When Nixon Taped Joe Biden - WSJ op-ed
Joe Biden can be heard on the Nixon tapes. President Nixon called Mr. Biden on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 1972... Delawares Sen.-elect Biden had narrowly defeated a popular incumbent and Nixon ally, Caleb Boggs, 13 days before his 30th birthday. He became the second-youngest person ever elected to the Senate. Nixonwho won Delaware by more than 20 points in his 49-state landslidetook note of this rising star, who had flipped a GOP Senate seat. If I had gone to Delaware, it wouldnt have changed one iota, Nixon said to Chuck Colson about Boggss defeat. He just had a damn good young candidate running against him.
On Dec. 19, Nixon saw in his morning news summary that Mr. Bidens wife, Neilia, and 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, had been killed in a car accident the day before in Delaware. Their sons, 3-year-old Beau and 2-year-old Hunter, survived the crash with severe injuries. Nixon, who as a child lost two siblings to tuberculosis, wanted to call. Could you get the new senator from Delaware, Mr. Biden, on the phone please? he asked the White House switchboard operator.
Nixon and Mr. Biden were both from hardscrabble families. They had irascible fathers who taught them how to pick themselves up after a defeat. Both were self-conscious that they didnt attend the best schools. They had an interest in foreign affairs. Like Nixon, Mr. Biden later served as vice president under a more charismatic president. They were never part of the in-crowd; that drove them to work harder.
It was a moment that brought two men together who might otherwise never have connected in a personal way. Hello, Mr. President, how are you? Mr. Biden answered. Even senators dont forget their first phone call from a president. Senator, I know this is a very tragic day for you, Nixon said, seemingly searching for words, 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.
I appreciate that very much, Mr. Biden responded. Nixon, about the same age as the senator-elects father, urged him to pick himself up after the greatest setback of his life. You have the great fortune of being young, Nixon said. I remember I was two years older than you when I went to the House. But the main point is you can remember that she was there when you won a great victory, and you enjoyed it together. And now Im sure that shell be watching you from now on. Good luck to you.
I appreciate it very much, Mr. President, Mr. Biden responded. I appreciate your call. I appreciate it.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-nixon-taped-joe-biden-11605472525 (subscription)
Mr. Nichter is a professor of history at Texas A&M UniversityCentral Texas and author of The Last Brahmin: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the Making of the Cold War.
unblock
(52,196 posts)donnie couldn't have made that call in a million years, at least not without boasting about himself somehow.
Hekate
(90,645 posts)unblock
(52,196 posts)But people forget how basic and obvious such things are when a major political party has lost all touch with reality and civility....
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Both were Veeps under popular presidents. Of course, Nixon ran, and lost, in 1960 while Biden declined to run. But Biden had run, and lost, the presidency before (twice actually). After their stint as VP, they kind of seemed past their prime and unlikely candidates for the presidency again.
Of course, Nixon would run for governor of California and lose to Pat Brown, while Biden didn't run for anything again until his third presidential election.
Both ran as a link to past successes after the party they were going to lead was kind of in limbo after a tough election fight. Both went up against an incumbent party that seemed out of step with the people. Both ran during a time of great racial and political unrest.
Both won very similar electoral college victories after leading by double-digits, it seemed, for most the campaign.
Let's just hope it turns out better for Biden lol