Joe was born as the big brother out of four children on November 20, 1942 (presently 78 years old) in a blue-collar city in the Northeast of Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Biden Sr., was a blue-collar working on cleaning furnaces and selling cars, while his mother was Catherine Eugenia, the "Jean" Finnegan. In 1933, Joe was 15 years old. The whole family has moved into Mayfield, Delaware, a relatively growing middle-class community. At that times, Joe once struggled with a stutter, and other school kids mocked at him by calling him- "Dash" and "Joe Impedimenta". Facing such aggressive vocal bullying at such a young age, he was frustrated but he didn’t fight back. His father comforted him and said,
Then, he went to the library and remembered long passages of poetry. Ultimately, after many, if not numerous practices of reciting loudly in front of a mirror, until now, he has no speech impediment. Inside a wealthy community, Joe wanted to study at the Archmere Academy. Although his family could not afford the expensive tuition fee, he had washed school windows and wed the school gardens to continue studying. In one of his sharing, he used the metaphor in “the Wizard of Oz” in which the object of his deepest desire, my Oz was the Archmere Academy. This powerful determination has pushed his graduation from the Archmere Academy in 1961.“Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.”
After that, he continued to study at the University of Delaware on history and political science. During a trip, he met a girl named Neilia at Syracuse University and fell in love with her at the first sight. Because of the power of love, Joe then studied at the Syracuse University Law School and married her in 1966. However, he has not ended with his career in Law firms. Joe is a real person like you and I could commit a mistake. He oversighted and failed to cite a reference properly, which made him fail a course. Although he finally graduated as a lawyer and started his law firm in 1972, he has been actively stepping his foot on the way of politics, starting as a member of the Democratic Party. In the same year, he has become a young senator.
Behind this packed professional life, both as a lawyer and a politician, he has three children and acted as a good father. While all seems to be a life victory, just a week before the Christmas (18th December, Monday) in 1972, Joe’s wife and the remaining three children encountered a car accident during shopping for a Christmas tree. This tragic accident not only killed his wife and daughter but also severely injured both of his sons, Beau and Hunter. Since then, Beau has to sustain himself with a broken leg and Hunter has a fractured skull forever. At that time, Joe was in the Washington office while his family members were in Delaware. According to his book “Promises to Keep”, he instantly flew back to Delaware and on the way, he thought:
"I began to understand how despair led people to just cash in; how suicide wasn't just an option but a rational option ... I felt God had played a horrible trick on me, and I was angry."
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As a father, once he thought about his two sons and what if they were abandoned, this parental love and responsibility have sustained his will to survive. As a Senator, supposing, he should swear in Washington with other officers in an official ceremony, but he chose to take the oath in his two sons’ hospital room so that he could be with them at any time. Later after discharged from the hospital, Joe has decided to continue to commute daily to and from Washington Office to see them by taking Amtrak train during his long tenure as a Senator for 36 years.
Five years later in 1977, he got married to his second wife Jill (who is also the present wife). A couple of years later, they gave birth to Ashley in 1981. As above has pointed out, Joe was a resilient man and professional in a political career. While being a Senator, he was planning to become a president in 1987. At that time, due to reports on his speech as plagiarized, he has dropped out from the Democratic Party to bear his own responsibility. A year later (1988), a physician has confirmed that he had two life-threatening brain aneurysms. Since brain surgery is complicated, he has undergone serval surgeries and yet, he never gives up. Seven months later, Joe has returned as a Senator again.
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While being the Vice President of the US, on May 30, 2015, Joe’s son, Beau died at the age of 46, after tirelessly battling with brain cancer. And here I quote his words:
Again and again, he put his family first. Therefore, he chose to rest a bit not competing for the 45th president to comfort and spend more time with his family members. However, he never stays silent. He has been actively continued influencing others via speeches and posts. Until today, he has become the upcoming US president. If I have to conclude Joe’s legend, there are two points to be taken away:"Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.”
-always focus on long-lasting value like “family comes first”
-resilient-it is Ok to fail but continue working despite the morning and night.