Biden’s journey: After getting knocked down, he keeps getting back up.

CHICAGO (AP) — Sixteen years ago, a triumphant Joe Biden addressed an adoring crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, his smile radiating confidence about the country’s future and his own journey.

The soon-to-be vice president hugged his son Beau. He spoke about how his own parents had endowed him with a sense of grit and tenacity.

“Champ, when you get knocked down, get up,” he recalled his father, Joe, saying. Biden then repeated the lesson taught to him by his mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, who was seated in the audience: “Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.”

In 2024, Biden was not forced to reconcile a failure of his presidency. He compiled a list of significant accomplishments that will be felt for years. But he chose to give up his campaign under pressure from Democratic leaders, in a remarkable concession to the passage of time, when allies in his party and a clear majority of U.S. adults concluded the 81-year-old should not seek reelection. After Biden’s decision to leave the presidential race, his party not only forgave him, its leaders praised him.

So Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. comes to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week both revered and resigned.

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