Those expecting Joe Biden to withdraw from the US presidential race without a fight had not fully considered the life story of a proud but often stubborn man.
From playground brawls to terrible tragedies and multiple bids for the White House, Biden has long viewed his life as a series of comebacks against impossible odds.
And while the Democratic revolt over his debate defeat against Donald Trump appears to have abated for the time being, the 81-year-old Trump remains determined to win the fight of his political life.
Unless there is a major change, it will likely be up to American voters to decide whether Biden can return to power once again — or whether his arrogance leads him and his party to a historic defeat at the hands of Trump.
Since the debate, Biden has repeatedly returned to his image as a vulnerable man, repeating his family’s mantra that “when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
“What we’ve seen over the last 10 to 12 days is certainly fundamental to the Joe Biden story,” his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said from the White House podium on Tuesday.
“He’s a player who’s obviously been knocked out a few times in his career. People knock him down, and you hear him say that he got back up.
“This is her story of standing up for herself, for millions of Americans.”
‘Punch that guy’
This outlook was formed during a difficult childhood in the American rust-belt, when I lived in a close-knit Irish Catholic family known for its intense pride.
Ben Cramer wrote in his book “What It Takes” about the 1988 US election campaign that his mother Jean would tell young Joey and his siblings every day that “there’s no one better than Biden.”
He was also known for never backing down.
“Most people who get into fights just confront each other … Joey didn’t do that,” Cramer wrote. “He decided to fight … bango — he punched the guy in the face.”
Biden struggled with a stutter as a child.
After being repeatedly humiliated at school, the young Biden was determined to teach himself to speak fluently, repeating phrases over and over in front of a mirror.
But Biden’s biggest test was yet to come.
In 1972, when he was just 29 and had just been elected Senator for Delaware, his wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident, while his younger sons Beau and Hunter were badly injured.
Tragedy struck again in 2015 when Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
Biden also had to deal with Hunter’s serious drug addiction and legal problems.
“Sometimes I’m amazed at Joe’s strength. He’s had brutal loss in his life,” first lady Jill Biden, whom Biden married in 1977, said in her memoir “Where the Light Enters.”
‘Psychological prison’
Along with those close to his family, Biden has also faced a number of political insults.
In 1988, a plagiarism scandal forced him to abandon his first presidential run.
His next attempt in 2008 ended with a landslide defeat in the Democratic primaries, after which Barack Obama chose him as his vice-presidential candidate.
Yet, in the current crisis surrounding Biden’s age and health, the very things that previously gave Biden his strength could also be his downfall.
It is well known that he only listens to his family members and a few associates whom he has known for decades, but as he grows older, this circle is becoming more narrow.
They have long believed that they have been underestimated and mocked by the media, which means they are even less inclined to listen to outside voices.
Besides, Biden’s lifelong image as someone who always bounces back means he’s unlikely to be able to make a dignified exit this time around.
Franklin Foer, the author of a book on Biden’s early presidency, recently wrote in The Atlantic magazine that “humiliation — and its rise — is Biden’s origin story.”
“At this point it’s their psychological prison, a mental habit that could ruin American democracy.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
