In the summer of 2003, a large crowd gathered in the state capital of South Carolina for a funeral of massive proportions.

There's a horse-drawn carriage that's gliding through the street with a casket in the back draped in an American flag.

Then the casket is brought in to a large church that's ornately decorated with flowers and wreaths.

We're here to honor the memory of a man whose life was rich in years, whose career was filled with accomplishments, and whose calling was to serve his state and his country.

One by one, people step up to the microphone.

A man who understood the art of compromise, but never at the sacrifice of principle.

And praise the man's life and accomplishments.

From early childhood until the day of his death, his life was governed by a strong sense of responsibility to help his fellow man.

The man that they are there to utilize is Senator Strom Thurman, the longest serving member in the history of the U.S. Senate.

He was a noted segregationist and open racist for much of his early career, including his opposition to the early civil rights act in the 1960s, and his opposition to the desegregation of schools.

And so because of that history, which made Senator Thurman a controversial figure throughout his career, it's a little surprising who comes to the microphone next to speak at his funeral.

Strom and I shared a life in the Senate for over 30 years.

We shared a good life there, and it made a difference.

It's Senator Joe Biden.

I disagreed deeply with Strom on the issue of civil rights and on many other issues, but I watched him change.

There's a lot of moments throughout Joe Biden's long-standing political career that point to how he views the world.

But this one, when he's eulogizing Strom Thurman, I think, is a unique insight to how he views himself as a bridge builder between Republicans and Democrats, between black communities and white communities,

and sees himself as someone who sees the best in people, and can bring that out of them even as his own party, and maybe sometimes his own supporters doubt it.

From the New York Times, I'm Michael Bavaro. This is the Daily.

Part four in our series on pivotal moments in the lives of the top four Democratic candidates for president.

Today, Joe Biden.

It's Friday, December 20th.

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