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Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics : Horror Book Reviews

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Title: Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics
Score:
Author: Senator Joseph Biden
Rating: Not available
Hits: 47

Review of Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics

“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.

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Comments for Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics

Posted on 2010-01-26
Don't Bother!

Unfortunately, Joe Biden is as narcissistic as his master, Emperor Obama. I had high hopes for Joe, but he is owned by the same group that Obama is, the Bilderbergers.
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Posted on 2009-09-20
An enjoyable life story.

Joe Biden wrote this book in anticipation of another run for the presidency, twenty years after his first attempt. Ultimately, he came up short, but unexpectedly ended up on the ticket anyway, as running mate to Barack Obama, an outcome that did sales of this book no harm. "Promises to Keep", of course, aims to present Biden in the best possible light, but if you're reading a political autobiography, you should already expect that (and who among us wouldn't do the same?). As Bill Clinton observed, all autobiographies are self-serving, the big question is whether they're boring and self-serving or interesting and self-serving. "Promises to Keep", thankfully, can be counted among the latter group.

Biden describes more or less his whole life as of the time of writing (perhaps subsequent to the administration he'll supply his take on that rather significant period in his career), from birth to the beginning of a new presidential campaign that would ultimately carry him into the Vice Presidency. He gives us the story both of his family and his political career, and, in general, I would say that the sections about his family life are the ones I enjoyed reading more. The chapters that describe the death of his first wife and his eventual courtship and remarriage of his second wife Jill are the best, by far. You come away feeling you know this family. His extended family is likewise rendered well.

Politically, Biden's time in the Senate spans an era in US history. He arrived in the period when the old Southern Democratic guard was on its way out, with men like Arkansas's J. William Fulbright and Mississippi's James Eastland still manning the Senate's major committees, a somewhat complicated setup for a rookie Northern liberal. Fulbright makes a brief appearance stoically telling Biden how best to deal with family death, something he himself was no stranger to in the course of his term. Biden devotes quite a bit of space to the hearings on Robert Bork's Supreme Court nomination, one of the biggest firefights in Senate nomination history, and which occurred at the same time that his 1988 presidential campaign was running into trouble. Biden offers his own explanation for the Kinnock plagiarism question that has dogged him, and it's an understandable one (namely, that he'd used the reference with citation before, but omitted it accidentally on that occasion). The period of the 1990s is dominated by questions of liberal internationalism in the wake of the end of the Cold War, as Biden was one of the foremost advocates of muscular intervention in support of human rights, a philosophy that has floundered in the 21st century after the war in Iraq has tested the limits of such ideas.

Very readable (and of a very reasonable length), I'd recommend this for anyone interested in Joe Biden's own presentation of his life story.
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Posted on 2009-05-17
Promises to Keep

Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics
Excellent item. Audio was good and content was tremendous.
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Posted on 2009-02-27
Get to know Joe Biden after you read his propaganda

.....In September 1987, Joe Bidens Presidential campaign ran into problems when he plagiarized a speech by Neil Kinnock, who was then-leader of the British Labour Party.
.....It was also discovered that, when he was a law student at Syracuse Law School, he had plagiarized a law review article. While the then-dean of the law school, as well as Biden's former professor, played down the seriousness of the incident, they did find Biden drew "chunks of heavy legal prose directly from" the article in question. Biden said it was unintentional due to his not knowing the proper rules of citation, (after 4 years of college one should know the rules of citation) and Biden was permitted to retake the course after receiving a grade of F, which was later dropped from his record.
.....When questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, Biden had inaccurately recalled graduating in the "top half" of his class when he actually graduated 76th from a class of 85, and he also falsely stated that he had received a full scholarship, and had earned three degrees. The truth is that he had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A degree, as well as a half scholarship based on financial need, not academic achievement .
.....When he was confronted with these truths, Biden withdrew from the nomination race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his past mistakes.
.....Why has Israel's Army radio reported that Senator Joe Biden told Israeli officials that they need to accept the idea Iran will acquire nuclear weapons?
.....Why does Joe Biden, a past supporter of Israel, now support direct negotiations with Iran despite UN violations as to their nuclear program?
.....Why did he vote for the war in Iraq but against the surge?
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Posted on 2009-01-22
Great Choice

I bought this book for my grandmother for Christmas and she loves it, especially since she's from Delaware!
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