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The international #1 bestselling memoir about the year that would forever change both a family and a country.
In November 2014, thirteen members of the Biden family gathered for their traditional Thanksgiving celebration. But this year felt different from previous. Joe and Jill Biden's eldest son, Beau, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour fifteen months earlier, and his survival was uncertain. 'Promise me, Dad,' Beau had told his father. 'Give me your word that no matter what happens, you’re going to be all right.' Joe Biden gave him his word.
Promise Me, Dad chronicles the year that followed, which would be the most momentous and challenging in Joe Biden’s extraordinary life and career. Vice President Biden travelled more than a hundred thousand miles that year, across the world, dealing with crises in Ukraine, Central America and Iraq. While Beau fought for, and then lost his life, the Vice President balanced the twin imperatives of living up to his responsibilities to his country and his responsibilities to his family, while contemplating the insistent and urgent question of whether he should seek the presidency in 2016. Even in the worst times, Biden was able to lean on the strength of his long, deep bonds with his family, on his faith, and on his deepening friendship with the man in the Oval Office, Barack Obama.
Promise Me, Dad is a story of how family and friendships sustain us and how hope, purpose and action can guide us through the pain of personal loss into the light of a new future.
"Nearly forty years after I first got involved, I remain captivated
by the possibilities of politics and public service. In fact, I
believe that my chosen profession is a noble calling. That's why I
wanted to be a part of it."
-Joe Biden
As a United States senator from Delaware since 1973, Joe Biden has
been an intimate witness to the major events of the past four
decades and a relentless actor in trying to shape recent American
history. He has seen up close the tragic mistake of the Vietnam
War, the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals, the fall of the Berlin
Wall, the reunification of Germany, the disintegration of the
Soviet Union, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a presidential
impeachment, a presidential resignation, and a presidential
election decided by the Supreme Court. He's observed Nixon, Ford,
Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and two Bushes wrestling with the
presidency; he's traveled to war zones in Europe, the Middle East,
and Africa and seen firsthand the devastation of genocide. He
played a vital role by standing up to Ronald Reagan's effort to
seat Judge Robert Bork on the Supreme Court, fighting for
legislation that protects women against domestic violence, and
galvanizing America's response (and the world's) to Slobodan
Milosevic's genocidal march in the Balkans. In "Promises to Keep,"
Biden reveals what these experiences taught him about himself, his
colleagues, and the institutions of government.
With his customary candor, Biden movingly recounts growing up in a
staunchly Catholic multigenerational household in Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware; overcoming a demoralizing
stutter; marriage, fatherhood, and the tragic death of his wife
Neilia and infant daughter Naomi; remarriage and re-forming a
family with his second wife, Jill; success and failure in the
Senate and on the campaign trail; two life-threatening aneurysms;
his relations with fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle; and
his leadership of powerful Senate committees.
Through these and other recollections, Biden shows us how the
guiding principles he learned early in life-the obligation to work
to make people's lives better, to honor family and faith, to get up
and do the right thing no matter how hard you've been knocked down,
to be honest and straightforward, and, above all, to keep your
promises-are the foundations on which he has based his life's work
as husband, father, and public servant.
"Promises to Keep" is the story of a man who faced down personal
challenges and tragedy to become one of our most effective leaders.
It is also an intimate series of reflections from a public servant
who refuses to be cynical about political leadership, and a
testament to the promise of the United States.
"From the Hardcover edition."
President Joe Biden tells the story of his extraordinary life and
career prior to his emergence as Barack Obama's beloved,
influential vice president. 'I remain captivated by the
possibilities of politics and public service. In fact, I believe
that my chosen profession is a noble calling.' - Joe Biden Joe
Biden has both witnessed and participated in a momentous epoch of
American history. In Promises to Keep, he reveals what these
experiences taught him about himself, his colleagues, and the
institutions of government. With his customary honesty and wit,
Biden movingly and eloquently recounts growing up in a staunchly
Catholic multigenerational household in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and
Wilmington, Delaware; overcoming personal tragedy, life-threatening
illness, and career setbacks; his relationships with presidents,
world leaders, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle; and his
leadership of powerful Senate committees. Through these and other
recollections, Biden shows us how the guiding principles he learned
early in life - to work to make people's lives better; to honour
family and faith; to value persistence, candour, and honesty - are
the foundation on which he has based his life's work as husband,
father, and public servant. Promises to Keep is an intimate series
of reflections from a politician who surmounted numerous challenges
to become one of America's most effective leaders and who refuses
to be cynical about politics. It is also a stirring testament to
the promise of the United States.
The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in
1954 has long been heralded as a landmark in the progress of civil
rights in the United States. But as the forces opposing affirmative
action and supporting resegregation have gained ground in recent
years, its legacy has been questioned. Some wonder whether the
decision did more harm than good, by fomenting a backlash, or
whether the desegregation it brought about might not have been
accomplished anyway through legislation. Others worry about the
racial paternalism they see as inherent in the desegregation
project and reflected in the Brown ruling.
Choosing Equality includes contributions that give voice to
these concerns, yet it provides a strong challenge to this
revisionist interpretation. It does so in a unique way, by
positioning the issues in the overall national context but focusing
on them in the experience of one state, Delaware, that stands as a
microcosm of the larger conflict. The State's significance to Brown
lies in its contributing two of the five cases that were
consolidated in the Court's review of the litigation. But
Delaware's own history registered the racial conflict at the heart
of the American dilemma: a slave state that fought on the side of
the North in the Civil War, it experienced black migration to its
cities and the ghettoization that followed but also had black
farmers working as sharecroppers next to whites in its southern
section. Moreover, while it saw massive resistance to
desegregation, it also was the site of one of the largest and most
peaceful metropolitan desegregation efforts.
This volume offers not only academic analyses of Delaware's
experience of Brown, set in the broader framework of the debate
over its significance at the national level, but also the personal
voices of many of the leading participants, from judges and lawyers
down to community activists and the students who lived through this
important era of the civil rights movement and saw how it changed
their future by giving them hope.
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