It is often known among American politicians to mix their private lives with their working lives, and this is what we see in the memoirs of the new American president, Joe Biden, which was characterized by a difficult and painful human side, in great contrast to the confident style of former President Donald Trump, who usually portrays himself as the strong man who does not Invincible.
Biden, during his last election campaign, dealt at length with that stage, which he described as being extremely difficult and complex.
In his book "Promise Me, Dad ... A Year of Hope, Suffering and Purpose", which was recently published in Arabic by the Arab Science House translated by Dr. Aisha Yakan, US President Joe Biden narrates in his memoirs the details of the year that followed the promise he made to his son, Bo, who is ill with cancer, and which That would be the most important and challenging of Biden's exceptional life and career.
As Vice President during the era of Barack Obama, Biden dealt in his book with many issues and crises in the world, from Iraq to Ukraine, through Central America, to the Middle East, and many domestic issues in the United States.
Biden talks about dealing with the grief resulting from the departure of loved ones from our world, especially some of his family members who perished in a traffic accident.
Solace
Biden, in his very moving memoirs, talks about a year that will forever change both the family and the country.
He says that my career in Washington has given me a sense of pride and achievement since my arrival, and that feeling has not faded after nearly 42 years, "despite my admission that my current position was a really strange job," stressing that there is an extraordinary and unique flexibility in the responsibilities of the Vice President.
He adds, "The truth is that on November 25, 2014, I was as enthusiastic and motivated as I was at any time in my professional life." But this year was different for Biden, as his eldest son, Beau, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and he survived. Of it is not confirmed.
Poe - who was a brilliant attorney - died in 2015. Joe Biden recalls that, "I got it in my diary: May 30 at 7:51 pm. It's happened. Oh my God. My son, my beautiful son."
And he adds, "Bo warned me one time, when he caught me looking at him: Dad, don't look at me sadly. He was firm: Dad. Dad! Do you understand me? Don't look at me like this."
He added that his son Bo had volunteered - as a civilian working for the Attorney General of the United States - to go to the war zone in Kosovo, to help that emerging republic develop its legal system and courts, and added Poe with his military unit when it was deployed within the American forces operating in Iraq. .
Confidence
On his deathbed, the son asked his father to run for the American presidency, and from here the title of the book was inspired.
Bo said to his father: Come back to me, Dad.
Give me a promise that you will be fine, no matter what happens.
Joe Biden gave him his promise, and in the book Biden records painful memories of the loss of his eldest son, Beau, and what he inflicted on him and his family.
Biden had lived an atmosphere of sadness represented in the loss of his first wife and daughter Naomi in a terrible car accident in 1972, and that was weeks after his victory in the Senate elections for Delaware.
Commenting on this pivotal event in his family life, he says, "I discovered over the years that my presence always brings some solace to those who suffer a sudden and unexpected loss .. I was a member of the newly elected US Senate at the age of 30 years, excited to be in Washington to conduct interviews with employees. .. I received a phone call that my wife and my 18-month-old daughter died in a car accident while they were out shopping a week before Christmas. "
His sons "Bo", who was 4 years old, and Hunter, who was two years old at the time, were seriously injured in the same accident.
Have a goal
“One of the things that I have especially adapted to over the years is how many people are suffering calmly and without complaint from emotional and psychological pain at all times,” Biden says.
Joe Biden had always balanced his responsibilities to his country with his family obligations, according to his book.
Within this framework, he was always confronted with the urgent and urgent question of whether he should run for the presidency in 2016, as that year brought him real victory, achievement and deep pain, but even in the worst of times, Biden seemed able to rely on his strong ties with his family, and on His faith, and his deep friendship with Barack Obama in the White House.
Biden talks about the political repercussions left by the death of his son, as his decision not to run for the presidency in 2016 was in large part due to the sadness that was still haunting his life.
vice president
"I wrestled for a day or two with the idea of actually serving as vice president for any president," Biden says of his choice to be Vice President Obama. "What worried me most was that I would do something I hadn't done in 40 years: work for someone else."
He added, “Barack Obama called me the first time to be his deputy in the June 2008 elections, and Biden recalls I told him,“ I will help you in any way I can, but I do not want to become Vice President, ”and confirms,“ I gained a lot of respect as a great legislator and it was mine. Seniority, I was a free man, and I was enjoying what I do. "
Biden explains that he was convinced that Obama was a sincere and honorable man on the inside, and he kept his word.
"I was also convinced that he could really be a good president ... The president handed me a lot of specific jobs from the start, and he didn't watch me ... Obama did not want to see a Republican in the White House," he added.
Joe Biden recalls, "Obama and I spent a lot of time together, until we developed subtle signals and special jokes to relieve office pressure," adding, "Barack sometimes shouted out loud: Why does the Senator (Q) do this? And why does the Congressman (p.) Do so?" ? It was unjustified, unnecessary, or rude at all. Why? ”Biden says,“ I told him about my uncle Ed Finnegan who had an answer for this kind of situation, it was not completely specific but always satisfactory. ”
Biden added, Uncle Ed used to say, "You know, Joy, there's no consideration for donkeys."
He says Uncle Ed's sentence became an essential part of the code among us, it became a private joke.
On one occasion, Biden explains, a foreign head of state visited the White House, and the first thing he said was roughly when he entered the Oval Office: "They say I am strong, Barack, and you are weak. I say to them, 'No, no. You're strong too."
We just looked back, Biden says, and the president turned to me, as always, raised his eyebrow, and said, "Uncle Ed."
And about the symbolism of the vice presidency, Biden says: I have been in Washington long enough to see 8 different vice presidents, and I knew the history.
He added that the post itself had a long history and was legendary as a laughingstock.
Biden explains that Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) suggested that the Vice President be referred to as "Your Excellency Overload," and cites Vice President Woodrow Wilson, the American politician Thomas Riley Marshall (1854-1925), who once said: The Vice President is a man In an epileptic seizure.
He cannot speak, cannot move, does not suffer from pain, is fully aware of everything that is going on around him, but has no role in it.
Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), Vice President Gerald Ford, said in the book: I attend funerals.
And go to places of earthquakes (p. 67).
Heavy legacy
Biden says, commenting on the heavy legacy left by George W. Bush: President Barack Obama inherited the hot wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there was no clear strategy for victory in any of them.
Joe Biden indicated that in the Iraq war we lost 4,489 Americans, and confirms: We spent more than a trillion dollars, with very few gains to show for all these losses (p. 147).
And he continues, the wars were costing us nearly $ 15 billion a month, at a time when we could not afford them.
He says: Obama has always been wary of making the historic mistake of letting the fire of petty squabbles unintentionally rage until horrific fires become beyond anyone’s control (p. 104).
Joe Biden mentions that Obama brought up the subject of Joe Biden's candidacy for the presidential elections while they were having lunch, saying: If I could appoint anyone to be president for the next eight years, it would be you, Joe ... Obama added: We have the same values, the same goals, you have the right to make a decision Based on how you feel about the presidential race (p.83).
To keep busy
On foreign policy issues, Biden asserts that the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 overthrew the Iraqi regime, deprived the Sunnis of their rights, empowered the Shiites, and revived the Kurdish dream of independence (p. 138).
Regarding the Islamic State (ISIS), he says: The strength of ISIS in Iraq not only surprised the United States, but also the entire coalition by surprise when it took control of the city of Mosul in the summer of 2014.
As for the nuclear deal with Iran that was signed on July 14, 2015, Biden explains: I had telephoned a congressman from the New York area to see if he could reduce his opposition to the nuclear deal that Secretary of State John Kerry was negotiating about. With Iran, he added, and then I called Senator Tom Carber from my state, to communicate with him about the Iran deal (p.91).
And US President Biden says I want to spend the rest of my life with my family, and help change the country and the world for the better (p. 254).
Not only was this book written by the president, it was written by Joe Biden, father, grandfather, friend and husband.
Promise Me, Dad, is a book that tells how family and friendships support us, and how hope, purpose, and work guide us through the pain phase from personal loss to the light of a new future.
In his memoirs, Joe Biden links his painful family story, his election story, and his foreign affairs story, thereby offering something for everyone, regardless of the aspects that readers find worthy of attention and follow-up.