Biden exits: The final twist in an unexpectedly great presidency

Four years later, I started Wall Street JournalI was assigned to cover the final day of Judiciary Committee hearings examining Anita Hill’s allegations that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had committed sexual harassment while chairing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which Thomas apparently had. It was after midnight, if I remember correctly, and committee staff provided reporters with an affidavit from a second accuser, Angela Wright, and all doubt was gone. But the Judiciary Committee, which Biden chaired, would not allow Wright to testify. “We could legally have had the hearing for 10 more days, looking for corroborating evidence, looking for more information, investigating further,” Biden said at the hearing. “We don’t have that luxury.” I thought: What a fool.

In 2008, Biden ran again, and this time he blurted out that his opponent, Senator Barack Obama, was “the first mainstream African-American who is eloquent, intelligent, and good-looking.” expression ability It’s terrible; it’s the typical condescending term white people give to African Americans who can string three words together. Clean Worse. Biden’s (unintentional, I guess) comment that there had never been a “mainstream African American” who could behave like the electorate was downright racist. Biden lost big in Iowa and dropped out of the race. Later, when reports came out that Obama was considering Biden as his running mate, I bet one of my colleagues slate $20, that will never happen. Biden is too big a burden. I lost that bet.

Biden later became vice president, and surprisingly, he turned out to be an excellent choice because he had a talent for negotiating with recalcitrant members of Congress that Obama lacked. At the time, I was writing the “TRB from Washington” column for this magazine. In a 2012 column titled “Second Thought” (Subtitle: “Surprisingly, Biden is not embarrassed”), I observed that although Biden can make one gaffe after another, Former Vice President Dan Quayle and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has worked his magic in dealing with foreign leaders and unruly lawmakers. “Biden is not a dumb guy,” I wrote. “Biden is a smart guy who says dumb things.”