As Dan McLaughlin noted earlier, Joe Biden turns 80 today, making him the first president ever to be that old in office. Biden has been in national politics for so long that some of the touchstones of his history as a politician — busing, for instance — hail quite literally from a prior generation (or even further back than that).
But some of the best evidence of Biden’s longevity comes from the very beginning of his political career. Biden won his first election to the Senate in Delaware in 1972, the year that Richard Nixon won in a 49-state landslide, including in Biden’s own Delaware. And yet, Nixon doesn’t think he could have stopped Biden even if he had gone and campaigned for the incumbent there. “If I had gone to Delaware, I don’t think it would have changed one iota,” Nixon said. “He just had a damn good young candidate running against him.”
That “damn good young candidate” was Biden, just 29 at the time of his campaign for Senate. He turned 30 a few weeks later. A few weeks after that, his first wife and youngest child died in a car accident. Thanks to the (in)famous tapes, we know that Nixon called the young senator-elect both to congratulate him and to offer condolences. You can listen here. A brief transcript of their conversation is below:
Biden: Hello, Mr. President, how are you?
Nixon: Senator, I know this is a very tragic day for you, but I wanted you to know that all of us here at the White House were thinking about you, and praying for you and also for your two children, and —
Biden: I appreciate that very much.
Nixon: I understand you were on the Hill at the time, and your wife was just driving by herself.
Biden: Yes, that’s correct.
Nixon: In any event, looking at it as you must in terms of the future, because you have the great fortune of being young, I remember I was two years older than you when I went to the House. But the main point is you can remember that she was there when you won a great victory, and you enjoyed it together. And now, I’m sure that she’ll be watching you from now on. Good luck to you.
Biden: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate your call. I appreciate it.
That Biden began his political career with a call from President Nixon just goes to show how long he’s been in politics. And it makes one wonder what young political talents may have another half century left of their times in public life.