Barack Obama

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Barack Obama
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United States Department of State / Bureau of International Information Programs

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Barack Obama
In His Own Words
4 4 t h P r e s i d e n t o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s
In this excerpt from one of his speeches, Barack
spired by stories of the Civil Rights Movement
Obama talks about a time in his life when he
and JFK’s [President John F. Kennedy’s] call to
“began to notice a world beyond myself ” and
service, but when I got to the South Side, there
about his desire to be an agent of change. These
were no marches, and no soaring speeches. In
remarks were made in a commencement ad-
the shadow of an empty steel plant, there were
dress at Wesleyan University, Middletown,
just a lot of folks who were struggling. And we
Connecticut, May 25, 2008.
didn’t get very far at first.
I became active in the movement to op- I still remember one of the very first meet-
pose the apartheid regime of South Af-
ings we put together to discuss gang violence
rica. I began following the debates in
with a group of community leaders. We waited
this country about poverty and health
and waited for people to show up, and finally,
care. So that by the time I graduated
a group of older people walked into the hall.
And they sat down. And a little old lady raised
from college, I was possessed with a crazy idea
her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo
— that I would work at a grassroots level to
game is?”
bring about change.
It wasn’t easy, but eventually, we made prog-
I wrote letters to every organization in the
ress. Day by day, block by block, we brought
country I could think of. And one day, a small
the community together, and registered new
group of churches on the South Side of Chi-
voters, and set up after-school programs, and
cago offered me a job to come work as a com-
fought for new jobs, and helped people live
munity organizer in neighborhoods that had
lives with some measure of dignity.
been devastated by steel plant closings. My
mother and grandparents wanted me to go to
But I also began to realize that I wasn’t just
law school. My friends were applying to jobs
helping other people. Through service, I found
on Wall Street. Meanwhile, this organization
a community that embraced me; citizenship
offered me $12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an
that was meaningful; the direction I’d been
Contents
old, beat-up car. And I said yes.
seeking. Through service, I discovered how
Barack Obama ~ An American Life ..........................................
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my own improbable story fit into the larger
Barack Obama’s Vision for the Future .......................................
10
Now, I didn’t know a soul in Chicago, and I
story of America.
wasn’t sure what this community organizing
Meet the Obama Family ...........................................................
12
business was all about. I had always been in-
Vice President Joseph Biden .....................................................
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Barack Obama ~ An American Life
Barack Obama’s unique biography presidential election against Republican candi- America,” Obama said in his address to the 2004 Barack Obama Jr. was born in Honolulu. Two
and successful campaign for the
date Senator John McCain.
Democratic National Convention. “There’s not
years later the senior Obama left his new family,
U.S. presidency have opened a
a black America and white America and Latino
first for graduate study at Harvard and then for
new chapter in U.S. politics.
With a polished speaking style, a command of
America and Asian America; there’s the United
a job as a government economist back in Kenya.
eloquent and uplifting rhetoric, the ability to
States of America. … We are one people, all of
The young Obama met his father again only
President Obama, the first African-American
inspire the enthusiasm of young voters, and the
us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all
once, at age 10.
president of the United States, brings a life story
sophisticated use of the Internet as a campaign
of us defending the United States of America.”
unlike that of any previous U.S. leader. The bi-
tool, Obama was very much a 21st-century can-
When Obama was six, his mother remar-
racial son of a Kenyan father and a white mother
didate. In his campaign, Obama stressed two
The Early Years
ried, this time to an Indonesian oil ex-
from the American heartland, Obama shot to
overarching themes: changing Washington’s tra-
ecutive. The family moved to Indonesia, and
national prominence with a well-received keynote
ditional way of conducting the nation’s business
Obama’s parents came from vastly different
Obama spent four years attending school in the
speech at the Democratic National Convention
and invoking Americans of diverse ideological,
backgrounds. His mother, Ann Dunham, was
capital city of Jakarta. He eventually returned to
in 2004, the same year he was elected to the U.S.
social, and racial backgrounds to unite for the
born and raised in small-town Kansas. After her
Hawaii and went to high school there while liv-
Senate from the state of Illinois. Just four years
common good.
family moved to the Hawaiian Islands, she met
ing with his maternal grandparents.
later, he rose to the top of a field crowded with
Barack Obama Sr., a Kenyan scholarship stu-
Democratic heavyweights to clinch his party’s
“There’s not a liberal America and a conser-
dent enrolled at the University of Hawaii. The
In his first book, Dreams from My Father, Obama
nomination for the White House and win the
vative America — there’s the United States of
two married in 1959, and on August 4, 1961,
describes this period of his life as having more
Young Barack with his mother,
Nine-year-old Barack in Indonesia with his
Barack, age 10, and his Kenyan
Barack Obama, center, on his school’s
Celebrating his high school graduation with
As a college student at Co-
Ann Dunham, circa 1963.
mother; stepather Lolo Soetoro; and half
father, Barack Obama Sr.
junior varsity basketball team in
grandparents Madelyn Payne and Stanley
lumbia University in New York,
sister Maya.
Hawaii, 1977.
Armour Dunham in Hawaii, 1979.
circa1983.
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than the usual share of adolescent turmoil, as he
ated from college, I was possessed with a crazy
this work, giving South Side residents a voice
Chicago, where he practiced civil rights law and
struggled to make sense of a biracial heritage
idea — that I would work at a grassroots level to
in such issues as economic redevelopment, job
taught constitutional law at the University of
then still relatively uncommon in the United
bring about change.”
training, and environmental clean-up efforts.
Chicago. In 1992 he married Michelle Robinson,
States. Being rooted in both black culture and
He viewed his primary role as a community or-
another Harvard Law graduate, and worked on
white culture may have helped give Obama the
Called to Public Service
ganizer, however, as that of a catalyst mobilizing
voter registration in Chicago to help Democratic
expansive vision he brought to politics years lat-
ordinary citizens in a bottom-up effort to forge
candidates such as Bill Clinton.
er, one that understands many points of view.
In search of his identity and a purposeful direc-
indigenous strategies for political and economic
tion in life, Obama subsequently left his job as
empowerment.
With a continuing strong commitment to public
“Barack has an incredible ability to synthesize
a financial writer with an international consult-
service, Obama decided to make his first run at
seemingly contradictory realities and make them
ing firm in New York and headed to Chicago
After three years of such work, Obama con- elective office in 1996, winning a seat from Chi-
coherent,” his law school classmate Cassandra
in 1985. There, he worked as a community or-
cluded that to bring about true improve-
cago in the Illinois state senate. In many ways
Butts told New Yorker magazine writer Larissa
ganizer for a coalition of local churches on the
ment in such distressed communities required
the race was a logical progression of his earlier
MacFarquhar. “It comes from going from a home
city’s South Side, a poor African-American area
involvement at a higher level, in the realm of
work as a community organizer, and Obama
where white people are nurturing you, and then
hard hit by the transition from a manufacturing
law and politics. Accordingly, he attended Har-
brought much of that same expansive outlook
you go out into the world and you’re seen as a
center to a service-based economy.
vard Law School, where he distinguished him-
— the politician as an enabler of citizen-directed
black person.”
self by being elected the first black president of
grassroots efforts and a builder of broad-based
“It was in these neighborhoods that I received
the prestigious Harvard Law Review and gradu-
coalitions — to his vision of politics.
Obama left Hawaii to attend Occidental College
the best education I ever had, and where I
ating magna cum laude in 1991.
in Los Angeles for two years. He later moved to
learned the true meaning of my Christian faith,”
“Any African Americans who are only talking
New York City and earned a bachelor of arts
Obama recounted years later in the speech an-
With these credentials, “Obama could have done
about racism as a barrier to our success are se-
degree from Columbia University in 1983. In
nouncing his presidential candidacy.
anything he wanted,” noted David Axelrod, who
riously misled if they don’t also come to grips
a speech given in 2008, Obama described his
served as his presidential campaign strategist.
with the larger economic forces that are cre-
thinking at the time: “… by the time I gradu-
Obama enjoyed some tangible successes in
Obama returned to his adopted hometown of
ating economic insecurity for all workers —
At Harvard Law School in Boston,
Registering voters in Chicago, circa 1992.
Barack and Michelle Obama on their
Teaching constitutional law at the
Elected to the Illinois state senate as representative
State Senator Obama, with his family
Massachusetts, circa 1991.
wedding day, October 18, 1992.
University of Chicago Law School,
from Chicago in1996, Obama is reelected three times.
at his side, concedes defeat in his
circa 1993.
bid to be elected to the United
States Congress, 2000.
Dreams from My Father, published 1995.
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— whites, Latinos, and Asians,” he said at the
party’s primary for the senatorial nomination.
national media spotlight as a rising star of the
In the Senate, Obama amassed a voting record
time. Among his legislative accomplishments
Obama easily captured the Democratic nomi-
Democratic Party. He went on to win handily in
in line with that of the Democratic Party’s liber-
over the next eight years in the state senate
nation, winning a greater share of the vote — 53
the Senate race that autumn, capturing an over-
al wing. His criticism of the war in Iraq has been
were campaign finance reform, tax cuts for the
percent — than his six opponents combined.
whelming 70 percent of the popular vote. Al-
one of his trademarks, dating back to a speech
working poor, and improvements to the state’s
though the near-total disarray that year among
in 2002, even before the war started, when he
criminal justice system.
With the Republicans then holding the
Republicans in Illinois undoubtedly contributed
warned that any such military action would be
100-member U.S. Senate by a razor-thin ma-
to the landslide margin, Obama’s victory was
based “not on principle but on politics.” He also
The National Stage
jority of 51 seats, Democrats saw the senatorial
impressive in its own right, as he won in 93 of
has worked to strengthen ethical standards in
contest in Illinois as critical to their chances of
the state’s 102 counties and captured white vot-
Congress, improve care for military veterans,
In 2000 Obama made his first run for the U.S.
retaking the Senate that November (in fact, they
ers by better than a two-to-one margin.
and increase use of renewable fuels.
Congress, unsuccessfully challenging Bobby
only regained control in 2006). The desire to give
Rush, an incumbent Democrat from Chicago,
Obama’s campaign a boost through a prominent
Obama’s reputation as a new breed of politi- Running for President
for Rush’s seat in the House of Representatives.
convention role, the well-known oratory skills
cian, one able to overcome traditional ra-
Dispirited by his lopsided primary loss to Rush
Obama possessed, and the very favorable im-
cial divides, grew steadily. In a New Yorker pro-
The long Democratic primary election cam-
and searching for influence beyond the Illinois
pression he already had made on Democratic
file of Obama, writer William Finnegan, noting
paign of 2008, with elections or caucuses in all
state legislature, he sold Michelle on the idea of
presidential candidate John Kerry clinched the
Obama’s talent at “slipping subtly into the idiom
50 states, was historic in several ways. African-
his running for the U.S. Senate in a last-shot “up
decision to select Obama as the convention’s
of his interlocutor,” said Obama “speaks a full
American and women candidates had run for
or out strategy” to advance his political career.
keynote speaker.
range of American vernaculars.” Obama offered
the presidency before, but this time the two
his own explanation why he could connect with
front-runners were a woman and an African
The 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois had turned
Obama’s speech, with its soaring, polished lan-
white voters.
American. As Barack Obama and seven other
into a free-for-all the year before, when the Re-
guage on the need to transcend partisan divi-
“I know these people,” he said. “Those are my
contenders for the Democratic presidential
publican incumbent, Peter Fitzgerald, announced
sions and its call for a “politics of hope” rather
grandparents. … Their manners, their sensibili-
nomination began to organize in 2007, opin-
he would not seek reelection. Seven Democrats
than a politics of cynicism, did more than rouse
ties, their sense of right and wrong — it’s all
ion polls consistently put Obama in second
and eight Republicans contested their respective
convention-goers; it catapulted Obama into the
totally familiar to me.”
place behind the presumed favorite, New York
State Senator Obama runs for
Still a candidate for U.S. senator, Obama is invited to deliver
The candidate for U.S. senator
U.S. Senator Obama with then chairman of
Obama with his Kenyan
The Obama family lays wreaths at the
Barack Obama, with his family by his side,
United States senator from
the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention,
from Illinois with wife Michelle and
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
grandmother, Sarah Hussein memorial to the victims of the 1998
announces his candidacy for president,
Illinois, July 2004.
July 27, 2004.
daughters Sasha, front, and Malia
Senator Joe Biden.
Obama, in Kogelo village,
U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi,
February 2007.
on Election Day 2004.
Kenya, August 2006.
Kenya, August 2006.
The Audacity of Hope, published 2006.
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Senator Hillary Clinton. Obama, however, was
The strategy paid off with the first-in-the-nation
dent to have come of age in the 1980s, which of
be changed any way but very, very slowly,” she
highly successful in this early stage of the race
Iowa caucuses on January 3, 2008, when Obama
itself might portend change. The atmosphere in
wrote, “Obama is deeply conservative.”
at enlisting an enthusiastic cadre of supporters,
scored an upset victory over Clinton. The Iowa
which he grew up was markedly different from
especially among youth, creating a nationwide
win was a game-changer; as the Washington Post
the socially tumultuous 1960s that shaped ear-
President Obama has broken new ground in
put it, “Beating Clinton … altered the course
lier baby boomers’ outlook. As Obama once said
U.S. politics. His candidacy came at precisely
grassroots campaign organization, and fundrais-
of the race by establishing Obama as her chief
about the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections,
the time when many Americans believed their
ing through the Internet.
rival — the only candidate with the message, or-
contested by candidates from a much earlier co-
country needed a fundamental transformation
ganizational muscle, and financial resources to
hort of that postwar generation, “I sometimes
in its direction. Washington Post political colum-
With Clinton enjoying greater name recog- challenge her front-runner status.”
felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of
nist E.J. Dionne may have summed up perfectly
nition, a well-oiled campaign machine,
the baby boom generation – a tale rooted in old
the serendipitous confluence between Obama’s
and support at the state level from leading Dem-
It paid off once more on “Super Tuesday” — the
grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful
candidacy and the American zeitgeist when he
ocrats, the Obama camp devised an innovative
elections held simultaneously in 22 states on
of college campuses long ago – played out on the
wrote:
strategy to negate these advantages: targeting
February 5 — when Obama dueled Clinton to a
national stage.”
states that used caucuses rather than primaries
tie and swept rural states in the West and South.
Change, not experience, was the order of the day.
to select delegates and focusing on smaller states
And it paid off yet again when Obama went on
The New Yorker’s Larissa MacFarquhar of- Sweep, not a mastery of detail, was the virtue most
that traditionally voted Republican in the gen-
to win 10 more consecutive contests in Febru-
fered one theory on Obama’s noticeable ap-
valued in campaign oratory. A clean break with the
ary, cementing a lead in delegates Clinton never
peal across traditional political lines. “Obama’s
eral election. This approach capitalized on the
past, not merely a return to better days, was the prom-
again could catch.
voting record is one of the most liberal in the
ise most prized.
Democratic Party’s system of proportional rep-
Senate,” she observed, “but he has always ap-
resentation — awarding convention delegates in
An Obama Presidency
pealed to Republicans, perhaps because he speaks
each state in rough proportion to a candidate’s
about liberal goals in conservative language.”
share of the vote — as opposed to the Republi-
Barack Obama is the among the youngest U.S.
cans’ system of awarding most or all convention
presidents. Born at the tail end of the 1946-1964
“In his view of history, in his respect for tra-
delegates to the winner in each state.
baby boom generation, he is also the first presi-
dition, in his skepticism that the world can
Obama, third from right, at a televised debate
Obama campaigns in the small
Celebrating his Super Tuesday victories
Barack and Michelle Obama at a rally on June 3, 2008.
Presidential nominee Barack Obama, far
with six other candidates for the Democratic
town of Peosta, Iowa. Obama
with supporters, February 5, 2008.
Primary victories that day assured enough convention
right, with running mate Joe Biden, far
nomination for president, November 2007.
won the Iowa caucus, held on
delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
left, and their wives at the Democratic
January 3, 2008.
National Convention, August 28, 2008.
Debating with chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton.
Talking with reporters on his campaign plane.
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Barack Obama’s Vision for the Future
Excerpts from “The American Moment,” Remarks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, April 23, 2007
I believe that the single most important job of any President is to protect the American
people. And I am equally convinced that doing that job effectively in the 21st century
will require a new vision of American leadership and a new conception of our national
security — a vision that draws from the lessons of the past, but is not bound by outdated
thinking.
In today’s globalized world, the security of the American people is inextricably linked to the se-
curity of all people. When narco-trafficking and corruption threaten democracy in Latin America,
it’s America’s problem too. When poor villagers in Indonesia have no choice but to send chickens
to market infected with avian flu, it cannot be seen as a distant concern. When religious schools
in Pakistan teach hatred to young children, our children are threatened as well.
Whether it’s global terrorism or pandemic disease, dramatic climate change or the proliferation of
weapons of mass annihilation, the threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century can no longer
be contained by borders and boundaries.
America is the country that helped liberate a continent from the march of a madman. We
are the country that told the brave people of a divided city that we were Berliners too.
* * * * *
We sent generations of young people to serve as ambassadors for peace in countries all
M
over the world. And we’re the country that rushed aid throughout Asia for the victims
any Americans may find it tempting to turn inward, and cede our claim of leader-
of a devastating tsunami.
ship in world affairs.
Now it’s our moment to lead — our generation’s time to tell another great American story. So some-
I insist, however, that such an abandonment of our leadership is a mistake we must
day we can tell our children that this was the time when we helped forge peace in the Middle East.
not make. America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them
That this was the time when we confronted climate change and secured the weapons that could
without America. We must neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission —
destroy the human race. This was the time when we brought opportunity to those forgotten corners
we must lead the world, by deed and example.
of the world. And this was the time when we renewed the America that has led generations of weary
travelers from all over the world to find opportunity, and liberty, and hope on our doorstep.
We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the security of our people and advance
the security of all people. We must lead by marshalling a global effort to stop the spread of the
world’s most dangerous weapons. We must lead by building and strengthening the partnerships
and alliances necessary to meet our common challenges and defeat our common threats.
And America must lead by reaching out to all those living disconnected lives of despair in the
world’s forgotten corners — because while there will always be those who succumb to hate and
strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who want to take another path — who want
our beacon of hope to shine its light their way.
Above, Barack Obama addresses the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, April 23, 2007.
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rian and professor of communications at Rider
University in New Jersey. “She is bright, she is
articulate, and she has professional experiences
Meet the Obama Family in management.”
The Obamas hope that their enthusiasm for
Michelle Robinson worked hard in school and
public service and their extensive professional
landed a spot in the Princeton University class
experience and achievements will help them
of 1985. After earning an undergraduate degree
in sociology with a minor in African-American
studies, she attended Harvard Law School.
Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson met in
1989 when she, then an associate at the Chicago,
Illinois, law firm Sidley & Austin, was assigned
to mentor Obama, who was a summer intern.
The future president asked her to attend one of
his community organizing sessions in Chicago.
She accepted and attended a meeting, where she
told Newsweek that he spoke to participants
about closing the gap between “the world as it
is, and the world as it should be.”
Above, Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National
Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama contin-
Convention, August 25, 2008. Below, The Obamas traveled
ued to date, and the couple married in 1992. The
together during much of the presidential campaign.
Obamas share a passion for public service and
deal with the challenges ahead. Behind Barack
have devoted much of their adult lives to careers
Obama’s desire to be president and have a posi-
in the public sector.
tive impact on the world are his young daugh-
ters, Malia, born in 1998, and Sasha (short for
After leaving the corporate law practice where
Natasha), born in 2001. The girls are the young-
The Obamas enjoy an Independence Day parade in Butte, Montana, July 4, 2008. From left are Michelle, Sasha, Barack, and Malia.
they met, Mrs. Obama held several positions
est inhabitants of the White House since Amy
in Chicago government, and she was founding
Carter, who was nine years old when her father,
executive director of Pub-
Jimmy Carter, was elected president in 1976.
not supposed to be here, standing here. I’m a
statistical oddity. Black girl, brought up on the
lic Allies — Chicago, an
organization that encour-
“My life revolves around
South Side of Chicago. Was I supposed to go
ages young people to pursue
my two girls,” then Senator
The Obamas are the first African-
American family to move into the
White House.
to Princeton? No. … They said maybe Harvard
public service jobs. Most
Obama said in a Father’s Day
President Barack Obama and his
Law was too much for me to reach for. But I
recently, she served as vice
speech at a Chicago church.
wife, Michelle, are well aware of the historic
went, I did fine. And I’m certainly not supposed
president of community and
“And what I think about is
significance of his election and what it means
to be standing here.”
external affairs at the Uni-
what kind of world I’m leav-
to many Americans. In her campaign stump
versity of Chicago Medical
ing them. What I’ve realized
speech, Mrs. Obama often mentioned a 10-year-
The first lady was born Michelle Robinson
Center.
is that life doesn’t count for
old girl she met in a South Carolina beauty shop
and raised in a working-class family in Chica-
much unless you’re willing to
who told her that if Barack Obama were elected
go, Illinois. Her father worked at the munici-
do your small part to leave our
president, “it means that I can imagine anything
“She certainly seems to be
pal water department and was a Democratic
someone who would take
children — all of our children
for myself.”
precinct captain, while her mother was a stay-
advantage of the podium the
— a better world. That is our
“She could have been me,” Mrs. Obama told
at-home mom who took care of her and her
White House affords her,”
ultimate responsibility as
Newsweek magazine. “Because the truth is, I’m
older brother, Craig.
said Dr. Myra Gutin, histo-
fathers and parents.”
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Vice President Joseph Biden
During his Senate career, Biden compiled a
agreed. Biden voted for the final Senate resolu-
mostly liberal record. Although he is well liked
tion authorizing a U.S. invasion of Iraq, whereas
by Republicans and has worked across party
Obama (not yet in the Senate at the time) spoke
lines, he mostly has supported his own party.
out against it.
For example, according to the Washington Post,
in his last two years in the Senate, Biden voted
Prior to voting for the final resolution, however,
with Democrats 96.6 percent of the time. He “is
Biden worked with Republican Senator Richard
widely seen as a liberal-minded internationalist,”
Lugar of Indiana to pass a resolution authoriz-
wrote Michael Gordon in the New York Times.
“He has emphasized the need for diplomacy but
has been prepared at times to back it with the
threat of force.”
In his early years in the Senate, Biden concen-
trated on domestic issues, particularly civil liber-
ties, law enforcement, and civil rights. He be-
came a member of the Judiciary Committee in
1975 and was its chair from 1987 to 1995. Biden’s
most significant legislative accomplishment dur-
ing this time was the landmark Violence Against
Women Act (1994), which he authored. It pro-
vides billions of dollars in federal funds to ad-
dress gender-based crimes. But Biden sometimes
Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, left, with presidential nominee Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, August 28, 2008.
“I
departed from the conventional liberal view. He
count my role in helping to end
and is a graduate of Syracuse University Law
was a strong advocate, for example, of tougher
Senator Biden, seated at right, with fellow members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, August 1986.
genocide in the Balkans and in se-
School in New York.
drug sentencing laws. He also opposed busing
curing passage of the Violence
to achieve racial integration of schools while un-
ing military action only after the exhaustion of
Against Women Act as my proudest
The turning point of Biden’s political career
derlining his commitment to civil rights.
diplomatic efforts. Biden voted to authorize
moments in public life.” So wrote then Senator
came when he was first elected to the U.S. Sen-
the war after that resolution was rejected. But
Joseph R. Biden, the vice president of the Unit-
A Foreign Affairs Perspective
ate, representing Delaware, in 1972, when he was
he also voted against an amendment that would
ed States, in his 2007 autobiography Promises to
29 years old. A few weeks before he was sworn
have required the Bush administration to seek
Keep: On Life and Politics.
into office, his wife and daughter were killed
Biden distinguished himself in the Senate in for-
further authorization before invading Iraq. By
eign affairs. He was a member of the influential
2005, Biden called his vote on Iraq “a mistake.”
Key to understanding this self-appraisal is Biden’s
in an automobile accident. His two young sons
Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 1975
In a joint appearance in Springfield, Illinois, af-
background. He is an Irish Catholic, born un-
survived the accident but were seriously injured.
and its chair from 2001 to 2003 and from 2007
ter Obama selected Biden as his running mate,
der modest circumstances in 1942 in Scranton, a
(Biden remarried in 1977, a union that produced
until 2009. Barack Obama was assigned to this
Obama said Biden is “an expert on foreign policy
mostly working-class city in northeastern Penn-
a daughter.) Another calamity occurred in 1988
committee after he was elected to the Senate in
whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the
sylvania. His mother was a homemaker; his fa-
when he was diagnosed with two potentially fa-
2004 and got to know Biden well as they worked
middle class.” Obama also called Biden “a power-
ther, a car salesman. The family moved to the
tal brain aneurysms. His recovery was long and
together. Obama headed the Europe subcommit-
ful critic of the Bush-McCain foreign policy and a
state of Delaware when Biden was 10. He was
painful. He was absent&nb