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A review by rachelygr
Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics by Joe Biden
4.0
I thought this was a great political memoir. This book came out as part of Biden's 2008 Presidential campaign as one of those "Learn more about me! Read my book!" media tactics. However, I feel like real effort and thought went into this book and I learned a lot about Biden's political views and his personal life.
This book was not 5 star for me because in an effort to highlight what he must see as the biggest political moments in his life (Bosnian civil war intervention, passing the VAWA) Biden glossed over large amounts of time. I also would have liked if Biden had explained more of the roots of his political beliefs and how he applied that to different situations over time. I think a large part of his self perception of his politics is based around his morality, which seems very genuine, but not as theoretical as a lot of other politicians. I appreciate that he was trying to keep this book as accessible to the widest audience possible but I still think he could have explained more about himself since he did get into the weeds in discussing ideology when it came to Judge Breyer and the NeoCons.
This book was not 5 star for me because in an effort to highlight what he must see as the biggest political moments in his life (Bosnian civil war intervention, passing the VAWA) Biden glossed over large amounts of time. I also would have liked if Biden had explained more of the roots of his political beliefs and how he applied that to different situations over time. I think a large part of his self perception of his politics is based around his morality, which seems very genuine, but not as theoretical as a lot of other politicians. I appreciate that he was trying to keep this book as accessible to the widest audience possible but I still think he could have explained more about himself since he did get into the weeds in discussing ideology when it came to Judge Breyer and the NeoCons.