On the 20th of January, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States of America. If you’re familiar with how politics works, particularly in a country as large as the US, you’ll understand that this was no small feat that he achieved. However, what you might not understand is what it took him to get there alongside all the sacrifices he had to make.

We could go way back to the beginning when Joe Biden was born in 1942. But that might be a bit of a stretch. So, allow us the luxury of fast-forwarding a few years into the future. Not too far, though, because then you might miss the fact that Joe Biden had to struggle with a stuttering problem when he was a child. Back then, it was so bad that his friends used to call him “Joe Impedimenta” or “Dash” just to mock him. Being the fighter that he was, he worked hard towards overcoming the speech impediment. He achieved this goal by reciting poetry and long passages in the mirror after memorizing them. 

Soon enough, he was at the University of Delaware, where he studied history and political science while simultaneously being more interested in girls, parties, and football in his first two years, according to Biography.com. 

Eventually, as you would expect, Joe Biden graduated from law school and started practicing. He became an active member of the Democratic Party in the process and was soon elected into the New Castle County Council. As a councilman, Joe Biden eventually made a move to start his own firm.

At this time, he already had three children. But, unwilling to let himself get tied down or sidetracked, he made a major political move and ran against a Republican for the United States Senate in 1972. Many people really believed he didn’t stand much of a chance. But, Joe Biden ran an impressive campaign and became the fifth-youngest US senator.

At this point, he was clearly on his way to achieving his dreams. After all, he literally had just made history. But, in December 1972, Biden’s three kids and wife got into a terrible accident. It killed his wife and daughter. His two sons survived, but they were injured severely. This was one of the lowest points in his life as he really did consider committing suicide.

Encouraged by his family, he continued to serve in his senate position. Perhaps the most heartwarming thing about him is that he felt so passionately about spending time with his children that instead of attending the traditional swearing-in ceremony in Washington, he took the oath of office in his children’s hospital room. Then, every single day, he would go from Wilmington to Washington by train to maintain contact with his kids. 

As a senator, this impressive man became highly respected as a leading foreign policy expert. 

As you can imagine, his political achievements didn’t end there.

In 1987, when he had made quite a name for himself, Biden ran for president. Unfortunately, he had to drop out of the primaries because he was said to be plagiarizing a part of his speech.

During his campaign, however, Joe Biden had these terrible headaches. Until he dropped out, doctors had no idea that he had two life-threatening aneurysms in his brain. He had to get surgery, but that led to complications that formed blood clots in his lungs, which required another surgery.

Despite all these and a 7-month recovery process, Joe Biden returned to the senate. 

Then in 2007, he decided to run for president again. But, he was so outranked by Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama that he could barely get his feet on the ground.

But, after several months, he finally had a big break! Barack Obama selected him as his running partner. Working together, they were able to attain victory, and Joe Biden rose to the position of vice president. This went on for eight years. 

However, even with all he had gone through, life still dealt a hard blow on him by claiming the life of one of his sons that had survived the car crash years ago. 

Ever resilient, Joe Biden continued to make himself relevant. He continuously expressed dissatisfaction at Donald Trump’s governance where necessary and made his voice heard for the people. Finally, in 2021, he became the president of the United States of America. 

Just to recap very quickly, Joe Biden lost his wife and daughter, but he kept striving for better. He battled for his life on two serious occasions with brain aneurysms and blood clots in his lungs, but he kept striving for better. He lost his son to cancer, but he kept striving for better. He lost the opportunity to become president on two occasions, but he kept striving for better. If there exists a truly exceptional man who was able to rise through sweat and the harshest of conditions, it is Joe Biden.