Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics

Biden's writing is good prose and proof that he is a good and capable person, certainly eligible to be President.

I read "Promises to Keep" because I think Senator Biden would be a good President, and wanted to learn more about his thinking - especially about Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the economy, etc. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The bulk of the book covers his early life, first election to the Senate (almost by default - lack of other candidates), the loss of his first wife and child in an auto accident, becoming Chairman of the Judiciary Committee (including the Bork hearings), and his being hissed off the stage in an earlier run for President due to a couple of plagiarism flaps. Then an aneurysm in the brain, Serbia, and his legislation on Violence Against Women.

Finally, we get to an early meeting with Bush II (curious why the leaders of N.K. and Germany were upset with him - after he had cut the legs out from their major issues), and Biden's early concerns that Bush's push for an anti-ballistic missile might start another arms race.

Biden is complementary on Bush's initial actions post 9/11, though worried that neocon Perle's desire to use the opportunity for a sneak attack on Baghdad was crazy. After visiting Afghanistan before the shooting stopped, Biden quickly concluded that long-term U.S. support was needed. Bush talked along these lines, but Biden eventually realized his intent was simply to return whenever the swamp needed draining again.

As for Iraq, Biden eventually realized that he had VASTLY underestimated Cheney and Rumsfeld's disingenueness and incompetence, and as a result we went to war without significant international backing. Visiting again before the shooting stopped, he found Iraqi police training taking place in 8 weeks (vs. 6 months in most nations), and using 90% illiterates, no follow-up (even to see if they reported for duty).

Last, but most important to me - what would he do as President? Not much material, other than reference health care and pensions for all. Easier said than done.

Throughout history we've preferred voting for presidents based on our perception of their domestic policies rather than any strength or weaknesses we perceived they had regarding foreign policy. In fact, in my lifetime, only Nixon and Bush 41 had solid foreign policy credentials. No one doubts that in the 2008 election, the voters' perception of foreign policy capabilities will be paramount. Given this reality, only two candidates from either party, Senator Biden and Gov. Bill Richardson, even have foreign policy leadership experience (McCain has some experience, but not in a formal leadership role), and none of these gentlemen are in the top tier of candidates running for their party's nomination.

Biden's brief memoir provides the standard autographical detail of his childhood; while the rest of the book serves as a short resume' of accomplishments that are expanded upon in story form to allow us to get know Biden's character, experience, and skill-sets. Biden does not attempt to list all his accomplishments or his experiences as a long-time Senator so those looking for an exhaustive biography need to go elsewhere.

His narratives on the role he played in the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Judge Bork nomination to SCOTUS are especially riveting and easily worth the time and money invested in this book. I was especially enamored with his leadership in influencing the President to act militarily in Bosnia given the UN and Europe's apathy, which I'm sure was a conscious decision by Biden to include in this book given so many Americans' frustration regarding the UN and therefore signaling that a Biden presidency would never wait for the UN to act if it was in America's interest to act quickly, with not just rhetoric, but actions by Biden in Bosnia as evidence. He also makes a subtle argument in writing about Bosnia on how a President can fail to act (Clinton initially) because of a lack of foreign policy experience yielding little confidence in their judgment; no doubt to convince us not to repeat the same mistake we did with our current President and his complete lack of foreign policy experience and inability to even properly judge options available to him.

What has also intrigued me about Biden has been the consistency of his position regarding Iraq in this decade. In fact, Biden spends more time in the book on his dealings inside Iraq (he's made eight trips) and with the White House than he does revealing his dealings with other Senators as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He also does a nice piece on his trips to Afghanistan.

What's missing that I wished would have been included was his experiences during the Clarence Thomas and Alberto Gonzalez nomination hearings, along with President Bush's repeated attempts to circumvent the Constitution and how the Judiciary Committee has reacted to Bush's actions. One can only conclude that any discussion on these topics will only serve to either split swing voters who are considering supporting him, making it clear the objective of this book is not to serve as a memoir, but instead act as a propaganda tract for a Biden Presidency, which I was aware of going in and so should all readers.

Overall, I recommend reading this book because I believe our country has a strong consensus that we require a strong President on the foreign policy side and Biden's years of foreign policy leadership are greater than all other candidates from both parties combined. In a debate late this summer Biden made the claim that the next President will have little margin for error, making the quality of our vote imperative. Given that challenge, evaluating Biden is a responsibility I'm taking seriously and advocate you do as well, this book should provide solid progress down the path of our evaluation.

This book just solidified my enthusiasm for Joe Biden as a presidential candidate. He has a great background and is a straight shooter and votes his convictions. If for nothing else, I would vote for him simply because of his conviction that no matter how you feel about the Iraq war, it is necessary to vote for the funds that will help protect our troops. It is on public record that if he has to make a choice between voting for funding and losing the presidential candidacy, he will choose the funding to protect our soldiers. That's the kind of man I want to be our President.

I believe Joe Biden is the most experienced and most practical candidate for the President we need right now. Please read about him and support him.