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kpete

(71,900 posts)
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 10:08 AM Jun 2015

Joe Biden: "The reason I went home every night was I needed my children more than they needed me"

May 17, 2015
Remarks by the Vice President at Yale University Class Day

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut

2:55 P.M. EDT

..........................

The incredible bond I have with my children is the gift I’m not sure I would have had, had I not been through what I went through. Who knows whether I would have been able to appreciate at that moment in my life, the heady moment in my life, what my first obligation was.

So I began to commute -- never intending to stay in Washington. And that's the God’s truth. I was supposed to be sworn in with everyone else that year in ’73, but I wouldn’t go down. So Mansfield thought I’d change my mind and not come, and he sent up the secretary of the Senate to swear me in, in the hospital room with my children.

And I began to commute thinking I was only going to stay a little while -- four hours a day, every day -- from Washington to Wilmington, which I’ve done for over 37 years. I did it because I wanted to be able to kiss them goodnight and kiss them in the morning the next day. No, “Ozzie and Harriet” breakfast or great familial thing, just climb in bed with them. Because I came to realize that a child can hold an important thought, something they want to say to their mom and dad, maybe for 12 or 24 hours, and then it’s gone. And when it’s gone, it’s gone. And it all adds up.

But looking back on it, the truth be told, the real reason I went home every night was that I needed my children more than they needed me. Some at the time wrote and suggested that Biden can't be a serious national figure. If he was, he’d stay in Washington more, attend to more important events. It’s obvious he’s not serious. He goes home after the last vote.


..............

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/05/17/remarks-vice-president-yale-university-class-day
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Joe Biden: "The reason I went home every night was I needed my children more than they needed me" (Original Post) kpete Jun 2015 OP
Awesome! Wilms Jun 2015 #1
Biden is a fine orator and a fine man, the fucked up mass media caricatures are shameful. Fred Sanders Jun 2015 #2
+1 Cha Jun 2015 #4
Great point, Fred Sanders! He's very dear. calimary Jun 2015 #9
Agreed Volaris Jun 2015 #16
What a Dad! Octafish Jun 2015 #3
He has suffered so much personal loss, way too much..so sad. n/t Jefferson23 Jun 2015 #5
Our VEEP is one of the finest men our... 3catwoman3 Jun 2015 #6
there is something so fundamentally wrong with a society that criticizes a man for spending time niyad Jun 2015 #7
Gotta love Joe. riqster Jun 2015 #8
I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of his loss... truebrit71 Jun 2015 #10
I loved reading the entire address. Raine1967 Jun 2015 #11
My heart and condolences go out to the Biden family. We love you, Joe. We are so sorry for your mother earth Jun 2015 #12
I like this idea of spending time saying good morning and good night to your children. midnight Jun 2015 #13
This is absolutely heart-breaking... joeybee12 Jun 2015 #14
He is a genuinely kind person. DawgHouse Jun 2015 #15
There can't be any such thing as karma. tblue Jun 2015 #17

Fred Sanders

(23,946 posts)
2. Biden is a fine orator and a fine man, the fucked up mass media caricatures are shameful.
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 10:44 AM
Jun 2015

I do not think the mass media can wrap it's collective mind around the concept of "love", except as a marketing tool.

And what role can a mass media devoid of love offer to the nation?

War, fear, ignorance, lies, paranoia, avarice, greed, jealously.....everything not love.

calimary

(80,693 posts)
9. Great point, Fred Sanders! He's very dear.
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 11:54 AM
Jun 2015

That's the word that comes to mind when I think of him. He is very dear. What a dear man. And you're correct. It isn't valued. Now it's far more important to be the most bombastic or the biggest bullshitter or the best-connected or the richest or the best conniver or the biggest wheeler-dealer or the most clever liar and cheat. I wonder how many people heard about dennis hastert, for example, and even held a little admiration for him for how long he was able to keep it all secret (because the REAL crime here is getting found out, getting CAUGHT). That's what gets the attention and the admiration and the repeated validation in THIS particular world. And it's just a damn shame.

I love Joe Biden. He's so genuine, so open, so one-of-us. I think it's called "authenticity." And he has it. As 3catwoman3 says - "he's the real deal." And he's a wonderful, devoted dad. His kids have gotta know how much they're loved - especially as they've grown up.

I wish he did not have this kind of sadness in his life. NO parent should have to bury their child.

Volaris

(10,260 posts)
16. Agreed
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 10:40 PM
Jun 2015

It's not hate per se, but...
I actually think the effect might be worse. Outright, externalitzed hatred can be gone to battle with rather easily.
the absence of love, on the other hand is very easily dismissed as not only the status quo, but someone else's problem.
It's a subtle, and much colder distinction.

3catwoman3

(23,812 posts)
6. Our VEEP is one of the finest men our...
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 11:10 AM
Jun 2015

...country has. He is the real deal, and a BFD as well. What a great dad.

niyad

(112,432 posts)
7. there is something so fundamentally wrong with a society that criticizes a man for spending time
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 11:31 AM
Jun 2015

with his children, and criticizes women for not spending time with them.

Raine1967

(11,589 posts)
11. I loved reading the entire address.
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 12:05 PM
Jun 2015

knowing that he was facing the reality that his sone would soon be dying, to go forward with this was amazing. Let me conclude with this.

I’m not going to moralize about to whom much is given, much is expected, because most of you have made of yourself much more than what you’ve been given. But now you are in a privileged position. You’re part of an exceptional generation and doors will open to you that will not open to others. My Yale Law School grad son graduated very well from Yale Law School. My other son out of loyalty to his deceased mother decided to go to Syracuse Law School from Penn. They're a year and a day apart in their age. The one who graduated from Yale had doors open to him, the lowest salary offered back in the early ‘90s was $50,000 more than a federal judge made. My other son, it was a struggle -- equally as bright, went on to be elected one of the youngest attorney generals in the history of the state of Delaware, the most popular public official in my state. Big headline after the 2012 election, “Biden Most Popular Man in Delaware -- Beau.” (Laughter.)

And as your parents will understand, my dad’s definition of success is when you look at your son and daughter and realize they turned out better than you, and they did. But you’ll have opportunities. Make the most of them and follow your heart. You have the intellectual horsepower to make things better in the world around you.

You’re also part of the most tolerant generation in history. I got roundly criticized because I could not remain quiet anymore about gay marriage. The one thing I was certain of is all of your generation was way beyond that point. (Applause.)

 

joeybee12

(56,177 posts)
14. This is absolutely heart-breaking...
Mon Jun 1, 2015, 07:35 PM
Jun 2015

And I'm sure he knew at the time that Beau wuld be leaving him soon...I hope memories of those times are a comfort for him.

tblue

(16,350 posts)
17. There can't be any such thing as karma.
Tue Jun 2, 2015, 09:38 AM
Jun 2015

Look at the Bushes and the Cheneys and the Palins. Then look at the Bidens. Why do the worst things happen to the best people??!!! Hadn't Joe Biden already buried enough loved ones?

Oh Joe! I'm so sorry.

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