Promises to Keep
The Acclaimed Memoir of the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate
(Sprache: Englisch)
Traces the political and personal life of the Delaware senator, discussing the untimely deaths of his first wife and daughter, his presidential campaigns, and his hopes for the future.
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Produktinformationen zu „Promises to Keep “
Traces the political and personal life of the Delaware senator, discussing the untimely deaths of his first wife and daughter, his presidential campaigns, and his hopes for the future.
Klappentext zu „Promises to Keep “
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER President Joe Biden, the author of Promise Me, Dad, 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, Joe Biden reveals what these experiences taught him about himself, his colleagues, and the institutions of government.
With his customary candor and wit, Biden movingly 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, with world leaders, and with 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 honor family and faith; to value persistence, candor, 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 public servant who surmounted numerous challenges to become one of our most effective leaders and who refuses to be cynical about politics. It is also a stirring testament to the promise of the United States.
Praise for Promises to Keep
A ripping good read . . . Biden is a master storyteller and has stories worth telling. The Christian Science Monitor
A compelling personal story. The New York Times
Moving . . . [Biden s] response to tragedy and near death [is] both admirable and likable. Salon
Lese-Probe zu „Promises to Keep “
The start at Archmere was a hard one for me. I was the second smallest boy in the class, five feet one inch, and just over a hundred pounds. And it didn t take long for my fellow students to pick up on my stutter or the fact that I was the one kid who didn t have to stand up for public speaking our first year. But I didn t want any exemptions, and I didn t want any excuses. I prayed that I would grow out of the stutter, but I wasn t going to leave this to chance. I was going to beat the stutter. And I went at it the only way I knew how: I worked like hell. Practice, practice, practice. I would memorize long passages of Yeats and Emerson, then stand in front of the mirror in my room on Wilson Road and talk, talk, talk. Meek young men grow up in libraries . . . Meek young men grow up in libraries . . . Meek young men grow up in libraries . . . I d stare at myself as I talked to make sure I kept the muscles in my face from contorting. That s what really made the other kids laugh, and made me freeze. So if I saw my jaw start to clench, I d pause, try to go slack, smile, then pick it up again. Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books. Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm. At home I had constant encouragement from my mom, but I had a second spur there, too: Uncle Boo-Boo. My mom s brother, Edward Blewitt Boo-Boo Finnegan, came to visit us in Wilmington just after Grandpop Finnegan died in 1956, and he stayed for seventeen years. Blewitt was a traveling salesman for Serta, the mattress company, but when he d come off the road, he bunked in Mayfield with me and my brothers. Boo-Boo could be a great pal. He was a brilliant guy the only person in the house with a college degree. He d make me read the New York Times editorial page, then sit and
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argue politics with me and my friends. One day he drove Val and me to Washington, D.C., just to see the Capitol. He walked right up to Senator Everett Dirksen and introduced us.
Like my father, Blewitt could not stand vulgarity. When Jimmy or I started trying out curse words we d picked up at school, Uncle Boo-Boo would scoff: Vulgarity is a sign of a limited mind trying to express itself, Joey. Why don t you come up with something more creative in trying to express your displeasure?
But Uncle Boo-Boo had a terrible stutter his entire life, and he used it as a crutch, an excuse for everything he didn t accomplish. He never married, never had children, and never made a home of his own. He had so much talent, and he squandered it. The day after Pearl Harbor my mom s four brothers went down to sign up for war service. Three of them got in. My uncle Ambrose Jr. was a flier killed in New Guinea. Jack and Gerry did their part. But the army wouldn t take Blewitt. Was it because of his stutter? With a few drinks in him, he would tell me how he really meant to be a doctor. He would have gone to medical school if it weren t for his debilitating stutter. That s a damn lie, Edward Blewitt Finnegan, my mom would say for all of us to hear. You could have gone to medical school if it took twenty years. My mom wouldn t accept excuses.
Even as kids we noticed Uncle Boo-Boo drank a bit heavily. And as time went on, he became more and more bitter. If he was being made fun of Hu-hu-hu-hu-hey Bu-bu-bu-bu-Blewitt he d hit back hard. My n-n-n-name i-i-i-i-s F-f-f-f-f-finnegan, ya know. I bet you n-n-n-n-never even heard of F-f-f-f-Finnegans Wake! I ll w-w-w-w-wager you don&rsqu
Like my father, Blewitt could not stand vulgarity. When Jimmy or I started trying out curse words we d picked up at school, Uncle Boo-Boo would scoff: Vulgarity is a sign of a limited mind trying to express itself, Joey. Why don t you come up with something more creative in trying to express your displeasure?
But Uncle Boo-Boo had a terrible stutter his entire life, and he used it as a crutch, an excuse for everything he didn t accomplish. He never married, never had children, and never made a home of his own. He had so much talent, and he squandered it. The day after Pearl Harbor my mom s four brothers went down to sign up for war service. Three of them got in. My uncle Ambrose Jr. was a flier killed in New Guinea. Jack and Gerry did their part. But the army wouldn t take Blewitt. Was it because of his stutter? With a few drinks in him, he would tell me how he really meant to be a doctor. He would have gone to medical school if it weren t for his debilitating stutter. That s a damn lie, Edward Blewitt Finnegan, my mom would say for all of us to hear. You could have gone to medical school if it took twenty years. My mom wouldn t accept excuses.
Even as kids we noticed Uncle Boo-Boo drank a bit heavily. And as time went on, he became more and more bitter. If he was being made fun of Hu-hu-hu-hu-hey Bu-bu-bu-bu-Blewitt he d hit back hard. My n-n-n-name i-i-i-i-s F-f-f-f-f-finnegan, ya know. I bet you n-n-n-n-never even heard of F-f-f-f-Finnegans Wake! I ll w-w-w-w-wager you don&rsqu
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Autoren-Porträt von Joe Biden
Joe Biden was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972 and served there until 2009, when he assumed the office of vice president under Barack Obama. He grew up in New Castle County, Delaware, and graduated from the University of Delaware and the Syracuse University College of Law. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Joe Biden
- 2008, 400 Seiten, mit Schwarz-Weiß-Abbildungen, Maße: 14,9 x 20,6 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Penguin Random House
- ISBN-10: 0812976215
- ISBN-13: 9780812976212
- Erscheinungsdatum: 08.10.2008
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
A ripping good read . . . Biden is a master storyteller and has stories worth telling. The Christian Science MonitorA compelling personal story. The New York Times
Moving . . . [Biden s] response to tragedy and near death [is] both admirable and likable. Salon
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