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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJoe Biden, the Listener (The Daily Beast)
(The blurb indicates this is from Newsweek, but there's no link, so just posting the link to the Beast. Very nice piece, IMO.
Yes, Joe Biden is gregarious. But hes a lot more complicated than his public personaand brings great assets to the administration as the presidents wing man. Michelle Cottle on the veeps value in Newsweek.
It was a little after 11 a.m. on a Wednesday morning in mid-January, and Joe Biden was settling into a conference room on the second floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his role as head of the administrations gun-control task forcewhich President Obama had asked him to lead after the massacre in NewtownBiden had convened a group of gun-control advocates for a frank discussion about preventing future deaths. It was to be a personally delicate conversation, with multiple attendees having either lost loved ones to gun violence or themselves been victims.
The session, like all those his task force was holding with experts and advocates, was meant to be private, so after five minutes of introductory remarks, Biden booted the small gaggle of journalists from the room. He then zeroed in on the 17 men and women gathered around the long conference table, specifically reaching out to those who had endured tragedy by briefly relating his own story of loss. (Bidens first wife and baby daughter died in a car crash in 1972.) He did a good job making a connection with the survivors in the room and making them comfortable to speak about a delicate and sensitive occurrence in their lives, says Hildy Saizow of Arizonans for Gun Safety. He has grieved before, and that was important, says William Kellibrew, head of an eponymous foundation aimed at breaking the cycles of violence and poverty. (At age 10, Kellibrew saw his mother and 12-year-old brother gunned down by his moms ex-boyfriend, who then forced Kellibrew to beg for his life.)
Biden voiced admiration for the victims and survivors working to turn their private nightmare toward the public good. And then the vice presidentwidely considered perhaps the most insufferably talkative person in Washington, the loosest loose cannon in a city full of themdid something completely out of step with his public persona: he basically shut up. Going around the table, Biden (with Attorney General Eric Holder at his right) had each person spend a few minutes sharing their story or recommending three action items they considered key to reducing gun violence. Participants were supposed to hold it to three minutes, recalls Kellibrew, but you know some people are going to forget. At no point, however, did Biden try to rush the process. Only once or twice did he break in with a question or quick word of encouragement. He mostly just sat there, briefing book in front of him, listening and taking notes. Lots of notes. Pages of notes. He had this whole system with some things written in some places and some in others, says Dan Gross, head of the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who sat diagonally across the table from Biden. Gross says chuckling, I started trying to figure out which page of notes I wanted to go on.
Once everyone had finished, Biden flipped back through his notebook, responding to specific suggestions and stories. There was no doubt among anyone in the room, says Gross, the extent to which he had been genuinely listening. /snip
The rest at >>>>>
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/01/20/joe-biden-the-listener.html
PatSeg
(46,804 posts)Biden continues to be the go-to guy when a difficult assignment comes up. - David Axelrod
Best Vice President ever!
PatSeg
(46,804 posts)Great article worth reading!
jillan
(39,451 posts)He did an amazing job and got it done so quickly.
PatSeg
(46,804 posts)And he was so organized and focused.
gateley
(62,683 posts)jillan
(39,451 posts)Joe is getting LOTS of love.
Being called the most effective VP probably ever
gateley
(62,683 posts)of like minds who can get together at least on the positive issues. Sigh. But you're right -- it's only DU.
jillan
(39,451 posts)PatSeg
(46,804 posts)Or maybe we have changed, but it sure feels different lately.
PatSeg
(46,804 posts)"The greatest Vice President ever!"
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)I really enjoyed this, thanks.
madokie
(51,076 posts)stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)I love the man without exception.
Jennicut
(25,415 posts)He really is a great VP, very loyal to Obama. And just down to earth and loves people of all types.
gateley
(62,683 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)In spite of the asshole republiCONs these two will forever be seen as having been good for the country and the people who call it home