Joe Biden was a young man in a hurry. Elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29, he spent four

decades dreaming of becoming president. But then, in one of American history's tragic ironies,

when he finally got there, he was incapable of doing the job. Father Time had exacted a cruel

price. Joseph Robinette, forever known as Joe Biden, was born in

the coal mining town of Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 20, 1942. His father moved the family to

Wilmington, Delaware when Biden was 10, but Biden would always stress his working class Scranton origins.

Young Joe is popular at a good athlete, but just got by academically.

At Syracuse Law School, he graduated 76th out of a class of 85.

After getting caught plagiarizing a Law Review article,

a pattern emerged that persisted throughout his life.

If he didn't like a version of his past, he'd make up a better one.

Examples include getting arrested while trying to visit South African civil rights activist

Nelson Mandela in prison, being shot at while touring Iraq as a senator, and his uncle getting

eaten by cannibals in Papua, New Guinea after World War II, all fabrications. In 1972, after a brief tenure on a Delaware

County Council, he challenged incumbent Republican Senator Jay Caleb Boggs. Biden's youthful energy

captured the voter's imagination, and a shocking upset. He defeated Boggs by 3,000 votes. Before he could take office, tragedy struck. In December

1972, his wife, Nelia, and one-year-old daughter Amy were killed in a car crash. His son's

Bo and Hunter were badly injured. Biden pushed past his grief and entered the Senate, the youngest

member in that exclusive club. There, Biden thrived. There's no doubt that he had political skills. You don't get elected to the Senate, the youngest member in that exclusive club. There, Biden thrived.

There's no doubt that he had political skills.

You don't get elected to the Senate seven times, vice president twice, and ultimately president

without being good at politics.

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