WASHINGTON - Joe Biden, the former vice president and senator who grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania and championed the cause of working people, became the president-elect of the United States this Saturday, in his third attempt to reach the White House and after a political career of almost half a century marked by setbacks.
For Biden, the most important influence in his life and work has been that of his father.
This influence speaks of how he has been as a politician and how he will govern as president.
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"My father always told me, 'Champion, a man's measure is not how often he gets knocked down but how quickly he gets up," Biden said.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born in November 1942: at that time, the United States, presided over by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was fighting the Battle of Guadalcanal;
in Europe, devastated by World War II, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin ruled, and the Holocaust began;
the films Bambi and Casablanca had just been released;
and Elizabeth II was still princess of England.
He was born in
Scranton, a small working-class town in Pennsylvania,
where his father fell down and got back on his feet, financially speaking.
Joe Biden Sr. lost his initial fortune due to financial setbacks, and by the time his eldest son was born, the family was struggling.
Meanwhile, Biden grew up relatively uncomplicated, beyond the ridicule he suffered for his stuttering, which he fought by reciting books of poetry in front of the mirror.
Joseph R. Biden in December 1972 as a newly elected senator from Delaware.
He claims to admire his father above all the great people he has met in his four decades of experience as a politician.
From him he learned not to drink a drop of alcohol.
"There are enough alcoholics in my family already," he said.
In the 1950s, Scranton, an industrial enclave, suffered a great economic decline and the family moved to Wilmington, where the father found work selling used cars, until he reached the middle class.
From his father he also learned to sacrifice himself if it was necessary to support his family, for example, cleaning boilers at home.
But never too much: At a Christmas party, the owner of the used car dealership where he worked decided to have fun by throwing silver dollars into the air to watch his employees scramble to catch them.
His father instead grabbed his wife's hand and left never to return.
Joe Biden becomes president after 47 years in US politics
Nov. 7, 202002: 54
Biden is a rarity among the 45 leaders who preceded him because he did not attend an Ivy League university, the most prestigious.
Instead he went to the University of Delaware, more interested in partying and sports.
There he met his first wife, Nelia Hunter: he married her in 1966 and soon after began his political career as a county councilor.
In 1972, the Democratic Party asked him to run against a very popular Republican senator, J. Caleb Boggs, knowing he didn't have much of a chance.
But he delivered energetically and won by a narrow margin, reaching the Senate in his early 30s, the minimum age to do so.
Joe Biden (right) with his sons Beau and Hunter, and his then-wife Neilia (center) at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Neilia Biden was killed in a car accident in December of that year. AP
Just before Christmas, when he was about to be sworn in, his wife and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi lost their lives in a car accident.
His sons Beau and Hunter were also seriously injured.
Biden was sworn in in the Senate from the hospital where they were being treated.
"I felt that God had played a horrible trick on me," he says in his autobiography.
With two young children to raise, Biden remained in the Senate, but each night he would return home, a 90-minute train ride, and a habit he has never lost, such as not working on December 18 in memory of his wife. and daughter.
Those who know him say that despite his political ambitions, Biden has always been a "family man" and, in fact, used to say that "Delaware can always get another senator, but my children will not have another father," as Ted said. Kauffman, who was his chief of staff, told The New York Times.
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He held his seat for 36 years, long enough for his rivals to find examples against him in almost any political aspect up for debate, just as he finds examples in favor.
Joe Biden in January 1985, with his daughter Ashley on his shoulder and his sons Beau and Hunter holding the Bible, when then-President George Bush swore in him to begin a new term as a senator from Delaware.
Just a sample because the list would be endless: on immigration, Biden voted in 2006 in favor of the construction of 700 miles of wall on the Mexican border.
But the following year he voted in favor of a bill to open a path to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.
Currently, his vision is for immigration reform that fixes a "broken" system, enforces the law and secures the border without renouncing humanitarian principles or forgetting that "legal immigration is an incredible source of strength for our country." .
He opted to offer health insurance to all the undocumented, as he said in one of his first acts after announcing his candidacy to represent the Democrats in 2020.
Biden made public his aspirations for the presidency on April 25, 2019, when there were already close to a score of candidates and after playing with the possibility in public for months.
This was his third attempt to get to the White House.
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In 1987, he also ran for the Democratic nomination and for a few months appeared to be a solid contender.
He left after being accused of plagiarizing speeches and the candidate was finally Michael Dukakis, defeated in the elections by George HW Bush.
This Democratic battle was made into a movie.
Twenty years later he tried again, but racist comments damaged his campaign and he ended up giving up after the first vote in the caucus primaries in Iowa. Eight months later, the Democratic Party confirmed him as Barack Obama's vice president.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama in August 2008, shortly before they were voted into the White House for the first time.
He ran a low-key campaign, in which the star was Obama and his fundamental role was to be a counterweight to the relative inexperience of his running mate, and his main task was not to screw up and not make accidental mistakes.
Thus began to forge his image of a decent and reliable man, in the background behind the charismatic leader, his best friend and support, "Uncle Joe", as he has been nicknamed.
They won the election and reelection, and will now take Donald Trump's place in the White House when he takes office in January 2021.
Biden was not a perfect candidate.
He himself recognizes his clumsiness, at the same time, yes, that he says that there is no one better in the country to lead the country.
His most serious mistakes were accusations of touching various women (including Nevada State Congresswoman Lucy Flores) in a way that they denounced as inappropriate.
Without being as serious an accusation as those that, for example, weigh against Trump himself, Biden did not want to apologize, and later joked about it in public.
In the message with which he wanted to close the controversy, Biden promised to be more careful when respecting personal space because "social norms are changing."
Trump took the opportunity to mock him.
The approach to the ordinary citizen
During the race, Biden spoke a lot about how he overcame his stuttering problem, thereby giving a voice to people who face harassment or ridicule for their disabilities.
Led by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Biden conveyed to voters his promise to advance the cause of social justice and the advancement of minorities and migrants.
This was the mood at Biden's campaign headquarters shortly after his victory was projected.
Nov. 7, 202003: 11
Biden will inherit a country convulsed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse of many businesses due to the economic recession, and pressures for social equity.
Experts consulted by Noticias Telemundo agreed that
just as his personal narrative has guided his political life, since the presidency, he will try to seek consensus.
"Biden carved out the image of being a man of the family and of the people - everyone knew him on the train to Delaware - of being someone who listens and understands the ordinary citizen," observed Erick Langer, professor of history at the University. Georgetown.
"His critics tried to paint another image of him, and the Republican campaign tried to attack his son Beau, but Biden knew how to cultivate the image of defender of workers and the middle class, and that helped him," he emphasized.
For her part, Amy Dacey, executive director of the American University Center for Policy, said that Biden "has a long career in public service" and can appreciate that "people are concerned about supporting their families and having access to opportunities." .
“That has been the cornerstone of his career as a public servant;
this contest has been about safety at home and respect in the world, and I think his leadership style - the search for collaboration and consensus - is what we will see ”in the White House, he assured.
Upon assuming the presidency on January 20, Biden will have the daunting task of reviving the economy and will need the help of a Congress that, by all accounts, will remain divided between the Democrats who control the House of Representatives and the Republicans in the Senate .
"Biden is Biden, and this will be his presidency ... we spent four years in which the doors were closed, and although it is difficult to find solutions, it is better to have the doors open
and I think that we will see that with his administration," Dacey predicted, remembering that Trump despised the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
For conservative consultant Matthew Dowd, this contest is just as momentous as it was in 1860, when Republican abolitionist Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and had the daunting task of uniting a divided country.