Positivity Buzz
President and Vice-President elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (courtesy of Kamala Harris Instagram account)
Politics and religion are two subjects that I would normally shy away from as these are underlying causes of most heated arguments and conflicts. But there are rare times where I have the urge to write about these subjects, particularly to commemorate an event that resonates well with me. I did a travel and religious themed article earlier (https://columbusbee.blog/2019/09/14/dear-mama-mary/) to celebrate a religious occasion and another article (https://columbusbee.blog/2019/09/21/remembering-miriam-defensor-santiago/) to pay tribute to a political figure who happens to be family.
I got fixated with the recently concluded US election for the past few days. Probably because there were just a lot of depressing news at home (Philippines) that I seem to see some hope in this political event (no matter how foreign and inconsequential it may appear to be locally) that could be another inflection point in history. Plus the more I read about the actors of this year’s election, the more that I got fascinated with the outcome. Though most of us know Joe Biden as the former Vice President of President Barack Obama, not many of us really know the story of this guy. A senator at the young age of 29, Biden lost his first wife along with his youngest daughter (who was just a baby then) in a car accident that left his two sons Beau and Hunter (who were toddlers then) with injuries. The sons survived the accident, a tragic incident that would devastate any father, widowed at a young age, and left with two very young children to look after and grow up without a Mom.
There must be a reason why Beau and Hunter survived. They became Joe’s hope for survival and the reasons for his being. Solo parenting aside and at the prodding of the two young sons who want their Dad to remarry, Joe gave love a second chance. Like in any Nicholas Sparks novels, he found that love in Jill, which he later on acknowledged as one of the two great loves of his life (and may be one of two Biden great love stories).
Joe and Jill Biden (photo courtesy of O Magazine)
If this won’t get you teary eyed, then I don’t know what will. There were reversal of roles as well, where the sons, as grown ups, acted like the parent to Joe, always looking after their Dad who became more entrenched in the political world. Beau followed his father’s footsteps by running (and won) as Attorney General in the same state (Delaware) where his Dad was the favorite Senator. At one point he was groomed to succeed his Dad as Senator, but he would have none of that as he wants to succeed in his own terms, eyeing the governorship instead. In between, Joe has to bear the pain of sending Beau off to Iraq as the younger Biden had enlisted himself earlier for military service. But as fate would have it, Beau was diagnosed with brain cancer later, were he has to give up his government post and job. Just like any family dealing with the disease and the financial burden that comes with it, Joe almost sold his house if not for President Obama who intervened, offering him the money, knowing how much Joe loves that house. Beau, at the young age of 46, succumb to cancer, leaving a wife and two young kids behind, and a grieving father.
At this point, I can’t help but relate to what his family went thru. I can see parallelism in our family lives. I also came from a family of professionals, educators, and politicians, the most prominent was Miriam Defensor Santiago. Like Biden, Miriam also run for the presidency three times, but unlike Biden, she was unsuccessful. But she is now renowned as the best President that the Philippines never had (where Biden can be the best President America will ever have). Both were Senators and both were bestowed with some of the highest honors of the land (Miriam with the Quezon Service Award and Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom). Both also lost a son. There is a saying that no parent should bury their child. Biden didn’t only bury one, but two of his children. I know the pain, grief, and sorrow, when my family also went thru the same. I also witnessed how love ones succumb to the disease and how families come together to console each other.
Joe and Beau Biden (photo courtesy of NPR Org)
As if the grief was not enough, Joe has to see his best friend, Senator John McCain (of Arizona), succumb to the same cancer that Beau had. Though Joe and John are in the opposite sides of the aisle (Joe is a Democrat while John was a Republican), their friendship go way back, where Jill prodded John to introduce himself to his future wife Cindy (then Ms. Hensley). This friendship has been tried and tested over time, so it was no surprise when Cindy McCain, a Republican, threw her support to Joe and endorsed him for President. The long Republican state of Arizona has flipped in this election, where the results have been called in favor of Biden (at least by Associated Press and Fox News), partly attributed to the McCains Republican support to their good old friend Joe.
You can infer that the women in Joe’s life have played crucial roles in both his personal life and his road to the presidency. Joe has always acknowledged Jill Biden as the proverbial woman behind every man’s success. Cindy McCain, a proud Republican, has embodied the famous Filipino President Manuel Quezon statement “my loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins.” I believe this is the reason why Biden has chosen a woman to be his running mate, where Kamala Harris addition to his growing family would be a testament of how he highly values the contribution of women in his life.
The McCains (John and Cindy) with Joe Biden (photo courtesy of Business Insider)
I don’t know much of Kamala Harris and her story, except that she was once called by then President Barack Obama as the hottest Attorney General of the land. A rising star in San Francisco’s District Attorney Office, she became Attorney General of California and later on became a US Senator. She ran for 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and eventually gave in to Biden and then chosen as his running mate. What I surely know though, is that she has shattered glass ceilings, a daughter of immigrant parents who defied race and gender to get to where she is now, the first female Vice President of color.
So how will the Biden-Harris presidency impacts the world? The reason why I dwelled on Biden’s story is to humanize the presidency. Humanizing the presidency will give us some insights on how Joe will take US leadership forward in the global arena. We know that Joe suffered losses both in his personal and political lives, so this is a man who can empathize with every citizen in the world who has suffered from hate, discrimination, cruelty, oppression, or have lost someone to cancer, COVID, climate change (typhoons, cyclones, wildfires), and other tragedies. This is a man whom President Barack Obama trusted and utilized to connect to the middle class and as bridge to the other side of the aisle. Joe will not only be a unifying US President, but also a unifying global leader. This is a man who values family first, so it is expected that he will bring US, a prodigal son, back to her global family. This is a man who, like his old boss, exemplify decency, statesmanship, and ethical leadership, who has no sense of entitlement at all. This is a man who is beholden to a promise made to a dying son and will likely leave a honest and lasting legacy not only in the US but in the world.
Photo courtesy of Hillary Clinton Twitter account
Together with Kamala Harris, this is the presidency that will symbolize hope, kindness, justice, accountability, and equality, a stronger democracy not defined by race, gender, and social status. A presidency that can drive international cooperation and unity. A presidency that can usher watershed opportunities for the other countries as well.
Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Love what you guys represent.
columbusbee 