The people of this nation have spoken.
They've delivered us a clear victory.
A convincing victory.
A victory for we, the people.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
MAN: Joe Biden has been defined in public life...
..by heartbreak and empathy.
MAN: It's sort of a political story ..by heartbreak and empathy.
MAN: It's sort of a political story you could not have imagined.
This man who's wanted to be president for half a century
This man who's wanted to be and failed to do it over and over
and now finds himself at this moment and failed to do it over and over
and now finds himself at this moment of really abject national crisis,
and that's the moment
when the country sees him for the first time really.
MAN: (SHOUTS) Oh, yeah! Whoa! They broke through! It's on!
MAN: I don't think any president, certainly in my lifetime,
MAN: I don't think any president, has faced the problems
that Joe Biden will face as the new president.
that Joe Biden will face USA!
To do it when the country is as divided as it is
will test every bit of what Joe Biden has learned
over nearly 50 years in public office.
SARAH FERGUSON: Welcome to Four Corners.
After four tumultuous and ultimately violent years under Donald Trump, SARAH FERGUSON: Welcome to Four Corners.
After four tumultuous and ultimately violent years under Donald Trump,
America is entering a new political era.
Democrat President Joe Biden is now in charge
and faces a huge challenge of uniting this ravaged country.
and faces a huge challenge But does he have what it takes?
Our colleagues from PBS Frontline
track his long road to the presidency
and explore the political weaknesses and strengths
of the 46th President of the United States.
JOE BIDEN: Today, I announce my candidacy for president
of the United States of America. my candidacy for president
of the United States of America.
Friends, today I filed the necessary papers
to become candidate for president of the United States.
Today I'm announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.
WOMAN: When people get in the habit of running for president,
and in the habit of wanting the presidency,
and in the habit, when they reflect on their lives,
of thinking they could win and they could be a good president,
that's a hard habit to break.
Dreams die hard.
NARRATOR: In the 2020 election,
Joe Biden's dream of the presidency was fading.
MAN: He was seen as yesterday's news.
MAN: He was seen He was a very rickety ship.
He was not as eloquent as he was 30 years ago, He was a very rickety ship.
He was not as eloquent as he was 30 years ago,
like most people wouldn't be. 30 years ago,
like most people wouldn't be.
And he also, you know,
he was saddled with a very, very long record,
he was saddled with some of it going back to the '70s.
MAN: Meanwhile, some of it going back to the '70s.
MAN: Meanwhile, in a stunning reversal,
MAN: Meanwhile, Joe Biden's campaign struggles
to match rival presidential candidates in fundraising.
MAN: His numbers are down among women.
Down among independents.
The drop is primarily among younger voters.
The drop is primarily He struggled to excite voters.
WOMAN: President Joe Biden, struggling in the polls here,
will instead...
WOMAN: Joe Biden, is his campaign in trouble?
MAN: He did not look like an effective candidate.
MAN: He did not look He lacked energy often.
He wasn't as crisp as a lot of people had hoped he would be. He lacked energy often.
He wasn't as crisp as a lot of people had hoped he would be.
His campaign was in crisis.
MAN: Joe Biden presently trailing in fourth place.
MAN: ..surprised how bad Joe Biden did.
He fled the stage...
One of his senior advisers had to call him He fled the stage...
One of his senior advisers had to call him
and have what she described to me as had to call him
and have what she described to me as
to have with a candidate,
the conversation you never want to have with a candidate,
which is,
"We may be approaching the point of having to shut this thing down."
MAN: Joe Biden is fighting for his political survival.
It was a moment of peril.
MAN: Make-or-break time, in particular for Joe Biden.
MAN: Make-or-break time, But Joe Biden had been here before.
WOMAN: Joe Biden, fighting to survive after a fourth...
BALZ: This is a person who had suffered significant setbacks,
BALZ: This is a person who had both personally and politically.
And out of that I think he had come to a sense of
what his strengths and weaknesses really were.
MAN: We're talking about a half-century in public life,
during which he experienced, multiple times,
setbacks, any one of which would have, and has, driven out during which he experienced, multiple times,
setbacks, any one of which would have, and has, driven out
candidates into leaving public life.
So the improbability of where he finds himself
is unprecedented in American presidential history.
His life had prepared him for this moment.
A rough-and-tumble childhood in Delaware.
His father, a car salesman, fallen on hard times.
For little Joey, Catholic school, nuns.
Joe Biden's formative challenge - he stuttered.
Bullied, harassed, ridiculed,
he was hell-bent Bullied, harassed, ridiculed,
he was hell-bent on beating the stutter.
Biden would stand in front of his bedroom mirror
holding a flashlight to his face... of his bedroom mirror
holding a flashlight to his face...
..and he would recite Yeats and Emerson.
He kept pushing against the stutter, the bullies,
and it paid off.
MAN: People liked to be around him.
He really had a presence.
You knew him when he walked in.
He was a little taller than most and in very good shape. You knew him when he walked in.
He was a little taller than most and in very good shape.
He was a star football player on their team.
Joey Biden found another way to fight back - politics.
WOMAN: In high school, he's president of his senior class.
Honestly, that's when he gets a taste for it.
The stutter is still part of him Honestly, that's when he gets a taste for it.
The stutter is still part of him
during his senior year The stutter is still part of him
during his senior year in high school,
where he has to introduce his family at graduation,
and he has to stand up there
and not stutter and he has to stand up there
and not stutter and say this publicly.
and not stutter And he does it.
CHANTING: We want Joe! We want Joe!
In the crisis of stuttering, a life method - persevere.
Just push through.
BIDEN: Medical research to confer...
..to conquer devastating diseases like cancer...
Not the end in...of themselves... (STUTTERS) ..in themselves.
The UAW took excredible cuts in their future...
# Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy... #
As he began his political career, Joe Biden had a role model.
Irish, Catholic, good-looking.
Joe emulated what he could.
Kennedy was drawn to politics. Biden was drawn to politics.
Jack had a photogenic wife and children.
Joe had a photogenic wife and children.
The Kennedys had a family compound at Hyannis Port.
The Bidens would have a family compound in Wilmington, Delaware.
OSNOS: Joe Biden was always fascinated by the Kennedy mystique.
He really saw himself as a natural heir to that tradition. OSNOS: Joe Biden was always fascinated by the Kennedy mystique.
He really saw himself as a natural heir to that tradition.
I'm Joe Biden and I'm a candidate for the United States Senate.
Politicians have done such a job on the people
that the people don't believe them anymore,
and I'd like a shot at changing that.
But Wilmington was no Hyannis Port.
We, the Bidens, we had no money.
We had no power or influence. We, the Bidens, we had no money.
We had no power or influence.
We didn't know anybody who was a big name who could help us.
Hi. How are you? Hi. How are you?
Joe Biden's my name.
Like the crisis over his stutter, Joe Biden's my name.
Like the crisis over his stutter, his political start was a struggle.
Behind in the polls, facing a powerful opponent,
United States Senator Cale Boggs, an ally of President Richard Nixon.
MAN: Joe Biden asked me about getting involved in his campaign.
I started off by telling him that "There's no way you can win." MAN: Joe Biden asked me about getting involved in his campaign.
I started off by telling him that "There's no way you can win."
'Audacious' is good term to apply to Biden back then.
This is a guy who wasn't yet old enough to hold the seat.
It was a time of crisis in the country.
CHANTING: Peace now!
The Vietnam War had divided Americans...
MAN: Opposition to the war in Vietnam
has set off demonstration in several major cities.
..igniting social unrest.
In Delaware, racial tensions boiled over.
MAN: The National Guard was called out in several cities
to put down riots.
One of these cities was Wilmington, Delaware.
Black residents were angry.
Joe Biden saw an opportunity to draw on his personal experience with race.
Back when he was 19, working at an inner-city pool.
MAN: He was a lifeguard. He was one of two white guys.
He was a tall, slim, young-looking, good-looking,
Elvis Presley-looking kind of guy.
That's how he got to know some of the guys who were in the gangs.
He just seemed to have a natural instinct for getting to know people, That's how he got to know some of the guys who were in the gangs.
He just seemed to have a natural instinct for getting to know people,
getting to understand them,
but not being afraid to be around them.
We became friends.
I was a very troubled child, OK?
Leader of a gang, no food at home, I was a very troubled child, OK?
Leader of a gang, no food at home, electric cut off, no soap,
sometimes no soap and water to take a bath, no hot water.
Joe and Ricky - he likes to be called 'Mouse' -
forged a lifetime friendship
Mouse introduced Joe all around the neighbourhood.
Over the years, Biden kept in touch,
building relationships in the black community that would pay off.
NOONAN: Some people are in politics because they're in love with policy,
but they're not necessarily in love with humans.
He loves the game of it. He loves the dance of it.
He loves the game of it. He loves meeting people.
He loves hugging strangers.
It became his go-to strategy...
President Nixon's landslide didn't help the Republicans at all.
President Nixon's landslide didn't ..and in 1972, that method worked.
Some of those who did lose had been considered the most certain to win.
The black community helped make Joe Biden a winner...
..also in Delaware. The black community helped make Joe Biden a winner...
..also in Delaware.
..by less than 3,000 votes.
Whipped by 29-year-old Joseph Biden.
SEARS: It was very close.
People were still surprised at how this even happened. SEARS: It was very close.
People were still surprised at how this even happened.
All of you have done something that the political pundits said
there was no way in the world it could be done.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
WOMAN: That night, all the college kids were so excited.
A lot of us went to the Hotel DuPont ballroom.
And it was packed. Packed. A lot of us went to the Hotel DuPont ballroom.
And it was packed. Packed.
And there was so much excitement in the air.
I saw this woman coming through the crowd...
..and I realised that it was Neilia, Joe's wife.
And so I walked up to her and I shook her hand and I said,
"Congratulations on your win."
And she said, "Thank you very much."
And that was our exchange.
(ROTARY PHONE WHIRRS)
(SIREN WAILS)
Biden and his sister, Val, were in Washington setting up the office,
hiring a staff,
when the crisis hit.
LASKAS: The phone rings, and Val gets it.
And Biden is sort of paying attention, LASKAS: The phone rings, and Val gets it.
And Biden is sort of paying attention,
and then he really starts paying attention when he sees her face.
I got a call from Jimmy Biden, and he said, "Come home now.
"There's been an accident."
And Neilia was in the car, the station wagon,
with the three children, Beau, Hunt and Naomi.
And Neilia was literally bringing home the Christmas tree with the three children, Beau, Hunt and Naomi.
And Neilia was literally bringing home the Christmas tree
with the kids in the car, the three kids in the car.
Campaign flyers from the car helped identify the bodies.
She was hit broadside by a tractor-trailer.
And she and Naomi, who sat behind her in the car seat,
And she and Naomi, who sat they died instantly...
..and Beau and Hunter were seriously injured.
..and Beau and Hunter And he...he knew. He knew.
He knew from the look on her face.
My brother looked at me and said...
.."She's dead, isn't she?"
And I said, "I don't know, Joey."
I did know. Jimmy told me.
He got to the boys.
They were all that was left.
Broken hips, legs, arms.
Beau was all cut up, and Hunter's skull was fractured.
MAN: Since the accident,
Biden himself has been living at a hospital in Wilmington, Delaware,
Biden himself has been living at taking care of his sons.
MAN: Today, the senator took his taking care of his sons.
MAN: Today, the senator took his swearing-in ceremony...
MAN: Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware...
MAN: Joseph Biden, Somehow, Biden pulled it together.
They held a swearing-in ceremony at the hospital.
JOE BIDEN: It means a lot to me. I appreciate it.
And I hope that I can be a good senator for you all. JOE BIDEN: It means a lot to me. I appreciate it.
And I hope that I can be a good senator for you all.
I make this one promise - a good senator for you all.
I make this one promise -
that if in six months or so there's a conflict
between my being a good father and being a good senator,
which I hope will not occur, and being a good senator,
which I hope will not occur,
I thought would but I hope it won't,
I promise you that I will contact Governor-elect Tribbitt,
as I had earlier,
and tell him that we can always get another senator,
and tell him that but they can't get another father.
The road ahead for Joe Biden would be tough,
like the fight against stuttering and the uphill political battle.
Once again, in crisis, he would persevere.
LASKAS: Valerie's going to help raise the children.
He's going to have a job in Washington
and a home in Wilmington He's going to have a job in Washington
and a home in Wilmington
and he's going to ride that train and a home in Wilmington
and he's going to ride that train back and forth.
He's going to be home for dinner every night
with his kids and his sister.
And that's going to be the family unit.
It's not the one he chose, but that's going to be the one.
You don't lose a wife and child at the point in life that he did
and not grow from it.
You learn from those kinds of experiences.
What you do, though, is like Muhammad Ali said one time: You learn from those kinds of experiences.
What you do, though, is like Muhammad Ali said one time:
"I've never been knocked down.
"I've always been getting up."
So Joe has just never been knocked down.
So Joe has just never He's always been getting up.
Senator Biden. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to sit in on this hearing.
From his earliest days in the Senate,
Joe Biden was determined to make a name for himself.
You can't convince me that the guy you're kicking back to
isn't saying to you or one of your agents at some point,
"Hey, look, I'm getting $100,000 from you,
"but Harry over there, he's getting $175,000 from whomever else."
You mean you guys didn't know that was going on?
He was seen as a bit of a show horse at first.
He was not someone who was waiting his turn. He was seen as a bit of a show horse at first.
He was not someone who was waiting his turn.
In fact, he was fighting as hard for attention and notoriety
and the ability to stay as a US Senator as anyone was.
DAN BALZ: His ambitions were never even thinly disguised.
He talked about it not long after he came to the Senate
and made clear that being in the Senate itself He talked about it not long after he came to the Senate
and made clear that being in the Senate itself
was not the only thing he might want to do in life.
What he wanted to do was to become president.
Thank you very much!
By 1987, he thought he was ready.
It was a family affair.
The boys were older, It was a family affair.
The boys were older, he had remarried,
The boys were older, had a new daughter,
JILL BIDEN: You know, he said, "Let's just test the waters."
And so I said, "Alright." It sort of just snowballed. JILL BIDEN: You know, he said, "Let's just test the waters."
And so I said, "Alright." It sort of just snowballed.
And we were into it, really, before we even knew it.
But as he campaigned, he headed towards another crisis,
stemming from a persistent question -
what did he stand for?
NOONAN: I think that's always been one of his challenges
as he tries to go for president. NOONAN: I think that's always been one of his challenges
as he tries to go for president.
He casts about for what he wants to say.
He casts about for the issues he wants to put forward
and what he wants to say he believes in.
And it feels cast about.
Then, one day, a video of a British politician
and a story that would give him something to say.
Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations
Why am I the first Kinnock to be able to get to university?
Obsessed with the tape, Biden studied it.
He later wrote, "The ad was riveting.
"I couldn't take my eyes off Neil Kinnock."
"I couldn't take my eyes off Is it because they were weak?
Those people who could work eight hours underground
and then come up and play football.
Weak?
Biden could put himself into the Neil Kinnock story. Weak?
Biden could put himself into the Neil Kinnock story.
Family in Scranton, Pennsylvania, family in the mines.
And so, in a sense, he absorbed the Kinnock story
And so, in a sense, in making it his own.
REPORTER: The campaign begins in earnest
with the first votes for the next president in Iowa.
REPORTER: The candidates spent much of yesterday
REPORTER: The candidates fanned out over Iowa...
In Iowa, during the primary, he took Kinnock's words,
made them his own.
MAN: And now, Mr Biden. JOE BIDEN: Thank you very much.
I started thinking as I was coming over here,
"Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family
"ever to go to a university?"
He got up there and he gave his speech, and it got to the end, "ever to go to a university?"
He got up there and he gave his speech, and it got to the end,
last three minutes, and he gave Kinnock,
but he did not attribute it to Kinnock.
Is it because they didn't work hard?
My ancestors who worked in the coal mines
My ancestors who worked of northeast Pennsylvania
and would come up after 12 hours of northeast Pennsylvania
and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours?
Joe Biden borrowed it and applied it to his own life
Joe Biden borrowed it and made a moving sort of aria,
a moving sort of part of a speech about his own life,
which in fact had been taken from Neil Kinnock.
REPORTER: Biden seemed to be claiming Kinnock' vision, and life,
REPORTER: Biden seemed to be as his own.
It became front-page news.
REPORTER: Biden has been caught with a sudden embarrassing comparison
REPORTER: Biden has been caught with of his recent campaign speeches.
The first example came from Great Britain.
Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations
Why am I the first Kinnock to be able to get to university?
And I started thinking as I was coming over here,
"Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family
"ever to go to a university?"
His campaign said it was a mistake,
that he had cited Kinnock other times.
REPORTER: For a second time in two weeks...
But then, the avalanche.
REPORTER: He looks like a Joe Biden wind-up doll
with somebody else's words coming out.
Allegations of failing to cite a source in a law school paper.
REPORTER: Plagiarised a law review article.
Taking lines from his political idols, the Kennedys.
REPORTER: One from John Kennedy's inaugural,
others from Robert Kennedy.
Their words, from the lips of Joe Biden.
LEIBOVICH: Joe Biden comes off as someone
LEIBOVICH: Joe Biden comes off who has a lot of self-confidence,
but obviously there's an imposter syndrome dynamic at work here, who has a lot of self-confidence,
but obviously there's an imposter syndrome dynamic at work here,
because if you feel like you have to make up stuff about yourself
and invent stories that are not your own
and then do it in such a self-destructive way
in which you can be caught,
that speaks to a level of character, and certainly insecurity,
that is common among a lot of politicians.
Delightful to see you all here.
You know my wife, Jill.
Pulling out of the 1987 presidential race
Pulling out of the was really devastating to Joe
and to me and to our family.
Thanks, folks. My wife and I thank you very much.
And Tommy, thanks... Biden lost this fight.
REPORTER: Delaware Senator Joseph Biden dropped out of the hunt today.
REPORTER: Joe Biden blames mostly himself for blowing it.
But he believed he'd have another chance.
But he believed He returned to the Senate to rebuild.
BALZ: It wasn't as though, having lost in 1988,
he faded away or disappeared.
He has positions in the Senate that give him power and clout he faded away or disappeared.
He has positions in the Senate that give him power and clout
He has positions in the Senate and, in a sense, a national platform
from which to continue and, in a sense, a national platform
from which to continue to project himself
as a leader of the Democratic Party.
REPORTER: Committee Chairman Joseph Biden opened confirmation hearings
for the nation's 106th nominee.
He concentrated on his job as the chairman
of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
REPORTER: President Bush says the American people
are supporting his choice for the Supreme Court.
It was there he would face his biggest challenge yet -
the controversy over the nomination of Clarence Thomas
the controversy over the nomination to the Supreme Court.
Good evening.
We begin tonight with the potential for political explosion
on Capitol Hill.
Clarence Thomas on Capitol Hill.
Clarence Thomas ran into trouble today.
Questions are growing over charges of sexual harassment against Thomas.
This affidavit charged that Thomas sexually harassed a former employee,
Anita Hill.
JANE MAYER: It seems to have been a nightmare for Joe Biden.
As a man, he felt uncomfortable about it.
As a white man, As a man, he felt uncomfortable about it.
As a white man,
he felt uncomfortable taking Clarence Thomas,
a black man, on about it. taking Clarence Thomas,
a black man, on about it.
And the whole subject matter just made him incredibly uncomfortable.
REPORTER: But Committee Chairman Biden conceded tonight
that new information about the allegations...
REPORTER: Drama and history on Capitol Hill.
With the crisis growing, Anita Hill was called to testify.
With the crisis growing, The hearing will come to order.
REPORTER: Anita Hill comes to Washington
to tell the Senate her side of the Thomas story.
Welcome, Professor Hill.
Professor, do you swear to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
I do. Thank you.
Biden's committee was all white men -
the "men of the Senate", as they were called.
There was not a single woman who might have understood her story
from a woman's point of view.
Can you tell the committee what was the most embarrassing...
..of all the incidences that you have alleged?
I think the one that was the most embarrassing
I think the one was his discussion of...pornography
involving these women with large breasts
and engaged in a variety of sex with different people or animals.
That was the thing that embarrassed me the most
and made me feel the most humiliated.
Here in Illinois, women were just mesmerised by the hearings. and made me feel the most humiliated.
Here in Illinois, women were just mesmerised by the hearings.
Outraged at what had happened.
They looked up and saw
a very non-diverse United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
There was not a woman there, not to mention person of colour.
It was just all these cookie cutters
and folks were really horrified by it.
Let me now yield to my friend from Pennsylvania, Senator Specter.
Biden's close friend, Republican Arlen Specter,
Biden's close friend, led the charge against Hill.
I find the references to the alleged sexual harassment
not only unbelievable, but preposterous.
He cast doubt on her memory.
How reliable is your testimony in October of 1991
on events that occurred 8, 10 years ago?
on events that occurred 8, He suggested she was exaggerating.
You took it to mean that Judge Thomas wanted to have sex with you,
but in fact he never did ask you to have sex, correct?
but in fact he never did No, he did not ask me to have sex.
That was an inference that you drew? Yes, yes.
Thank you, Professor Hill. We'll adjourn.
There were these really searing images of this all-white panel,
There were these really searing Joe Biden right in the middle of it,
grilling Anita Hill, Joe Biden right in the middle of it,
grilling Anita Hill, sometimes in quite hostile fashion.
And Joe Biden was seen as a real sort of ringleader to that.
Biden gave Clarence Thomas the last word.
Biden gave Clarence Thomas He strongly denied the allegations.
This is a circus. He strongly denied the allegations.
This is a circus. It's a national disgrace.
And from my standpoint as a black American,
And from my standpoint as far as I'm concerned,
it is a high-tech lynching as far as I'm concerned,
it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks
by a committee of the US Senate, rather than hung from a tree.
Very powerful.
I mean, what it did Very powerful.
I mean, what it did was it shamed these white senators.
And it certainly seemed to shame the Democrats,
who had just been accused of lynching a black man.
Biden would end up voting against Thomas,
but his handling of the hearing damaged him politically.
MAN: It made him the face of an out-of-touch body
and really wounded his prospects of a future run for president. MAN: It made him the face of an out-of-touch body
and really wounded his prospects of a future run for president.
He had some work to do.
He had some reputational rehab to do.
Biden turned to his method for survival in crisis -
acknowledge the problem and repair the damage.
Joe is always able to say, "Yeah, I didn't handle that quite right. acknowledge the problem and repair the damage.
Joe is always able to say, "Yeah, I didn't handle that quite right.
"Let me see what I can do better the next time."
REPORTER: Carol Moseley Braun has entered political history.
She's the first African American woman elected to the US Senate.
REPORTER: Big changes here,
the kind that have history written all over them.
"Fixing things" began by recruiting the first black woman elected
"Fixing things" began by recruiting to the United States Senate.
REPORTER: Braun's anger over to the United States Senate.
REPORTER: Braun's anger over the Clarence Thomas hearings
REPORTER: Braun's anger over turned her into a candidate.
Biden wanted to make sure Moseley Braun joined his committee.
I made a joke, which he didn't think was funny at all. Biden wanted to make sure Moseley Braun joined his committee.
I made a joke, which he didn't think was funny at all.
I said, "You just want Anita Hill on the other side of the table."
He did not laugh. on the other side of the table."
He did not laugh.
He didn't think it was funny.
And he still probably doesn't. (LAUGHS)
He would end up convincing her and Dianne Feinstein
He would end up convincing her to join the committee.
Joe Biden was rebuilding
with an eye on the ultimate Joe Biden was rebuilding
with an eye on the ultimate prize - the presidency.
MATT BAI: Half a dozen times in his career, he faces moments like this
where a normal person looks in the mirror and says,
"This is never going to happen for me,
"either because my time has passed or because I've humiliated myself "This is never going to happen for me,
"either because my time has passed or because I've humiliated myself
"or because I've been on the wrong side of an issue."
And he just keeps coming back.
Another day, another entry in the presidential race.
Delaware Senator Joe Biden is the ninth Democrat...
Delaware Senator Joe Biden It was 2007.
Joe Biden was running It was 2007.
Joe Biden was running for president again.
Joe Biden was running But that very day...
It sure isn't easy ruining for president these days.
..it all blew up.
This was not a good day for Joe Biden, was it?
No, it really wasn't, Katie.
He just got into the race today, and no sooner than he did,
he talks his way into a national controversy.
Spent much of the day discussing these comments he made
to a newspaper reporter about Senator Barack Obama.
REPORTER: Some people listening to those descriptions of Obama -
REPORTER: Some people listening to "articulate," "clean" -
heard racial overtones, or, at the very least, condescension.
JELANI COBB: I think when people heard
JELANI COBB: the "clean and articulate" line,
there was a wave of eye rolling, certainly among African Americans.
It was the kind of well-intentioned but benighted commentary there was a wave of eye rolling, certainly among African Americans.
It was the kind of well-intentioned but benighted commentary
that you expect from people who inhabit environments
where there aren't very many black people,
and the United States Senate
has historically been and the United States Senate
has historically been a prime example of that.
REPORTER: Tonight, his campaign is doing damage control.
REPORTER: Tonight, his campaign REPORTER: Joe Biden's apologising
for a remark he made about Senator Barack Obama.
In the months that followed...
REPORTER: Joe Biden dropped out of the race last night
REPORTER: Joe Biden dropped out of after finishing poorly.
..once again, Joe Biden's campaign would collapse.
REPORTER: The latest news
is that Joe Biden is dropping out of the race.
But he wasn't taking himself out of the game.
He'd make it personal, build a relationship with Obama.
Out of competition came mutual respect,
and mutual respect led to a real relationship,
a friendship,
and Joe Biden became somebody a friendship,
and Joe Biden became somebody
that President Obama looked to for advice and counsel.
Senator, have you made up your mind about...
You are not going to get anything out of me
on the vice presidential thing, nothing!
Soon, that relationship would pay off as Obama sought a running mate.
I've got to say that I've made the selection,
I've got to say that and that's all you're going to get.
When Barack ran, he needed the support of someone and that's all you're going to get.
When Barack ran, he needed the support of someone
who knew his way around government, and that was Joe Biden.
Obama asked him to be on his ticket as vice-president.
At the house in Wilmington, the Biden inner circle gathered.
At the house in Wilmington, KAUFMAN: He was not going to do it.
I mean, there's no doubt KAUFMAN: He was not going to do it.
I mean, there's no doubt he was not going to do it.
We had another one of those family meetings and a few key people. I mean, there's no doubt he was not going to do it.
We had another one of those family meetings and a few key people.
JILL BIDEN: The kids said to me,
"Mom, you have to talk Dad into running."
And I said, "Joe, this is such a great moment in history." "Mom, you have to talk Dad into running."
And I said, "Joe, this is such a great moment in history."
His ma said, "Well, Joey" - she called him Joey -
she said, "Well, Joey, you're telling me
"that the first African American president in history thinks
"that you can help him get elected and you're saying no?"
Game, set, match. It was over.
REPORTER: Barack Obama is projected to be the next president.
REPORTER 2: Senator Barack Obama of Illinois...
He'd turned a political crisis into a relationship
and became vice-president.
REPORTER: ..47 years old, he'll become the president.
BIDEN OWENS: He had already squared away in his mind
that he understood that Barack Obama was president,
Joe was vice-president,
and Joe understood the job of vice-president and wore it well. Joe was vice-president,
and Joe understood the job of vice-president and wore it well.
In the Obama White House, Biden brought with him something
the president didn't have -
relationships in Congress spanning decades.
JARRETT: Those were his recently former colleagues,
and he knew that he could call them and they would take his call
and that he could go and thrash issues out with them
with a degree of comfort that President Obama didn't have
because he hadn't known them as long as Vice-President Biden.
Biden became Obama's trusted partner.
BAI: The real question isn't, "What thing did you do?"
BAI: The real question isn't, if you're vice-president.
The real question is if you're vice-president.
The real question is "How much influence did you have?"
And I think Biden understands power and leveraging power. The real question is "How much influence did you have?"
And I think Biden understands power and leveraging power.
I think he had a genuine relationship with Obama
and they spent a lot of time talking.
But I think he was a very influential vice-president,
in that way, and an extremely loyal vice-president.
In return, Obama bestowed on Biden something special,
a kind of political sainthood they called the "Obama halo."
SELLERS: Joe Biden has the Obama halo. Everybody knows that.
That is the cleansing of Joe Biden
and everything that may have happened.
And there is such a great irony that someone who was the architect and everything that may have happened.
And there is such a great irony that someone who was the architect
of the '94 crime bill, and a white man of this age,
when you think about Anita Hill, his crutch, his...
when you think about Anita Hill, ..the reason for his success
is a black man with a funny name
who's kind of skinny, from Hawaii by way of Kansas.
CROWD: (CHANTS) Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
Black lives matter!
In those years as vice-president, Biden would confront yet more crises.
Black lives matter!
Among them, the building racial tensions...
Among them, Don't touch me!
..growing outrage over police Don't touch me!
..growing outrage over police violence against African Americans.
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
Then, news of a revenge shooting against the police.
We begin tonight with breaking news -
a deadly police shooting in New York City.
Two New York City police officers are dead
following an ambush Saturday afternoon.
They were, quite simply, assassinated.
Amateur video captured the frantic scene
as paramedics desperately tried to save the lives
of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.
When it came to matters of race, Obama relied on Biden
When it came to matters of race, to walk a fine line he could not.
WESLEY LOWERY: One of Joe Biden's chief responsibilities
was to be an ambassador to the country, WESLEY LOWERY: One of Joe Biden's chief responsibilities
was to be an ambassador to the country,
specifically to the white parts of the country,
where Barack Obama's presence might have only further
inflamed the situation.
Now Biden was dispatched to New York.
REPORTER: 25,000 police officers are all there to say goodbye.
REPORTER: 25,000 police officers It was tense.
REPORTER 2: A sea of blue It was tense.
REPORTER 2: A sea of blue filled the city streets.
He used his method - keep it personal -
talked directly to the family of Officer Rafael Ramos.
Our hearts ache for you.
I know from personal experience that there is little anyone can say
or do at this moment to ease the pain, that sense of loss,
that sense of loneliness.
LOWERY: Joe Biden has been defined in public life
LOWERY: Joe Biden has been by heartbreak and empathy.
That when Joe Biden steps up at the funeral,
you know that those tears are real.
The time will come, the time will come,
when Rafael's memory will bring
a smile to your lips
before it brings a tear to your eyes.
That's when you know it's going to be OK.
I know it's hard to believe it will happen, but I promise you...
I know it's hard to believe it ..I promise you it will happen.
It's an odd role in public life, to be known as a person
It's an odd role in public life, associated with grief.
And Joe Biden never wanted to be that person, actually.
It was not how he imagined his own political future.
But because of his life, he ended up being this public
political symbol of suffering and of resilience.
And eventually he embraced it.
But he actually didn't want to be that.
After decades in politics,
Biden seemed to have finally After decades in politics,
Biden seemed to have finally found his place.
But soon after the crisis in New York...
..yet again, a personal crisis.
Biden was burying his own son Beau.
LASKAS: He was the apple of Biden's eye.
He was not just someone who he thought was brilliant
and successful and so proud of him.
It went beyond pride.
It was almost like, "He's the perfect version of me."
Beau had served in Iraq.
He was attorney-general of Delaware.
They talked about the presidency some day.
Joe often describes him as Joe 2.0.
And he looked like his dad. Joe often describes him as Joe 2.0.
And he looked like his dad.
He had a lot of the same And he looked like his dad.
He had a lot of the same skill sets as his father.
He was very charismatic. He was charming. He was funny.
But then brain cancer.
Death at 46.
REPORTER: Beau Biden, former Delaware attorney-general
and eldest son of Vice-President Joe Biden, died Saturday.
REPORTER 2: Biden's office was the first to announce his son's death.
REPORTER 3: The Vice-president was with his son Beau
when he passed away tonight.
I happened to be in Obama's White House and he walked in.
And I honestly...
It was almost like I didn't recognise him.
This was shortly after Beau died.
He just looked like he had aged years and years
He just looked like in such a short amount of time.
Through crisis and tragedy,
Joe Biden had his eyes on the presidency.
But now, in grief, he would decide to stand down.
MAN: Please raise your right hand and repeat after me,
I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear...
I, Donald John Trump, For the first time in decades,
Joe Biden was a private citizen,
watching Donald Trump's polarising presidency.
So help me God. So help me God.
Congratulations, Mr President.
(CHEERING)
CROWD: (CHANTS) White lives matter! White lives matter!
White lives matter! White lives matter! White lives matter!
ANTONY BLINKEN: And then came Charlottesville.
ANTONY BLINKEN: And then That was really the tipping point.
(ANGRY SHOUTING)
When he heard President Trump say there are very fine...
..some very fine people on both sides, that was it.
That was the tipping point.
Biden watched, increasingly alarmed,
violent clashes between white Biden watched, increasingly alarmed,
violent clashes between white supremacists and counterprotesters.
LOWERY: It's hard to believe, based on his own statements,
that Joe Biden doesn't see some level of personal responsibly LOWERY: It's hard to believe, based on his own statements,
that Joe Biden doesn't see some level of personal responsibly
for the rise of Donald Trump.
Joe Biden was the vice-president,
and he chose not to run for president.
You have to imagine that's weighed pretty heavily on Joe Biden.
He decided to do something about it.
At 76 years old, he would run one more time.
Today I'm announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.
LEIBOVICH: Through the Democratic primaries,
LEIBOVICH: Through he was not at the top of his game.
He kind of staggered along. he was not at the top of his game.
He kind of staggered along.
He didn't do terribly well when the voting started.
MAN: Biden appearing to shrug off an apparent fourth-place finish...
Fourth in Iowa.
MAN 2: Biden may not have enough cash
even to make it through Super Tuesday.
even to make it through Fifth in New Hampshire.
WOMAN: After three straight losses, Fifth in New Hampshire.
WOMAN: After three straight losses, Joe Biden is now banking on...
WOMAN: After three straight losses, But he stuck with his playbook...
Has certainly damaged his fundraising ability.
..stay in the centre, make personal connections...
..reach out to black voters.
As he ages, he's a better candidate every time.
As he ages, he's a better candidate He does not waver.
He does not appear to be a guy who goes with the wind, He does not waver.
He does not appear to be a guy who goes with the wind,
even when he appears to be losing and out of step with his own party.
MAN: Joe Biden desperately needs South Carolina if he has any chance.
His last hope - South Carolina.
MAN: It all rests on South Carolina.
JIM CLYBURN: Joe Biden has spent a lot of time in South Carolina.
JIM CLYBURN: Joe Biden has spent He can relate to South Carolinians.
South Carolina was very, very important to Joe Biden. He can relate to South Carolinians.
South Carolina was very, very important to Joe Biden.
MAN: NBC News is projecting former vice-president Joe Biden the winner.
And the state's black voters gave him a victory.
MAN: ..was reinvigorated largely by black voters in this state.
WOMAN: Joe Biden wins big.
Three days later...
WOMAN 2: In a political earthquake,
these are the results nobody saw coming.
..he rode the momentum and dominated Super Tuesday.
WOMAN: Pulled off one of the biggest political upsets
in modern political history.
Soon, he'd win the nomination.
In its own way, it's the culmination
of all of his training and ambition
and his mistakes and his regrets and his attempts to be better. of all of his training and ambition
and his mistakes and his regrets and his attempts to be better.
And it came together, at last.
WOMAN: The coronavirus crisis in this country
is taking a dangerous turn.
MAN: The true cost of COVID,
measured not by numbers, but families.
He ran for president in the midst of a profound national crisis.
WOMAN: COVID-19 is now the third- leading cause of death in the US.
MAN: Unemployment now soaring to 14.7%.
WOMAN: Millions of Americans on the brink of financial ruin.
BAI: The moment plays to his strengths
in ways that the other moments he ran probably did not.
WOMAN: It has been double the trauma - first the global pandemic,
and now the traumatic death of George Floyd.
MAN: A new wave of grief in the form of police brutality.
We're living in a country that's experienced,
We're living in a country in 2020, a ton of loss.
MAN: Disappointment, emptiness, in 2020, a ton of loss.
MAN: Disappointment, emptiness, hopelessness and so much fear.
And here you have a man whose life has been defined,
And here you have a man in a lot of ways, by loss.
Joe Biden told voters he understood
and promised he would be there for them.
You folks at home, how many of you got up this morning
and had an empty chair at the kitchen table
and had an empty chair because someone died of COVID?
How many of you were in a situation
where you lost your mom or dad How many of you were in a situation
where you lost your mom or dad and you couldn't even speak to them?
You had a nurse holding a phone up so you could, in fact, say goodbye?
You would have lost far more people...
How many people? ..far more people...
And by the way...
OSNOS: It's sort of a political story you could not have imagined.
This man who's wanted to be president for half a century
and failed to do it over and over, and now finds himself at this moment
of really abject national crisis,
and that's the moment when the country sees him
and that's the moment for the first time, really.
REPORTER: We've reached a historic for the first time, really.
REPORTER: We've reached a historic moment in this election.
Joseph R. Biden Jr is elected the 46th president of the United States.
Joseph R. Biden Jr is elected the Finally, after five decades, victory.
REPORTER: And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
will receive the most votes of any presidential ticket ever.
The people of this nation have spoken.
They've delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,
a victory for we, the people.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MAN: (SHOUTS) Oh, yeah! Whoa! They broke through! It's on!
Now Joe Biden faces his biggest challenge yet.
I don't think any president, certainly in my lifetime,
has faced the problems that Joe Biden will face
as the new president.
The pandemic, a weakened economy,
the racial issues that are on the table.
To do it when the country is as divided as it is
will test every bit of what Joe Biden has learned
over nearly 50 years in public office.
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation