The Joe Biden experience

Nov 7, 2020

Evan Osnos, a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of "Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now," dives deep into Joe Biden's remarkable evolution in politics. They discuss how Biden transformed from a centrist senator in 1980 to a more complex political figure by 2020. Osnos highlights Biden's resilience shaped by personal trauma, his commitment to pluralism, and his unique relationship-building strategies, particularly in navigating a polarized landscape. Biden's negotiation style with figures like Mitch McConnell further illustrates his practical approach to governance.

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ANECDOTE

Biden's Early Political Persona

A young Joe Biden admitted that elections were more about personality than substance.
He later matured after being called out for speaking on topics he knew little about, like oil wells.

ANECDOTE

Biden's Senate Run

At 29, Joe Biden ran for Senate with limited political experience and no defining issue.
His initial motivation stemmed from a perceived gift for charismatic speaking and connecting with people.

INSIGHT

The Senate's Impact on Biden

The Senate's support during Biden's personal tragedy deeply shaped his view of the institution.
It fostered his belief in the Senate's power to unite individuals despite ideological differences.

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Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States. And — counting the votes of people, not just land — it won’t be close. If current trends hold, Biden will see a larger popular vote margin than Hillary Clinton in 2016, Barack Obama in 2012, or George W. Bush in 2004.

Commentary over the past few days has focused on the man he beat, and the incompetent coup being attempted in plain sight. But I want to focus on Biden, who is one of the more misunderstood figures in American politics — including, at times, by me.

Biden has been in national politics for almost five decades. And so, people tend to understand the era of Joe Biden they encountered first — the centrist Senate dealmaker, or the overconfident foreign policy hand, or the meme-able vice president, or the grieving, grave father. But Biden, more so than most politicians, changes. And it’s how he changes, and why, that’s key to understanding his campaign, and his likely presidency.

Evan Osnos is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now, a sharp biography of the next president. Osnos and I discuss:

The mystery of Joe Biden’s first political campaign
Why the Joe Biden who entered the Senate in 1980 is such a radically different person than the Joe Biden who ran for president in 2020
What the Senate taught Biden
Biden’s ideological flexibility, and the theory of politics that drives it
The differences between Biden’s three presidential campaigns -- and what they reveal about how he’s grown
The way Biden views disagreement, and why that’s so central to his understanding of politics
How Biden’s relationship with Barack Obama changed his approach to governance
The similarities — and differences — between how Obama and Biden think about politics
Why Biden is “the perfect weathervane for where the center of the Democratic party is.”
Biden’s relationship with Mitch McConnell
How Biden thinks about foreign policy
Why Biden has become more skeptical about the use of American military might in the last decade

And much more.

Book recommendations:

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

The Field of Blood by Joanne B. Freeman

The Ideas That Made America by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

Credits:

Producer/Audio engineer - Jeff Geld

Researcher - Roge Karma

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