![]() ![]() His convention speech, his landslide victory and his media stardom made him the coolest member of the staid Senate. Obama stood apart from his more senior colleagues. Newsweek had plastered his smiling image on the cover of its “Who’s Next” issue. He had delivered an electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and won his seat by the largest margin ever in a U.S. The newcomer had sailed into the chamber on a wave of celebrity. In 2005, during their first encounters, Obama was an impatient freshman senator, and Biden a veteran of 32 years. Obama declined a similar request for this article, and Biden did not respond.) (Obama and Biden declined to discuss their relationship for my book. Here was a young, cerebral African American who sweated over the precision of his words, and an older, chummy white guy given to impulsively speaking his mind. There was no gravitational pull, one man toward the other, no instantaneous clicking of like personalities. Vice President Biden and President Obama during a campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio, in October 2012. But like a lot of friendships, it was complicated. Their friendship, in other words, was real. So what was - and is - the nature of the Obama-Biden relationship? Having closely studied their friendship for my forthcoming book on the subject, I’ve concluded that Barack and Joe adored each other, and probably still do, but it is also true that their own aspirations and their political hopes for America have not always aligned. On the trail, he touts the achievements of the Obama years, highlighting his own role and gluing himself to Obama by describing the presidency as “our administration.” And yet, as Biden relentlessly plays up their link, Obama has been noticeably silent - making this very famous friendship look awfully one-sided. ![]() Now Biden is running for president, and his history with Obama is one of the main planks of his campaign - as central to his candidacy as, say, Elizabeth Warren’s slew of detailed policy proposals is to hers. As one woman put it in a post on the CBS News website: “I want a man who looks at me like Biden looks at Obama.” What Barack and Joe had with each other, admirers across the country wanted in their own lives. Their companionship became a favorite national story line, and the public added its own chapters by creating touching or humorous memes. Just days before their departure from the White House, the normally reserved Obama drew on William Butler Yeats to extol Biden: “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, / and say my glory was I had such friends.” Indeed, over their eight years together in office, Obama and Biden taught us a lesson in male bonding, often startling us by professing their fondness for each other. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |