Joe Biden's autobiography Promises To Keep

[OH Nuts!]

I had jury duty so I went to the lib to get a few books to keep me busy (ugh! this was my 6th time for j.d.) & one of them was this. It was very interesting and at times quite sad - like when he was talking about his first wife's accident with his kids. Being a widower at 30 and taking the oath by the hospital bed of his young sons.

But... of course this was only one part of the book. What also captivated me was he talked about the bipartisanship in the Senate in the 70s & 80s - or more accurately - the civility between the parties. Biden had some nice things to say about George W and Bob Dole in the last 1/3 of the book.


Regardless of your political persuasion it might be an interesting read if you come across it. And to keep things balanced my next book is one by Lynne Cheney.

[Tweety]

In the 70s and 80s, "bipartisanship" meant that Republicans would cave and go along with everything the heavy-majority Democrats wanted to do. That definition still holds true today.

As far as comments on Dole and Bush (41 or 43), where were Biden's gracious comments when those guys were in office? Biden does everything in his power to destroy his political opponents. It's only after they're out of the way that he might say something decent about them.

I'll guarantee that Biden never gave Reagan any compliments during his term in the White House.

You have to be careful about revisionist historians like Biden. He obviously thinks that people have no memories of that era.

When Gerald Ford passed away, remember how all we heard about from everyone was how he "brought the country together after Watergate". Oh, really? As someone who was around at that time, the only people Ford brought together were the people on both sides of the aisle who wanted to hang him right alongside Nixon (after he pardoned Nixon). Ford didn't bring anyone together. The Dems wanted Nixon on a platter and Ford took that away from them. They never forgave him.

Any civility during the 70s and 80s was the result of Republicans knowing their place as the minority party and not having the guts to filibuster...it had nothing to do with any desire on the part of the Democrats to "get along".

btw, the person who really, really started the hate that we hear in Washington today (and took it to a whole new level) was none other than Ted Kennedy, who tried to destroy not just the careers, but the lives of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. Take a bow, Senator, wherever you are.

[OH Nuts!]

You make some pts. I never thought of. Bec. to be honest, the kind remarks took me by surprise. btw, what did you mean by the (41 and 43) in parens?????? (I didn't understand)

[Tweety]

You make some pts. I never thought of. Bec. to be honest, the kind remarks took me by surprise. btw, what did you mean by the (41 and 43) in parens?????? (I didn't understand)

Actually, by "Bush (41 and 43)", I just meant that Biden was never a nice guy to either Bush 41 or Bush 43 while they were in office. He might say nice things about them now, but that's because they're not in power any more. Liberals like Biden are only "nice" to political opponents once those opponents are no longer a political threat to them or the Democrat party.

[Schmoopie]

I didn't know he had written an autobiography. Since I don't know much about him I'll have to check that out!

[OH Nuts!]

Actually, by "Bush (41 and 43)", I just meant that Biden was never a nice guy to either Bush 41 or Bush 43 while they were in office. He might say nice things about them now, but that's because they're not in power any more. Liberals like Biden are only "nice" to political opponents once those opponents are no longer a political threat to them or the Democrat party.

Ah now I get the 41 & 43; thanks Tweety. I can understand how a Rep could be skeptical of Biden's words. And honestly, you could be right.

But a "civilian" can chg their political views over time. I did. When Nixon was pardoned I was a hard core lib and hated Ford for the pardon. Over time I mellowed & moved toward the middle & when I did I saw the pardon differently. A trial would have hurt our nation, kept us from going forward. It is to Ford's credit he had the courage of his convictions, bec. it did cost him a lot politically.

But now, from the vantage pt of time, it was the right decision.

[OH Nuts!]

I didn't know he had written an autobiography. Since I don't know much about him I'll have to check that out!

It's a good read; I recommend it.

[Tweety]

Ah now I get the 41 & 43; thanks Tweety. I can understand how a Rep could be skeptical of Biden's words. And honestly, you could be right.

But a "civilian" can chg their political views over time. I did. When Nixon was pardoned I was a hard core lib and hated Ford for the pardon. Over time I mellowed & moved toward the middle & when I did I saw the pardon differently. A trial would have hurt our nation, kept us from going forward. It is to Ford's credit he had the courage of his convictions, bec. it did cost him a lot politically.

But now, from the vantage pt of time, it was the right decision.

Oh definitely, I agree that the pardon was the right thing to do. All I meant was that the pardon, in and of itself, didn't bring the country together or calm it down at the time it happened... well, as I said, it brought people together only in the sense that everyone wanted to hang Ford AND Nixon side by side in the town square.

But there's no question that it was the right thing to do. It was bad enough for a President to resign, the last thing we needed after that was a some kind of a criminal trial.

A lot of people at the time were convinced that Ford and Nixon made a deal... Nixon basically offering Ford the Presidency if he (Ford) would turn around an pardon Nixon... I personally don't care whether there was a deal or not... Nixon stepping down was the right thing to do, and Ford pardoning him was also the right thing to do.

And you're absolutely right, the 1976 election was so close in the popular vote that I have to believe that pardoning Nixon probably cost Ford that election... after Watergate, Carter should have won a landslide, but the electoral count was 297-240, with Ford winning 27 states to Carter's 23 (plus Carter won D.C.). Popular vote was 40,831,881 for Carter, 39,148,634 for Ford. Ohio, with 25 electoral votes at that time, went for Carter by 11,000 votes (out of more than 4 million cast). That alone wouln't have quite done it for Ford (would have made it 272-265) so Ford would have needed to pick off one other state. In the aftermath of Watergate, at least one small state was probably swung Carter's way. As it was, Ford won 27 states, the most ever by a candidate who lost the Presidential election.

I grew up with California being a Red State, but the 1976 map sure looks strange with Texas falling into the blue category (Carter was a southerner, Ford was a northerner from Michigan, and was seen by even southern Republicans as being part of the northeastern elites).

[Waterston_Fan]

Yeah, that book was good. I enjoyed it.

It did seem like there was bipartisanship back then and even now they have really lost their way. I think even Biden lost his way too before becoming Veep.