My own father had always said the measure of a man wasn't how many times or how hard he got knocked down, but how fast he got back up. I made a pledge to myself that I would get up and emerge from this debacle better for having gone through it. I would live up to the expectation I had for myself. I would be the kind of man I wanted to be.

Biden first considered running for president in that year after he gained notice for giving speeches to party audiences that simultaneously scolded and encouraged Democrats. S. The Bidens are Roman Catholics and regularly attend Mass at St.

military assistance and intervention during the Bosnian War. Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. Barack Obama selected Biden to be the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 U.