On college: The chapter did include some interesting insight into what his personality was like in his college days. He was a ladies' man, loved football, slacked off, but did not like to party. Also, the fact that he was considering priesthood pre-college surprised me:

As he mulled over where to go to college, Joe thought about becoming a priest. Even though he had �dated a lot of girls� by that point, he still felt his calling of the frock.
So, he went to the University of Delaware, dated more girls, and basically turned himself into Hot Young Biden. [He] confessed: �I probably started my first year of college a little too interested in football and meeting new girls. There were a lot of new girls to meet.� He drove to Fort Lauderdale with some buddies for Spring Break. Yet he was bummed to find a mob of silly drunken college kids, all of them acting stupid.
--(pp. 18-9)

On vices: Joe Biden rejects alcohol, drugs, and smoking�admirable, to say the least, given that the rest of his college career centered around sports and girls, which typically would also imply alcohol, drugs, and smoking. His rejection to anything that could be used as a �crutch� shows the disciplined nature of his personality. He claims to have never tried any vice in his life:

Joe Biden has never had a beer. He has never had a drop of alcohol, not even on Spring Break. As a kid, he had noticed that his uncle drank too much, and he wanted to avoid the same fate. Biden had the same policy with cigarettes and pot: �I don�t use anything that could be a crutch,� he told a reporter in 1970. �I use football as a crutch and motorcycle jumping and skiing � I ski like a madman. But those are crutches over which I have some control. I�m against chemical crutches.�
--(p. 22)

On campaign ads: The book does justice explaining how Joe ran his first campaign for Senate in 1972. It explains how, in a way, Joe set a precedent for future political advertising; his techniques were replicated by other politicians in races to come:

Biden had an idea for a radio ad that was, well, a tad unconventional. In the ad, Biden approached random people at a grocery store �Joe�s bizarre ad was joined by a series of brochures; the literature was slick. �Joe Biden is making an impact on the U.S. Senate and he hasn�t even been elected yet,� said the front page of one brochure, and then inside, it showed photos of Biden next to veteran senators. �The printed material became kind of a revolution for political print, and was duplicated afterwards,� says one pundit. (In 2015, lifelong pundit Chris Matthews remembered these brochures as something that he had �never seen-before or since. He looked like he belonged there [in the Senate]; in fact, like he was already there.�)
--(pp. 40-1)

On campaign finance: Biden didn�t take what he considered a bribe in his first run for senate, even though he needed the campaign donation, because the donation, he felt, came with strings attached. He stuck to his beliefs and said he wouldn�t even consider lowering the capital gains tax if he were elected, even though if he had agreed to even just �consider� it he would have been given money for his campaign which he so desperately needed.

As Team Biden neared the finish line, they were running out of money. And they needed to keep their radio ads on the air�. [a meeting with some fat-cat investment counselors.] They were ready to give.

In a private meeting, they asked Biden what he thought about lowering the capital gains rate. He told them he wasn�t for changing capital gains.

[Instead], he took out a second mortgage on his home. The ads stayed up. [Biden] won by just 3,162 votes.
--(pp. 42-3)

On personal tragedy: Upon starting his work on Capitol Hill, right after the 1972 election and before he was sworn in as Senator, Biden was faced with the loss of his wife and daughter. The book references a transcribed phone call he received from Nixon after losing his loved ones.

Nixon: �Senator, I know this is a very tragic day for you, but I wanted you to know that all of us here at the White House were thinking about you and praying for you, and also for your two children.�
Biden: �I appreciate that very much.�
Nixon: �I understand you were on the Hill at the time, and your wife was just driving by herself.�
Biden: �Yes, that�s right.�
Nixon: �But in any event, looking at it you must in terms of the future, because you have the great fortune of being young. I remember I was two years older than you when I went into the House. [Laughs] But the main point is you can remember that she was there when you won a great victory. You enjoyed it together, and now, I�m sure, she�ll be watching you from now on. Good luck to you.�
Biden: �Thank you very much, Mr. President.�
Nixon: �Okay.�
Biden: �Thank you for your call, I appreciate it.�

On empathy: Accompanying this transcribed call is an excerpt from a speech he gave to families of soldiers that died in the line of duty. The book highlights that empathy is one of Biden�s �fundamental qualities�, based on how he coped with the loss of his loved ones. This is another example of Biden�s strength as a leader. Facing the most tragic of odds, he was able to endure and stay focused on being there for his two sons, and what he needed to do in Washington.

[Speaking to the families of soldiers who had died in the line of duty in Vietnam, Biden said]: �There will come a day, I promise you, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.� He paused, looked at the crowd, and it was clear that he fully understood their grief. �It will happen. My prayer for you is that the day will come sooner or later. But the only thing I have more experience than you is this: I�m telling you it will come.�

The tragedy of the accident, in a sense, helps us understand one of Biden�s most fundamental qualities: empathy. He connects with people. And as he told the class of 2017 at Colby College, forming personal connections � through empathy � is the one successful trait that he sees in all the best world leaders.

Caring about your colleague as they�re dealing with a sick parent, or their child [who] graduated from college, or the child was in an accident. That�s the stuff that fosters real relationships, breeds trust, allows you to get things done in a complex world. The person on the other side of the negotiating table, the other side of the political debate; a person who doesn�t look like you, who lives in a community you�ve never visited, a person who has a different background or religion than yours. They�re not some flattened version of humanity, reducible to a collection of parts and attributes. They�re a whole person, flawed, struggling to make it in the world just like you.
--(pp. 47-9)

Bottom line:The pundits say that Biden's biggest challenge in the 2020 race will be connecting with young voters, because of the intense competition for that demographic from Beto O'Rourke and Bernie Sanders. But I'm a young voter, and I felt a lot of "connection" in this book � perhaps the pundits should talk with more young voters before they count Biden out.

-- Patrick Carpenter, OnTheIssues editor, March 2019

Click for quotations from other sources by:
• Joe Biden Democratic V.P.
• Strom Thurmond Former Republican Senator South Carolina