleagues. Senator Hubert Humphrey called the hospital every day to let Biden know they were thinking of him. And Mike Mansfield told him he’d already been appointed to the distinguished Steering Committee, and warned him not to throw away what he and Neilia had worked so hard for. Biden decided he owed it to Neilia to at least give the Senate a chance, and on January 5, 1973, he was sworn into office.

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.

The key message is: Slowly, Biden became more engaged in his work in the Senate.

Although he initially resisted all social contact, Biden soon came to be extremely grateful for the support of his colleagues. His first term in the Senate was a tumultuous time in politics. The US was in the grip of the Vietnam War, and President Nixon had just been impeached. Racism and civil rights were urgent issues, as was the need for social housing and healthcare.

Biden's first speech in the Senate focused on campaign finance. He argued that political campaigns should completely avoid private funding because it led to corruption. He'd seen that for himself when several potential donors suggested they’d only fund him if he agreed to vote in their interests. The speech wasn’t popular with his colleagues, but Biden was unfazed.

This early speech showed that Biden was unafraid to take controversial positions and follow his principles. It’s something he’s practiced throughout his career. For example, he argued against federal funding for abortions, but supported a woman's right to choose to have one. His position has angered both conservatives and women's rights groups. But because it fits Biden's moral compass, he refuses to budge.

Biden’s attitude has earned him respect from both sides of the aisle. Because he doesn't vote along party lines, he’s been able to work effectively with both Democrats and Republicans on the issues he finds important.

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.

But Jill wasn't so sure. At 24, she was almost ten years younger than Joe. What's more, she'd just come out of an ill-matched marriage and was enjoying her freedom. And she hated politics! How would this older senator with two young kids fit into her plans for her life?

The key message is: Joe Biden knew long before Jill that they were meant to build a life together.

But, as Jill found out, even the best-laid plans can change. Although she rejected five marriage proposals and claimed she wanted to keep it casual, she was slowly and surely falling in love. She was also becoming an increasingly important part of the lives of Biden’s young sons, Beau and Hunter.

Joe tried to be patient, but he became increasingly desperate to know whether they had a real future together. One day, he gave her an ultimatum: Did she want to commit to their relationship, or would they have to break up? After much soul-searching, Jill realized that she couldn't bear to let him go. She wanted to be a part of his life, and all that entailed.

The couple got married in June 1977 in New York City, and went on a honeymoon with the whole family. Jill was a dedicated and loving mom to the boys as they grew up. And even though she’d always hated politics, she was an enormous support in her husband’s career.

With Jill by his side, Joe felt confident to run for a second term in the Senate, which he won decisively. Sticking out that second term proved that Biden had staying power. And his prominent committee positions gave him valuable experience in foreign affairs, intelligence, and security. It wasn't long before senior Democrats were suggesting he run for a much bigger office: the president of the United States.

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.

Now, wanting to run for high office, Biden had no close allies in the media to fight for him to get fair coverage. When he entered the race, the press was unrelenting. Biden was accused of being all showmanship and no substance. He was painted as a slacker in the Senate.

The key message here is: Joe Biden underestimated how brutal it can be to run for national office.

In spite of the bad press, Biden's campaign gained momentum. He was able to connect with audiences of all kinds, and it seemed that people were hungry for his message of decency and opportunity for all.

But his campaign was dealt a huge blow when the New York Times published a story claiming he'd used part of a speech by the British politician Neil Kinnock, without attributing the quote. Biden had included Kinnock's lines in the closing argument of a debate, and forgot to credit him. The newspaper didn't mention that they'd been sent the video by one of Biden's political rivals, who was actively trying to smear his campaign.

The stories got worse. Journalists raked through Biden's academic records, and found that at Syracuse he'd also been accused of plagiarizing a quote. In the end, the law school had concluded that Biden hadn't intended to cheat. As a young scholar, he simply didn't know how to reference properly. But the press didn't care. They ran a story about how Biden was a plagiarizer even in college. The stories were devastating to Biden because they questioned the quality he prized most highly: his personal integrity.

All of this heat in the media came at the worst possible time. Biden was chairing controversial nomination proceedings for a Supreme Court judge. And the attacks on his character threatened to derail the proceedings, as well as his campaign.

He had no alternative but to pull out of the race.

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.

As it was, he had the chance to make a full recovery, but only after a delicate and very risky operation.

The key message here is: In the face of death, Biden was forced to reconsider how he’d been living his life.

After several surgeries and months of recuperation, Joe Biden pulled through. But he was a changed man.

For the first time in a long time, he’d had the chance to rest. He realized there were more important things than moving through life at breakneck speed. The health scare put the whole world of politics into perspective. Biden had no less passion for the job, but he knew that he had to keep his work in balance with all the other things that he loved.

Time away also gave Biden a chance to reflect on the contribution he wanted to make to the world. His handling of the Supreme Court nomination had been widely praised as sensitive and fair. There was so much more he wanted to achieve as a senator.

Back in the Senate, he got to work on ambitious projects, like crafting a Violence Against Women Act, that addressed the epidemic of domestic violence in America. He also threw himself into foreign policy work, lobbying hard for then-president Clinton to take action against Slobodan Milošević, the ex-president of the former Yugoslavia, who was indicted in May 1999 for crimes against humanity during the Kosovo War. 

Being forcefully taken out of action during his long return to health meant Biden came back with more determination. He knew what he wanted to focus on, and how to play to his strengths. And he planned to keep working in the Senate for a long time to come.

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.

Then-president Bush seemed open to pursuing this kind of foreign policy, and his secretary of state – Colin Powell – was a staunch internationalist. But Biden underestimated the influence of vice-president Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld, who headed the Defense Department. Under their guidance, Bush gave orders for the US to head into war with Iraq, a war that would cost many thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

The key message is: It was the senseless war in Iraq that finally compelled Biden to run for the presidency again.

The Iraq war was characterized by corruption, incompetence, and a dangerous disregard for human life. By flouting the Geneva convention, and encouraging torture at Guantanamo Bay, it left a stain on the reputation of the US as a moral leader.

When Bush was re-elected in 2004, Biden was devastated. He knew that the US would continue to suffer during Bush's second term, and that the future of the country depended on the Democrats being able to take back control in 2008. For the first time, he seriously considered running for the presidency again. But he was mindful of the impact on his family, and how much Jill and his children had suffered during the last campaign.

When the Bidens got together for their annual Christmas holiday, Jill told him that they were having a family meeting. He thought they were going to beg him not to run, but he was wrong. In fact, Jill told him that they wanted him to make a presidential bid. The family believed that he had what it takes to unite the country, and they were willing to stand behind him.

The matter was decided. Biden announced that he’d run for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Almost 20 years after his first attempt, he now knew exactly why he wanted to be president, and what he’d do on his first day in office.

Final summary

The key message in these blinks:

Joe Biden’s long and eventful political career is notable for his unflinching commitment to his principles. From his earliest days on the county council, he’s fought for what he believes, even when it’s made him unpopular. Biden has faced adversity in his personal and political life, but by taking it head-on he’s managed to come back stronger and more resilient. And while his first bid for the Democratic nomination in 1987 was unsuccessful, Biden was undeterred. He chose to run again in 2008 because he knew he had what it takes to unite the country, and was determined to serve as president of the United States.

Actionable advice: 

Anticipate what kind of support your loved ones need.

The Biden family motto is that if someone has to ask for help, it’s already too late. In his darkest times, Joe Biden’s family showed up for him without him ever having to ask, and made sure he knew he was loved. If you have a friend or family member in distress, take a leaf out of the Biden family book: instead of making them reach out to ask for what they need, simply show up to support them. 

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What to read next: The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris

Now that you’ve learned all about presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s early political career you’re likely curious about his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris.

In the blinks to Harris’s autobiography, The Truths We Hold, you’ll find out all about this remarkable politician. Learn how her background as the daughter of immigrants shapes her political beliefs. Discover why her experience as a district attorney and then senator equips her for public office, and learn where she really stands on the issue of health care. If you want in-depth insights into the woman who might become the next US vice president, then the blinks to The Truths We Hold are essential.