David Axelrod
Axelrod in the Oval Office. (2009)
Senior Advisor to the President
In office January 20, 2009 – January 10, 2011
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Barry Jackson
Succeeded by	David Plouffe
Personal details
Born	(1955-02-22) February 22, 1955 (age 57) Lower East Side, New York, United States
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Susan Landau
Children	Lauren Michael Ethan
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Religion	Judaism

David M. Axelrod (born February 22, 1955) is an American political consultant based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known as a top political advisor to former President Bill Clinton as well as campaign advisor to President Barack Obama during Obama's successful run for Presidency. Following the 2008 election, Axelrod was appointed as Senior Advisor to Obama.^[1] Axelrod left the White House position in early 2011 to become the Communications Director for Obama's re-election campaign.^[2]

Axelrod is the founder of AKPD Message and Media, was a political writer for the Chicago Tribune, and operated ASK Public Strategies, now called ASGK Public Strategies.

Early life[link]

Axelrod grew up in Stuyvesant Town on the Lower East Side of Manhattan,^[3][4] in a Jewish-American household. He attended Public School 40 in Manhattan. Axelrod's father was a psychologist and avid baseball fan.^[5] His mother worked as a journalist at PM, a left-wing 1940s newspaper. Axelrod's parents separated when he was eight years old. Axelrod traces his political involvement back to his childhood. Describing the appeal of politics, he told the Los Angeles Times, "I got into politics because I believe in idealism. Just to be a part of this effort that seems to be rekindling the kind of idealism that I knew when I was a kid, it's a great thing to do. So I find myself getting very emotional about it."^[6] At thirteen years old, he was selling campaign buttons for Robert F. Kennedy. After graduating from New York's Stuyvesant High School^[5] in 1972, Axelrod attended the University of Chicago. He majored in political science. ^[7] As an undergraduate, Axelrod wrote for the Hyde Park Herald, covering politics, and picked up an internship at the Chicago Tribune. He lost his father to suicide about the time of his graduation from college^[7] in 1977.

While at the University of Chicago, he met his future wife, business student Susan Landau. They were married in 1979. In June 1981, Susan gave birth to their first child, Lauren, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at seven months of age.^[8]

Career[link]

The Tribune hired Axelrod when he graduated from college. At the age of 27, he became the City Hall Bureau Chief and a political columnist for the paper. He worked there for eight years, covering national, state and local politics, and became the youngest political writer there in 1981.^[9] Unhappy with his prospects at the Tribune, in 1984 he joined the campaign of U.S. Senator Paul Simon as communications director; within weeks he was promoted to co-campaign manager.^[10]

In 1985, Axelrod formed a political consultancy company, Axelrod & Associates. In 1987 he worked on the successful reelection campaign of Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, while also helping to spearhead Simon's campaign for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination. This established his first experience in working with black politicians and he later became a key player in similar mayoral campaigns of blacks, including Dennis Archer in Detroit, Michael R. White in Cleveland, Anthony A. Williams in Washington, D.C., Lee P. Brown in Houston, and John F. Street in Philadelphia.^[7] Axelrod is a longtime strategist for the former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley^[11] and styles himself a "specialist in urban politics." The Economist notes he also specializes in "packaging black candidates for white voters".^[11]

In January 1990, Axelrod was hired to be the media consultant for the all but official re-election campaign of Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt.^[12] However, Goldschmidt announced in February that he would not seek re-election.^[13]

In 2002, Axelrod was retained by the Liberal Party of Ontario to help Dalton McGuinty and his party to be elected into government in the October 2003 election. Axelrod's effect on Ontario was heard through the winning Liberal appeal to "working families" and placing an emphasis on positive policy contrasts like canceling corporate tax breaks to fund education and health.^[14]

In 2004, Axelrod worked for John Edwards' presidential campaign. During the campaign, he lost responsibility for making ads, but continued as the campaign's spokesman. Regarding Edwards' failed 2004 presidential campaign, Axelrod has commented, "I have a whole lot of respect for John, but at some point the candidate has to close the deal and — I can’t tell you why — that never happened with John."^[15][16]

Axelrod contributed an op-ed to the Chicago Tribune in defense of patronage after two top officials in the administration of longtime client Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley were arrested for what federal prosecutors described as "pervasive fraud" in City Hall hiring and promotions.^[17][18]

In 2006, Axelrod consulted for several campaigns, including the successful campaigns of Eliot Spitzer in New York's gubernatorial election and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts's gubernatorial election. Axelrod also served in 2006 as the chief political adviser for Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel for the U.S. House of Representatives elections, in which the Democrats gained 31 seats.

Until recently, Axelrod also worked as an Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University, where he, along with Professor Peter Miller, taught an undergraduate class titled Campaign Strategy, a class that analyzed political campaigns, the strategies used by them, and the effectiveness of those strategies.^[19]

On June 14, 2009 Axelrod received an honorary "Doctor of Humane Letters" degree from DePaul University, speaking at the commencement exercises of the College of Communication and College of Computing and Digital Media.^[20]

Barack Obama presidential campaign[link]

Axelrod's ties with Obama reach back more than a decade. Axelrod met Obama in 1992 when Obama so impressed Betty Lou Saltzmann, a woman from Chicago's "lakefront liberal crowd," during a black voter registration drive he ran that she then introduced the two. Obama also consulted Axelrod before he delivered his famed 2002 anti-war speech^[21] and asked him to read drafts of his book, The Audacity of Hope.^[22]

Axelrod served as the chief strategist and media advisor for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Axelrod contemplated taking a break from the 2008 presidential campaign, as five of the candidates —Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, and Tom Vilsack — were past clients. Personal ties between Axelrod and Hillary Clinton also made it difficult, as she had done significant work on behalf of epilepsy causes for a foundation co-founded by Axelrod's wife and mother, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) (Axelrod's daughter suffers from developmental disabilities associated with chronic epileptic seizures.) Axelrod's wife even said that a 1999 conference Clinton convened to find a cure for the condition was "one of the most important things anyone has done for epilepsy."^[23]

Axelrod ultimately decided to participate in the Obama campaign. He told The Washington Post, "I thought that if I could help Barack Obama get to Washington, then I would have accomplished something great in my life."^[5]

Axelrod contributed to the initial announcement of Obama's campaign by creating a five-minute Internet video released January 16, 2007.^[24][25] He continued to use 'man on the street' style biographical videos to create intimacy and authenticity in the political ads.

Axelrod talking to reporters in the "spin room" after the Cleveland Democratic debate in February 2008

While the Clinton campaign chose an incumbent strategy that emphasized experience, Axelrod helped to craft the Obama campaign's main theme of "change." Axelrod criticized the Clinton campaign's positioning by saying that "being the consummate Washington insider is not where you want to be in a year when people want change...[Clinton's] initial strategic positioning was wrong and kind of played into our hands."^[26] The change message played a factor in Obama's victory in the Iowa caucuses. "Just over half of [Iowa's] Democratic caucus-goers said change was the No. 1 factor they were looking for in a candidate, and 51 percent of those voters chose Barack Obama," said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. "That compares to only 19 percent of 'change' caucus-goers who preferred Clinton."^[27] Axelrod also believed that the Clinton campaign underestimated the importance of the caucus states. "For all the talent and the money they had over there," says Axelrod, "they — bewilderingly — seemed to have little understanding for the caucuses and how important they would become."^[27] In the 2008 primary season, Obama won a majority of the states that use the caucus format.

Axelrod is credited with implementing a strategy that encourages the participation of people, a lesson drawn partly from Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign as well as a personal goal of Barack Obama. Axelrod explained to Rolling Stone, "When we started this race, Barack told us that he wanted the campaign to be a vehicle for involving people and giving them a stake in the kind of organizing he believed in. According to Axelrod getting volunteers involved became the legacy of the campaign "^[28] This includes drawing on "Web 2.0" technology and viral media to support a grassroots strategy. Obama's web platform allows supporters to blog, create their own personal page, and even phonebank from home. Axelrod's elaborate use of the Internet helped Obama to organize under-30 voters and build over 475,000 donors in 2007, most of whom were Internet donors contributing less than $100 each.^[29] The Obama strategy stood in contrast to Hillary Clinton's campaign, which benefited from high name recognition, large donors and strong support among established Democratic leaders.

Politico described Axelrod as 'soft-spoken' and 'mild-mannered'^[30] and it quoted one Obama aide in Chicago as saying, "Do you know how lucky we are that he is our Mark Penn?"^[31] Democratic consultant and former colleague Dan Fee said of Axelrod, "He's a calming presence."^[32] "He's not a screamer, like some of these guys," political advisor Bill Daley said of Axelrod in the Chicago Tribune. "He has a good sense of humor, so he's able to defuse things."^[10]

Senior Advisor to the President[link]

On November 20, 2008, Obama named Axelrod as a Senior Advisor to his administration. His role included crafting policy and communicating the President's message in coordination with President Obama, the Obama Administration, speechwriters, and the White House communications team.

Axelrod left his White House senior advisor post on January 28, 2011. He is a top aide to Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.^[2] Axelrod also stated that his job as Obama's chief campaign strategist in the 2012 campaign will be his final job as a political operative.^[33]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Axelrod

• AKPD Media
• ASGK Public Strategies
• David Axelrod at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• David Axelrod on Charlie Rose
• David Axelrod collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about David Axelrod in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• The Agony and The Agony, Patrick T. Reardon, Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2007
• Profile: David Axelrod, Ned Temko, The Guardian, July 27, 2008
• Long by Obama’s Side, an Adviser Fills a Role That Exceeds His Title, Jefff Zeleny, The New York Times, October 26, 2008
• President’s Political Protector Is Ever Close at Hand, Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times, March 8, 2009

King David
King of Israel
Statue of David by Nicolas Cordier, in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Reign	over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC; over Judah and Israel c. 1003–970 BC
Born	c. 1040 BC
Birthplace	Bethlehem
Died	c. 970 BC
Place of death	Jerusalem
Predecessor	Saul (Judah), Ishbaal (Israel)
Successor	Solomon
Royal House	House of David (new house)
Father	Jesse
Mother	not named in the Bible; identified by the Talmud as Nitzevet, daughter of Adael

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ ^{[lower-alpha 1]} Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. ^[1][2] His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

Historicity[link]

Archaeological evidence[link]

Tel Dan Stele and Mesha Stele[link]

The Tel Dan Stele.

A fragment of an Aramean victory stele discovered in 1993 at Tel Dan and dated c.850–835 BC contains the phrase ביתדוד (bytdwd). Because the ancient Aramaic script is written without vowels, different readings are possible. Scholars agree that the first part should be read בֵּית (beyt), meaning "house". However, the second part can be read as דּוֹד (dod), which means "uncle" or "beloved" or as דָּוִד (David). The phrase therefore can mean either "House of the beloved", "House of the uncle" or "House of David".^[3] Since the stele recounts the victory of an Aramean king over "the king of Israel",^[4] the translation of "ביתדוד" as "the House of David" is not illogical.^[5][6]

The Mesha Stele from Moab, dating from approximately the same period, may also contain the name David, in two places: in line 12, where the interpretation is uncertain, and בת[ד]וד in line 31, where one destroyed letter must be supplied (here it is bracketed in the middle).^[7] Kenneth Kitchen has proposed that an inscription of c. 945 BC by the Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshenq I mentions "the highlands of David."^[8] Although a reference to King David in this geographical name is not certain, some scholars suggest it is reasonable.^[9]

City of David and Judah, ca. 1000 BC onward[link]

Part of the Large Stone Structure thought by some archaeologists to be the remains of King David's Palace.

The Bronze and Iron Age remains of the City of David, the original urban core of Jerusalem identified with the reigns of David and Solomon, were investigated extensively in the 1970s and 1980s under the direction of Yigal Shiloh of the Hebrew University, but failed to discover significant evidence of occupation during the 10th century BC,^[10] In 2005, Eilat Mazar found a Large Stone Structure which she claimed was David's palace, but the archaeology is contaminated and impossible to date accurately.^[11][12] Finkelstein and Silberman feel the archaeological evidence from surface surveys indicates that Judah at the time of David was a small tribal kingdom, although both do accept that David and Solomon were likely historical figures in Judah about the 10th century BC. They describe the earliest tales of David as a "classical bandit tale".^[13]

The biblical account[link]

The biblical account about David comes from the book of Samuel and the book of Chronicles (each of which are divided into two books in Jewish and Christian traditions). While almost half of the Psalms are headed "A Psalm of David", the headings are later additions, and no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty.^[14] Chronicles merely retells Samuel from a different theological vantage point, and contains little if any information not available there, and the biblical evidence for David is therefore dependent almost exclusively on the material contained in the chapters from 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2.

Russian icon of St. David, the Prophet and King, 18th century (Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).

Since Martin Noth put forward his analysis of the Deuteronomistic History, biblical scholars have accepted that these two books form part of a continuous history of Israel, compiled no earlier than the late 7th century BC, but incorporating earlier works and fragments. Samuel's account of David "seems to have undergone two separate acts of editorial slanting." The original writers show a strong bias against Saul, and in favour of David and Solomon. Many years later the Deuteronomists edited the material in a manner that conveyed their religious message, inserting reports and anecdotes that strengthened their monotheistic doctrine. Some of the materials in Samuel I and II — notably the boundary, allotment and administrative lists — are believed to be very early, since they correspond closely to what we know of the territorial conditions of the late Davidic-early Solomonic period.^[15]

Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations is available. The late John Bright, whose History of Israel, which went through four editions from 1959 to 2000, takes Samuel at face value, but Donald B. Redford thinks all reconstructions from Biblical sources for the United Monarchy period are examples of 'academic wishful thinking',^[16] and Thomas L. Thompson measures Samuel against the archaeological evidence and concludes that "an independent history of Judea during the Iron I [i.e., the period of David] and Iron II periods has little room for historicizing readings of the stories of I-II Samuel and I Kings."^[17] Some interesting studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured David as a lifelong vassal of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath;^[18] Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman have identified as the oldest and most reliable section of Samuel those chapters which describe David as the charismatic leader of a band of outlaws who captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital.^[19] Steven McKenzie, Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College and author of King David: A Biography, states the belief that David actually came from a wealthy family, was "ambitious and ruthless" and a tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his own sons.^[14]

Biblical narrative[link]

Samuel anoints David, Dura Europos, Syria, Date: 3rd c. AD.

Chosen by God[link]

God withdraws his favour from Saul, king of Israel, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments."^[20] The prophet Samuel seeks a new king from the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. Seven of Jesse's sons are led before Samuel, but Samuel says, "Yahweh has not chosen these." "And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."^[21]

At the court of Saul[link]

God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) and his attendants suggest he send for David, a young warrior famed for his bravery and for his skill with the harp. Saul does so and makes David one of his armor-bearers and "whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him."

David and Goliath[link]

Young David holds the impaled head of the Philistine giant and marches in front of a general riding a white horse, most likely King Saul.

The Israelites, under King Saul, faced the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. He heard the Philistine giant Goliath challenge the Israelites to send their own champion to decide the outcome in single combat. David told Saul he was prepared to face Goliath and Saul allowed him to make the attempt. He was victorious, striking Goliath in the forehead with a stone from his sling. Goliath fell, and David killed him with his own sword and beheaded him; the Philistines fled in terror. Saul inquired about the name of the young champion, and David told him that he is the son of Jesse.^[22]

David and Jonathan[link]

Saul makes David a commander over his armies and offers him his daughter Michal in marriage for bringing more than 200 foreskins of the Philistines to him. David is successful in many battles, and his popularity awakes Saul's fears — "What more can he have but the kingdom?" By various stratagems the jealous king seeks his death, but the plots only endear David the more to the people, and especially to Saul's son Jonathan, who loves David (1 Samuel 18:1, 2 Samuel 1:25–26).^[23][24] Warned by Jonathan, David flees into the wilderness, where he gathers a band of followers and becomes the champion of the oppressed while evading the pursuit of Saul. He accepts the town of Ziklag from the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but continues secretly to champion the Israelites. Achish marches against Saul, but David is excused from the war on the accusation of the Philistine nobles that his loyalty to their cause cannot be trusted.

Anointed king[link]

Panorama of the Harod Valley below, part of the Jezreel- see Mount Gilboa.

Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. David mourns their deaths, especially that of Jonathan, his friend. He goes up to Hebron, where he is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth becomes king of the tribes of Israel. War ensues between Ish-Bosheth and David, until Ish-Bosheth is murdered. The assassins bring the head of Ish-Bosheth to David hoping for a reward, but David executes them for their crime against the Lord's anointed. Yet with the death of the son of Saul, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David, who is 30 years old, is anointed King over Israel and Judah.^[25]

Jerusalem and the Davidic Covenant[link]

David conquers the Jebusite fortress of Jerusalem, and makes it his capital, and "Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house." David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, intending to build a temple, but God, speaking to the prophet Nathan, is pleased, saying the temple will be built. God makes a covenant with David, promising that he will establish the house of David : "Your throne shall be established forever."

With God's help, David is victorious over his people's enemies. The Philistines are subdued, the Moabites to the east pay tribute, along with Hadadezer of Zobah, from whom David takes gold shields and bronze vessels.^[26]

Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite[link]

David commits adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.^[27] Bathsheba becomes pregnant. David sends for Uriah, who is with the Israelite army at the siege of Rabbah, so that he may lie with his wife and conceal the identity of the child's father. Uriah refuses to do so while his companions are in the field of battle and David sends him back to Joab, the commander, with a message instructing him to abandon Uriah on the battlefield, "that he may be struck down, and die." David marries Bathsheba and she bears his child, "but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord."^[28] The prophet Nathan confronts David, saying: "Why have you despised the word of God, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife." Nathan presents three punishments from God for this sin. First, that the "sword shall never depart from your house" (2 Samuel 12:10) second, that "Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel., (2 Samuel 12:12) and finally, that "the son born to you will die."2 Samuel 12:14 David repents, yet God "struck the [David's] child ... and it became sick ... [And] on the seventh day the child died." David leaves his lamentations, dresses himself, goes to the House of the Lord and worships, and then returns home to eat. His servants ask why he wept when the baby was alive, but ends his mourning when the child dies. David replies: "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."2 Samuel 12:22–23

David's son Absalom rebels[link]

David's son Absalom rebels against his father, and they come to battle in the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom is caught by his hair in the branches of an oak and David’s general Joab kills him as he hangs there.^[29] When the news of the victory is brought to David, he does not rejoice, but is instead shaken with grief: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"^[30]

Old age[link]

When David has become old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king and worthy to marry Abishag. Bathsheba, David's favorite wife, and Nathan the prophet, fearing that they will be killed by Adonijah, go to David and procure his agreement that Solomon, Bathsheba's son, should sit on the throne. And so the plans of Adonijah collapse, and Solomon becomes king.^[31] It is to Solomon that David gives his final instructions, including his promise that the line of Solomon and David will inherit the throne of Judah forever, and his request that Solomon kill his oldest enemies on his behalf.^[32] David dies and is buried in the City of David, having ruled forty years over Israel, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

Religious view[link]

Judaism[link]

King David the Prophet
King David in Prayer, by Pieter de Grebber (c. 1640)
Holy Monarch, Prophet, Reformer, Spiritual Poet & Musician, Vicegerent of God, Psalm-Receiver
Born	c. 1040 B.C.E. Bethlehem
Died	c. 970 B.C.E. Jerusalem
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam
Attributes	Psalms, Harp, Head of Goliath

David is an important figure in Judaism. Historically, David's reign represented the formation of a coherent Jewish kingdom centered in Jerusalem. David is an important figure within the context of Jewish messianism. In the Hebrew Bible, it is written that a human descendant of David will occupy the throne of a restored kingdom and usher in a messianic age.

David is also viewed as a tragic figure; his acquisition of Bathsheba, and the loss of his son are viewed as his central tragedies.

Many legends have grown around the figure of David. According to one Rabbinic tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. Only at his anointing by Samuel – when the oil from Samuel's flask turned to diamonds and pearls – was his true identity as Jesse's son revealed.

David's adultery with Bathsheba was only an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and some Talmudic authors stated that it was not adultery at all, quoting a Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David's broken heart pleads and numerous actions for forgiveness are discussed, God ultimately forgives but would not remove his sins from Scripture.^[33]

Furthermore, according to David's apologists, the death of Uriah was not to be considered murder, on the basis that Uriah had committed a capital offence by refusing to obey a direct command from the King.^[34]

According to midrashim, Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David.^[35] Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven.

Christianity[link]

David and King Saul, by Rembrandt. David plays the lyre (depicted here as a harp) to the king "tormented by an evil spirit."

The concept of the Messiah is important in Christianity. Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment ("the anointed one", as the title Messiah had it), the "son of David" became in the last two pre-Christian centuries the apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom. This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus "by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man."^[36] The early Church believed that "the life of David [foreshadowed] the life of Christ; Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd; the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are typical of the five wounds; the betrayal by his trusted counsellor, Achitophel, and the passage over the Cedron remind us of Christ's Sacred Passion. Many of the Davidic Psalms, as we learn from the New Testament, are clearly typical of the future Messiah."^[37] In the Middle Ages, "Charlemagne thought of himself, and was viewed by his court scholars, as a 'new David'. [This was] not in itself a new idea, but [one whose] content and significance were greatly enlarged by him."^[38] The linking of David to earthly kingship was reflected in later Medieval cathedral windows all over Europe through the device of the Tree of Jesse, its branches demonstrating how divine kingship descended from Jesse, through his son David, to Jesus.

Western Rite churches (Roman Catholic, Lutheran) celebrate his feast day on 29 December, Eastern-rite on 19 December.^[39] The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord.

Mormonism[link]

The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cites David as one directed by God to practice polygamy, but who sinned in committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah killed.^[40]

Islam[link]

Main article Islamic view of David

David (Arabic داود, Dāwūd) is a highly important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the Israelites. David is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, often with his son Solomon. In the Qur'an: David killed Goliath (II: 251), Goliath was a powerful king who used to invade random kingdoms and villages. Goliath was spreading evil and corruption. When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforces it (XXXVIII: 20). David is made God's "vicegerent on earth" (XXXVIII: 26) and God further gives David sound judgment (XXI: 78; XXXVII: 21–24, 26) as well as the Psalms, which are regarded as books of divine wisdom (IV: 163; XVII, 55). The birds and mountains unite with David in ushering praise to God (XXI: 79; XXXIV: 10; XXXVIII: 18), while God instructs David in the art of fashioning chain-mail out of iron (XXXIV: 10; XXI: 80). Together with Solomon, David gives judgment in a case of damage to the fields (XXI: 78) and David judges in the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber (XXXVIII: 21–23). Since there is no mention in the Qur'an of the wrong David did to Uriah nor is there any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative.^[41]

Muslim tradition and the hadith stress David's zeal in daily prayer^[42] as well as in fasting. Qur'an commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous Stories of the Prophets elaborate upon David's concise Qur'anic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms as well as his musical and vocal talents. His voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God.^[43]

Baha'i Faith[link]

David is described as a minor prophet who came in the shadow of the dispensation of Moses to develop and consolidate the process he set in motion.^[44]

Succession[link]

The oldest complete Tree of Jesse window is in Chartres Cathedral, 1145.

Genealogy[link]

According to Genesis 46:12 and Ruth 4:18–22, David is the eleventh^[45] generation from Judah, the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob (Israel). The genealogical line runs as follows: (1) Judah → (2) Pharez → (3) Hezron → (4) Ram → (5) Amminadab → (6) Nahshon → (7) Salmon → (8) Boaz (the husband of Ruth) → (9) Obed → (10) Jesse → (11) David.^[45]

Family[link]

David was born in Bethlehem, in the territory of the Tribe of Judah. His father was named Jesse. His mother is not named in the Bible, but the Talmud identifies her as Nitzevet daughter of Adael.^[46] David had seven brothers and was the youngest of them all. He had eight wives: Michal, the second daughter of King Saul; Ahinoam the Jezreelite; Abigail the Carmelite, previously wife of Nabal;^[47] Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; Haggith; Abital; Eglah; and Bathsheba, previously the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

The Book of Chronicles lists David's sons by various wives and concubines. In Hebron he had six sons 1 Chronicles 3:1–3: Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah. By Bathsheba, his sons were: Shammua; Shobab; Nathan; and Solomon. His sons born in Jerusalem by other wives included: Ibhar; Elishua; Eliphelet; Nogah; Nepheg; Japhia; Elishama; and Eliada. 2 Samuel 5:14–16 According to 2 Chronicles 11:18, Jerimoth, who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of David's sons. According to 2 Samuel 9:11, David adopted Jonathan's son Mephibosheth as his own.

David also had at least one daughter, Tamar by Maachah, who was raped by Amnon, her half-brother. Her rape leads to Amnon's death. 2 Samuel 13:1–29 Absalom, Amnon's half-brother and Tamar's full-brother, waits two years, then avenges his sister by sending his servants to kill Amnon at a feast to which he had invited all the king's sons. 2 Samuel 13

Legend and legacy[link]

In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages, David was made a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry. His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of David in the Nine Worthies was popularised firstly through literature, and was thereafter adopted as a frequent subject for painters and sculptors.

The musician[link]

"David Playing the Harp" by Jan de Bray, 1670.

In various biblical passages, David is referred to as “the favorite of the songs of Israel,”^[48] the one who soothed Saul with music,^[49] and the founder of Temple singing.^[50][51] A Psalms scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPs^a) attributes 3600 tehilim (songs of praise) plus other compositions to David.^[52] Seventy-three of the 150 Psalms in the Bible are attributed to David.^[53] The supreme kingship of Yahweh is the most pervasive theological concept in the book of Psalms,^[54][55] and many psalms attributed to David are directed to Yahweh by name,^[56] whether in praise or petition, suggesting a relationship.^[57] According to the Midrash Tehillim, King David was prompted to the Psalms by the Holy Spirit that rested upon him.^[58]

In addition to ascribing authorship to David, several Psalms are identified with specific events in David’s life.^[59] Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from the Abimelech (king) Achish by pretending to be insane.^[60] According to the narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to depart, exclaiming, “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?"^[61] Psalm 34 is one of seven acrostic Psalms in the original Hebrew; most English translations do not retain the acrostic form.^[62] The first part of Psalm 34 is directed toward Yahweh in complete and humble gratitude (David does not even mention his own royal status); the second part confidently directs others to Yahweh.^[63]

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them … Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

— Psalm 34:6–7,11 (ESV)

In contrast, Psalm 18 is not related to a specific incident but rather to God’s faithful deliverance from “all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”^[64][65] The text of this Psalm was thought to date to the 10th century BC even before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls^[66] and is very similar to that of 2 Samuel 22.^[67] In this Psalm, David recalls being in deadly situations: “The cords of death entangled me, the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.”^[68] He cries out to God for help, and God rescues David.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

— Psalm 18:1–3 (NIV)

The Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) notes that crying out to God is mentioned in many Psalms attributed to David.^[69] He comments, “Fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue.” ^[70] The Midrash Tehillim teaches from Psalm 4 “that the mere mechanical application to the Throne of Mercy is not efficacious is plainly seen from the words of King David, who says God is nigh to all that call upon Him, and … he adds the important words, 'to those who call upon Him in truth.'”^[71]

According to Psalm 40, David’s cries to God were heartfelt though not necessarily impatient; the poignant combination of a cry for help with a confident expression of faith echo today in the song “40” by the rock group U2 and that encapsulates David’s experience with his God:

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

— Psalm 40:1–3 (NIV)

Representation in art and literature[link]

Art[link]

Famous sculptures of David include (in chronological order) those by:

• Donatello (c. 1430 – 1440), David (Donatello)
• Andrea del Verrocchio (1476), David (Verrocchio)
• Michelangelo (1504), David (Michelangelo)
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1624), David (Bernini)
• Antonin Mercié (1873)

Literature[link]

• Dryden's long poem Absalom and Achitophel is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for his satire of the contemporary political situation, including events such as the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and the Exclusion Crisis.
• Elmer Davis's novel Giant Killer (1928, The John Day company) retells and embellishes the Biblical story of David, casting David as primarily a poet who managed always to find others to do the "dirty work" of heroism and kingship. In the novel, Elhanan in fact killed Goliath but David claimed the credit; and Joab, David's cousin and general, took it upon himself to make many of the difficult decisions of war and statecraft when David vacillated or wrote poetry instead.
• Gladys Schmitt wrote a novel titled "David the King" (1946, Doubleday Books) which proceeds as a richly embellished biography of David's entire life. The book took a risk, especially for its time, in portraying David's relationship with Jonathan as overtly homoerotic, but was ultimately panned by critics as a bland rendition of the title character.
• In Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical fantasy novel How are the Mighty Fallen (1974, DAW), David and Jonathan are explicitly stated to be lovers. Moreover, Jonathan is a member of a winged semi-human race (possibly nephilim), one of several such races co-existing with humanity but often persecuted by it.
• Joseph Heller wrote a novel based on David, God Knows (1984, Simon & Schuster). Told from the perspective of an aging David, the humanity — rather than the heroism — of various biblical characters is emphasized. The portrayal of David as a man of flaws such as greed, lust, selfishness, and his alienation from God, the falling apart of his family is a distinctly 20th century interpretation of the events told in the Bible.
• Juan Bosch, Dominican political leader and writer, wrote "David: Biography of a King" (1966, Hawthorn, NY) a realistic approach to David's life and political career.
• Allan Massie wrote "King David" (1996, Sceptre), a novel about David's career which portrays the king's relationship to Jonathan and others as openly homosexual.
• Madeleine L'Engle's novel Certain Women (1993, HarperOne) explores family, the Christian faith, and the nature of God through the story of King David's family and an analogous modern family's saga.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used the story of David and Bathsheba as the main structure for the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Crooked Man. The betrayal of the Crooked Man is paralleled with David's betrayal of Uriah the Hittite, carried out in order to win Bathsheba.
• Stefan Heym's "The King David Report" (1998, Northwestern University Press) is a fiction depicting the writings of the Bible historian Ethan, upon King Solomon's orders, of a true and authoritative report on the life of David, Son of Jesse.
• Malachi Martin's 1980 factional novel King of Kings: A Novel of the Life of David relates the life of David, Adonai's champion in his battle with the Philistine deity Dagon.
• William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936) refers to the story of Absalom, David's son; his rebellion against his father and his death at the hands of David's general, Joab. In addition it parallels Absalom's vengeance for the rape of his sister Tamar by his half-brother, Amnon.
• Dan Jacobson's The Rape of Tamar (1970) is an imagined account, by one of David's courtiers Yonadab, of the rape of Tamar by Amnon.

Film[link]

• Gregory Peck played King David in the 1951 film David and Bathsheba, directed by Henry King. Susan Hayward played Bathsheba and Raymond Massey played the prophet Nathan.
• Jeff Chandler played David in the 1960 film A Story of David
• Finlay Currie played an aged King David in the 1959 film Solomon and Sheba, directed by King Vidor. Yul Brynner played Solomon and Gina Lollobrigida played the Queen of Sheba.
• Richard Gere portrayed King David in the 1985 film King David directed by Bruce Beresford.

Music[link]

• Josquin des Prez's Planxit autem David is a polyphonic setting of 2 Samuel Chapter I verses 17–27, David's lamentation for the dead Saul and Jonathan. His Absalon fili mi is a polyphonic lamentation from David's perspective on the death of his son.
• George Frideric Handel's oratorio Saul features David as one of its main characters
• Arthur Honegger's oratorio Le Roi David ('King David'), with a libretto by Rene Morax, was composed in 1921 and instantly became a staple of the choral repertoire; it is still widely performed.
• Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" has references to David ("there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord", "The baffled king composing Hallelujah") and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof") in its opening verses.
• "Mad About You", a song on Sting's 1991 album The Soul Cages, explores David's obsession with Bathsheba from David's perspective.
• Dead by the Pixies is a retelling of David's adultery and repentance.
• Herbert Howells (1892–1983) composed an artsong for voice and piano called "King David".
• Eric Whitacre composed a choral piece, "When David Heard," chronicling the death of Absalom and David's grief over losing his son.

Musical theater[link]

• King David, a modern oratorio, with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken.

Television[link]

• Nathaniel Parker portrayed King David in the 1997 TV film David, with Leonard Nimoy as Samuel and Jonathan Pryce as Saul.
• Max von Sydow portrayed an older King David in the TV film Solomon, a sequel to David above, with Ben Cross as Solomon.
• In 2009, NBC introduced the series Kings, which was explicitly designed as a modern retelling of the David story.
• In the PBS television series Wishbone the episode "Little Big Dog" recounts the story of David, his favor with Saul, and his triumphant battle over Goliath.
• The season two episode of Xena: Warrior Princess "Giant Killer" features David and his killing of Goliath.

Trivia[link]

For a considerable period, starting in the 15th century and continuing until the 19th, French playing card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology.^[72][73] In this context, the King of Spades was often known as "David".

See also[link]

Saints portal

• David and Jonathan
• King David's Palace site
• King David's Tomb
• Midrash Shmuel (aggadah)
• Passover songs
• Tel Arad

Notes[link]

References[link]

Translations of 1 and 2 Samuel[link]

• Samuel 1 and 2 at Bible Gateway
• Kirsch, Jonathan (2000) King David: the real life of the man who ruled Israel. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43275-4.
• See also the entry "David" in Easton's Bible Dictionary.
• Dever, William G. (2001) What did the Bible writers know and when did they know it? William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Cambridge UK.
• Thiele, E.R. (1983). The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Wx4GsZH3dzAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Mysterious+Numbers+of+the+Hebrew+Kings&hl=en&ei=QaveTrDtNuOeiAfcycCqBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Mysterious%20Numbers%20of%20the%20Hebrew%20Kings&f=false. 

Commentaries on Samuel[link]

• Auld, Graeme (2003). "1 & 2 Samuel". In James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=There+are+two+common+types+of+strategy+for+reading+the+books+of+Samuel#v=onepage&q=There%20are%20two%20common%20types%20of%20strategy%20for%20reading%20the%20books%20of%20Samuel&f=false. 
• Bergen, David T. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel. B&H Publishing Group. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eGT6fWsajqcC&pg=PA49&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Gordon&cad=3#v=onepage&q=I%20%26%20II%20Samuel%3A%20a%20commentary%20Gordon&f=false. 
• Gordon, Robert (1986). I & II Samuel, A Commentary. Paternoster Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=JMJ1ZAnswuUC&pg=PA338&lpg=PA338&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Gordon#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Hertzberg, Hans Wilhelm (1964, trans. from German 2nd edition 1960). I & II Samuel, A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=friNN7IdjOIC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Hans+Wilhelm+Hertzberg#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Tsumura, Hans Wilhelm (2007). The First book of Samuel. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=iLKAlhLDkMwC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=The+First+book+of+Samuel+Tsumura#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

General[link]

• Breytenbach, Andries (2000). "Who Is Behind The Samuel Narrative?". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Coogan, Michael D. (2009) A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context Oxford University Press
• Dick, Michael B (2004). "The History of "David's Rise to Power" and the Neo-Babylonian Succession Apologies". In Bernard Frank Batto and Kathryn L. Roberts. David and Zion: biblical studies in honor of J.J.M. Roberts. Eisenbrauns. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Vlkb0cSBGlIC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=David+and+Zion:+biblical+studies+in+honor+of+J.J.M.+Roberts#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Eynikel, Erik (2000). "The Relation Between the Eli Narrative and the Ark Narratives". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Halpern, Baruch (2001). David's secret demons: messiah, murderer, traitor, king. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com/books?id=tn8PG4XfuBAC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=David's+secret#v=onepage&q=lahmi+bethlehemite&f=false. 
• Jones, Gwilym H (2001). "1 and 2 Samuel". In John Barton and John Muddiman. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wCRYl9Ikk6EC&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=Gwilym+Jones+1+and+2+Samuel#v=onepage&q=Gwilym%20Jones%201%20and%202%20Samuel&f=false. 
• Klein, R.W. (2003). "Samuel, books of". In Bromiley, Geoffrey W. The international standard Bible encyclopedia. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=narrative+sources+books+of+samuel#v=onepage&q=narrative%20sources%20books%20of%20samuel&f=false. 
• Knight, Douglas A (1995). "Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomists". In James Luther Mays, David L. Petersen and Kent Harold Richards. Old Testament Interpretation. T&T Clark. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SNLN1nEEys0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Old+Testament+Interpretation+Mays+Peterson+Richards#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Knight, Douglas A (1991). "Sources". In Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard. Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Mercer University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&dq=Mercer+Bible+Dictionary&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Schleffer, Eben (2000). "Saving Saul from the Deuteronomist". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Soggin, Alberto (1987). Introduction to the Old Testament. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mqSNsKXnHQgC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=Soggin+Introduction+to+the+Old+Testament#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Spieckerman, Hermann (2001). "The Deuteronomistic History". In Leo G. Perdue. The Blackwell companion to the Hebrew Bible. Blackwell. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=The%20Deuteronomistic%20History%20Hermann%20Spieckermann&f=false. 
• Van Seters, John (1997). In search of history: historiography in the ancient world and the origins of biblical history. Eisenbrauns. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0-skPdXtewwC&pg=PA406&lpg=PA406&dq=Van+Seters+In+Search+of+History#v=onepage&q=Samuel&f=false. 
• Walton, John H (2009). "The Deuteronomistic History". In Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. Zondervan. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=The%20Deuteronomistic%20History%20Hermann%20Spieckermann&f=false. 

Further reading[link]

• Alexander, David; Alexander, Pat, eds. (1983). Eerdmans' handbook to the Bible ([New, rev.]. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-3486-8. 
• Bright, John (1981). A history of Israel (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 0-664-21381-2. 
• Bruce, F. F. (1963). Israel and the Nations. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 
• Harrison, R.K. (1969). An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 
• Kidner, Derek (1973). The Psalms. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 0-87784-868-8. 
• Noll, K. L. (1997). The faces of David. Sheffield: Sheffield Acad. Press. ISBN 1-85075-659-7. 
• Thompson, J.A. (1986). Handbook of life in Bible times. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 0-87784-949-8. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: David

• Complete Bible Genealogy David's family tree
• Double Identity: Orpheus as David. Orpheus as Christ? Biblical Archaeology Review

Joe Biden 47th Vice President of the United States Incumbent Assumed office January 20, 2009 President Barack Obama Preceded by Dick Cheney Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations In office January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2009 Preceded by Richard Lugar Succeeded by John Kerry In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003 Preceded by Jesse Helms Succeeded by Richard Lugar In office January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001 Preceded by Jesse Helms Succeeded by Jesse Helms Chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus In office January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2009 Preceded by Chuck Grassley Succeeded by Dianne Feinstein Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary In office January 6, 1987 – January 3, 1995 Preceded by Strom Thurmond Succeeded by Orrin Hatch United States Senator from Delaware In office January 3, 1973 – January 15, 2009 Preceded by Caleb Boggs Succeeded by Ted Kaufman Personal details Born Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. (1942-11-20) November 20, 1942 (age 69) Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States Political party Democratic Spouse(s) Neilia Hunter (1966–1972) Jill Jacobs (1977–present) Children Joseph R. III (b.1969) R. Hunter (b.1970) Naomi C. (1971–1972) Ashley B. (b.1981) Residence Number One Observatory Circle (Official) Wilmington, Delaware (Private) Alma mater University of Delaware (BA) Syracuse University (JD) Profession Lawyer Religion Roman Catholicism Signature Website Vice President Joe Biden Joe Biden (Facebook) @Joe Biden (Twitter)

	This article is part of a series on Joe Biden
Obama–Biden campaign Biden presidential primaries campaign, 2008 Presidential primaries campaign, 1988 Political positions Electoral history

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. (pronunciation: /ˈdʒoʊsɨf rɒbɨˈnɛt ˈbaɪdən/; born November 20, 1942) is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama. A Democrat, he was a United States Senator from Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following his election to the Vice Presidency.

Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and lived there for ten years before moving to Delaware. He became an attorney in 1969, and was elected to a county council in 1970. Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and became the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. history. He was re-elected to the Senate six times, was the fourth most senior senator at the time of his resignation, and is the 15th-longest serving Senator in history. Biden was a long-time member and former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. His strong advocacy helped bring about U.S. military assistance and intervention during the Bosnian War. He opposed the Gulf War in 1991. He voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, but later proposed resolutions to alter U.S. strategy there. He has also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties, and led creation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and Violence Against Women Act. He chaired the Judiciary Committee during the contentious U.S. Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.

Biden unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008, both times dropping out early in the race. Barack Obama selected Biden to be the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Biden is the first Roman Catholic and the first Delawarean to become Vice President of the United States. As Vice President, Biden has been heavily involved in Obama's decision-making process and held the oversight role for infrastructure spending from the Obama stimulus package aimed at counteracting the late-2000s recession. His ability to negotiate with Congressional Republicans played a key role in bringing about the bipartisan deals that resulted in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 that resolved a taxation deadlock and the Budget Control Act of 2011 that resolved the United States debt ceiling crisis.

Early life and education[link]

Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania,^[1] the son of Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr. (1915–2002)^[2] and Catherine Eugenia "Jean" (née Finnegan; 1917–2010).^[3] He was the first of four siblings^[1] in a Catholic family. His mother was of Irish descent, with roots in County Londonderry.^[4][5][6] His paternal grandparents, Mary Elizabeth (Robinette) and Joseph H. Biden, an oil businessman from Baltimore, had English, Irish, and French ancestry.^[7] He has two brothers, James Brian Biden and Francis W. Biden, and a sister, Valerie (Biden) Owens.^[8] His maternal great-grandfather, Edward F. Blewitt, was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate.^[9]

Biden's father had been very well-off earlier in his life, but had suffered several business reverses by the time Biden was born,^[10] and for several years the family had to live with Biden's maternal grandparents, the Finnegans.^[10] When the Scranton area went into economic decline during the 1950s, Biden's father could not find enough work.^[11] In 1953, the Biden family moved to an apartment in Claymont, Delaware, where they lived for a few years before moving to a house in Wilmington, Delaware.^[10] Joe Biden Sr. then did better as a used car salesman, and the family's circumstances were middle class.^[10][11][12]

Biden attended the Archmere Academy in Claymont,^[13] where he was a standout halfback/wide receiver on the high school football team; he helped lead a perennially losing team to an undefeated season in his senior year.^[10][14] He played on the baseball team as well.^[10] During these years, he participated in an anti-segregation sit-in at a Wilmington theatre.^[15] Academically, Biden was undistinguished,^[10] but he was a natural leader among the students.^[16] He graduated in 1961.^[13]

Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he was more interested in sports and socializing than in studying,^[10] although his classmates were impressed by his cramming abilities.^[15] He played halfback with the Blue Hens freshman football team,^[14] but he dropped a junior year plan to play for the varsity team as a defensive back, enabling him to spend more time with his out-of-state girlfriend.^[14][17] He double majored in history and political science and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1965,^[1] ranking 506th of 688 in his class.^[18]

He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University's College of Law in 1968,^[19] where by his own description he found it to be "the biggest bore in the world" and pulled many all-nighters to get by.^[15][20] During his first year there, he was accused of having plagiarized 5 of 15 pages of a law review article. Biden said it was inadvertent due to his not knowing the proper rules of citation, and he was permitted to retake the course after receiving a grade of F, which was subsequently dropped from his record.^[20] He was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969.^[19]

Biden received five student draft deferments during this period, with the first coming in late 1963 and the last in early 1968, at the peak of the Vietnam War.^[21] In April 1968, he was reclassified by the Selective Service System as not available for service due to having had asthma as a teenager.^[21][22] Biden was not a part of the anti-Vietnam War movement; he would later say that at the time he was preoccupied with marriage and law school, and that he "wore sports coats ... not tie-dyed".^[23]

Negative impressions of drinking alcohol in the Biden and Finnegan families and in the neighborhood led to Joe Biden becoming a teetotaler.^[10][24] Biden suffered from stuttering through much of his childhood and into his twenties;^[25] he overcame it via long hours spent reciting poetry in front of a mirror.^[16]

Family and early political career[link]

On August 27, 1966, Biden, then a law student, married Neilia Hunter, who was from an affluent background in Skaneateles, New York and had attended Syracuse University.^[1][10][26] They had met in 1964 while on spring break in the Bahamas, and he had overcome her parents' initial reluctance for her to be dating a Roman Catholic.^[27] They had three children, Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III (born 1969), Robert Hunter (born 1970), and Naomi Christina (born 1971).^[1]

In 1969, Biden began practicing law in Wilmington, Delaware, first as a public defender and then with his own firm, Biden and Walsh.^[15] Corporate law, however, did not appeal to him and criminal law did not pay well.^[10] He supplemented his income by managing properties.^[28] He ran as a Democrat for the New Castle County Council on a liberal platform that included support for public housing in the suburban area.^[15] He won by a solid margin in the usually Republican district,^[15] and served from 1970 to 1972^[19] while continuing his private law practice as well.^[29]

His entry into the 1972 U.S. Senate election in Delaware presented Biden with a unique circumstance. Longtime Delaware political figure and Republican incumbent Senator J. Caleb Boggs was considering retirement, which would likely have left U.S. Representative Pete du Pont and Wilmington Mayor Harry G. Haskell, Jr. in a divisive primary fight. To avoid that, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon helped convince Boggs to run again with full party support.^[30] No other Democrat wanted to run against Boggs.^[15] Biden's campaign had virtually no money and was given no chance of winning.^[10] It was managed by his sister Valerie Biden Owens (who would go on to manage his future campaigns as well) and staffed by other members of his family, and relied upon handed-out newsprint position papers and meeting voters face-to-face;^[31] the small size of the state and lack of a major media market made the approach feasible.^[28] Biden did receive some assistance from the AFL-CIO and Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell.^[15] Biden's campaign issues focused on withdrawal from Vietnam, the environment, civil rights, mass transit, more equitable taxation, health care, the public's dissatisfaction with politics-as-usual, and "change".^[15][31] During the summer Biden trailed by almost 30 percentage points,^[15] but his energy level, his attractive young family, and his ability to connect with voters' emotions gave the surging Biden an advantage over the ready-to-retire Boggs.^[12] Biden won the November 7, 1972 election in an upset by a margin of 3,162 votes.^[31]

On December 18, 1972, a few weeks after the election, Biden's wife and one-year-old daughter were killed in an automobile accident while Christmas shopping in Hockessin, Delaware.^[1] Neilia Biden's station wagon was hit by a tractor-trailer as she pulled out from an intersection; the truck driver was cleared of any wrongdoing.^[32] Biden's two sons, Beau and Hunter, were critically injured in the accident, but both eventually made full recoveries.^[1] Biden considered resigning to care for them;^[12] he was persuaded not to by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and others and was sworn into office from one of their bedsides.^[33] The accident left Biden filled with both anger and religious doubt: "I liked to [walk around seedy neighborhoods] at night when I thought there was a better chance of finding a fight ... I had not known I was capable of such rage ... I felt God had played a horrible trick on me."^[34]

To be at home every day for his young sons,^[35] Biden began the practice of commuting every day by Amtrak train for 1½ hours each way from his home in the Wilmington suburbs to Washington, D.C., which he continued to do throughout his Senate career.^[12] In the aftermath of the accident, he had trouble focusing on work, and appeared to just go through the motions of being a senator. In his memoirs, Biden notes that staffers were taking bets on how long he would last.^[26][36] A single father for five years, Biden left standing orders that he be interrupted in the Senate at any time if his sons called.^[33] In remembrance of his wife and daughter, Biden does not work on December 18, the anniversary of the accident.^[37] Biden's elder son, Beau, later became Delaware Attorney General and an Army Judge Advocate serving in Iraq;^[38] his younger son, Hunter, became a Washington attorney and lobbyist.^[39]

In 1975, Biden met Jill Tracy Jacobs, who grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and would become a teacher in Delaware.^[40] They had met on a blind date with the help of Biden's brother, although it turned out that Biden had already noticed her in a local advertisement.^[40] Biden would credit her with renewing his interest in both politics and life.^[41] On June 17, 1977, Biden and Jacobs married.^[1] They have one daughter, Ashley Blazer (born 1981),^[1] who later became a social worker.^[39] The Bidens are Roman Catholics and regularly attend Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Greenville, Delaware.^[42]

United States Senator[link]

Drawer of chamber desk XCI occupied by Biden in the U.S. Senate. Note signature at upper center inside of drawer. President John F. Kennedy once occupied the desk in the U.S. Senate.^[43]

Senator Biden, Senator Frank Church and President of Egypt Anwar El Sadat after signing Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty, 1979

Biden with President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office

When Biden took office on January 3, 1973, at age 30 (the minimum age to become a U.S. Senator), he became the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. history.^[44] In 1974, freshman Senator Biden was named one of the 200 Faces for the Future by Time magazine.^[45]

Biden was subsequently elected to six additional terms, in the elections of 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, and 2008, usually getting about 60 percent of the vote.^[46] He did not face strong opposition; Governor Pierre S. du Pont, IV chose not to run against him in 1984.^[47] Biden spent 28 years as a junior senator due to the two-year seniority of his Republican colleague William V. Roth, Jr.. After Roth was defeated for re-election by Tom Carper in 2000, Biden became Delaware's senior senator. He then became the longest-serving senator in Delaware history.^[48] In May 1999, Biden set the mark for youngest senator to cast 10,000 votes.^[49]

In February 1988, after suffering from several episodes of increasingly severe neck pain, Biden was taken by long-distance ambulance to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and given lifesaving surgery to correct an intracranial berry aneurysm that had begun leaking;^[50][51] the situation was serious enough that a priest had administered last rites at the hospital.^[52] While recuperating, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, which represented a major complication.^[51] Another operation to repair a second aneurysm, which had caused no symptoms but was also at risk from bursting, was performed in May 1988.^[51][53] The hospitalization and recovery kept Biden from his duties in the U.S. Senate for seven months.^[37] Biden has had no recurrences or effects from the aneurysms since then.^[51]

Judiciary Committee[link]

Biden was a long-time member of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which he chaired from 1987 until 1995 and on which he served as ranking minority member from 1981 until 1987 and again from 1995 until 1997. In this capacity, he dealt with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties.

While chairman, Biden presided over the two most contentious U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings in history, those for Robert Bork in 1987 and Clarence Thomas in 1991.^[12] In the Bork hearings, Biden stated his opposition to Bork soon after the nomination, reversing an approval in an interview of a hypothetical Bork nomination he had made the previous year and angering conservatives who thought he could not conduct the hearings dispassionately.^[54] At the close, Biden won praise for conducting the proceedings fairly and with good humor and courage, as his 1988 presidential campaign collapsed in the middle of the hearings.^[54][55] Rejecting some of the less intellectually honest arguments that other Bork opponents were making,^[12] Biden framed his discussion around the belief that the U.S. Constitution provides rights to liberty and privacy that extend beyond those explicitly enumerated in the text, and that Bork's strong originalism was ideologically incompatible with that view.^[55] Bork's nomination was rejected in the committee by a 9–5 vote,^[55] and then rejected in the full Senate by a 58–42 margin.

In the Thomas hearings, Biden's questions on constitutional issues were often long and convoluted, sometimes such that Thomas forgot the question being asked.^[56] Thomas later wrote that despite earlier private assurances from the senator, Biden's questions had been akin to a beanball.^[57] The nomination came out of the committee without a recommendation, with Biden opposed.^[12] In part due to his own bad experiences in 1987 with his presidential campaign, Biden was reluctant to let personal matters enter into the hearings.^[56] Biden initially shared with committee, but not the public, Anita Hill's sexual harassment charges, on the grounds she was not yet willing to testify.^[12] After she did, Biden did not permit other witnesses to testify further on her behalf, such as Angela Wright (who made a similar charge) and experts on harassment.^[58] Biden said he was striving to preserve Thomas's right to privacy and the decency of the hearings.^[56][58] The nomination was approved by a 52–48 vote in the full Senate, with Biden again opposed.^[12] During and afterwards, Biden was strongly criticized by liberal legal groups and women's groups for having mishandled the hearings and having not done enough to support Hill.^[58] Biden subsequently sought out women to serve on the Judiciary Committee and emphasized women's issues in the committee's legislative agenda.^[12]

Joe Biden at the World Economic Forum in Jordan in 2003

Biden was involved in crafting many federal crime laws. In 1984, he was Democratic floor manager for the successful passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act; civil libertarians praised him for modifying some of the Act's provisions, and it was his most important legislative accomplishment at that point in time.^[47] He later spearheaded the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Biden Crime Law, and the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA), which contains a broad array of measures to combat domestic violence and provides billions of dollars in federal funds to address gender-based crimes. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Morrison that the section of VAWA allowing a federal civil remedy for victims of gender-motivated violence exceeded Congress's authority and therefore was unconstitutional.^[59] Congress reauthorized VAWA in 2000 and 2005.^[60] Biden has said, "I consider the Violence Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that I’ve crafted during my 35-year tenure in the Senate."^[61] In 2004 and 2005, Biden enlisted major American technology companies in diagnosing the problems of the Austin, Texas-based National Domestic Violence Hotline, and to donate equipment and expertise to it in a successful effort to improve its services.^[62][63]

Biden was critical of the actions of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr during the 1990s Whitewater controversy and Lewinsky scandal investigations, and said "it's going to be a cold day in hell" before another Independent Counsel is granted the same powers.^[64] Biden voted to acquit on both charges during the impeachment of President Clinton.

As chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus, Biden wrote the laws that created the U.S. "Drug Czar", who oversees and coordinates national drug control policy. In April 2003, he introduced the controversial Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act, also known as the RAVE Act. He continued to work to stop the spread of "date rape drugs" such as flunitrazepam, and drugs such as Ecstasy and Ketamine. In 2004, he worked to pass a bill outlawing steroids like androstenedione, the drug used by many baseball players.^[12]

Biden's legislation to promote college aid and loan programs allows families to deduct on their annual income tax returns up to $10,000 per year in higher education expenses. His "Kids 2000" legislation established a public/private partnership to provide computer centers, teachers, Internet access, and technical training to young people, particularly to low-income and at-risk youth.^[65]

Foreign Relations Committee[link]

Biden was also a long-time member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In 1997, he became the ranking minority member and chaired the committee in January 2001 and from June 2001 through 2003. When Democrats re-took control of the Senate following the 2006 elections, Biden again assumed the top spot on the committee in 2007.^[66] Biden was generally a liberal internationalist in foreign policy.^[67][68] He collaborated effectively with important Republican Senate figures such as Richard Lugar and Jesse Helms and sometimes went against elements of his own party.^[66][67] Biden was also co-chair of the NATO Observer Group in the Senate.^[69] A partial list covering this time showed Biden meeting with some 150 leaders from nearly 60 countries and international organizations.^[70] Biden held frequent hearings as chair of the committee, as well as holding many subcommittee hearings during the three times he chaired the Subcommittee on European Affairs.^[68]

During his first decade in the Senate, Biden focused on arms control issues.^[68][71] In response to the refusal of the U.S. Congress to ratify the SALT II Treaty signed in 1979 by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and President Jimmy Carter, Biden took the initiative to meet the Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, educated him about American concerns and interests, and secured several changes to address objections of the Foreign Relations Committee.^[72] When the Reagan administration wanted to interpret the 1972 SALT I Treaty loosely in order to allow the Strategic Defense Initiative to proceed, Biden argued for strict adherence to the treaty's terms.^[68] Biden clashed again with the Reagan administration in 1986 over economic sanctions against South Africa, leading to a heated exchange between the senator and Secretary of State George P. Shultz.^[71]

Biden became interested in the Yugoslav Wars after hearing about Serbian abuses during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991.^[68] Once the Bosnian War broke out, Biden was among the first to call for the "lift and strike" policy of lifting the arms embargo, training Bosnian Muslims and supporting them with NATO air strikes, and investigating war crimes.^[66][68] Both the George H. W. Bush administration and Clinton administration were reluctant to implement the policy, fearing Balkan entanglement.^[67][68] In April 2003, Biden spent a week in the Balkans and held a tense three-hour meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević.^[73] Biden related that he told Milošević, "I think you're a damn war criminal and you should be tried as one."^[73] Biden wrote an amendment in 1992 to compel the Bush administration to arm the Bosnians, but deferred in 1994 to a somewhat softer stance preferred by the Clinton administration, before signing on the following year to a stronger measure sponsored by Bob Dole and Joe Lieberman.^[73] The 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina then led to the Dayton Agreement and a successful NATO peacekeeping effort.^[68] Biden has called his role in affecting Balkans policy in the mid-1990s his "proudest moment in public life" that related to foreign policy.^[67] In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Biden supported the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia and Montenegro,^[68] and co-sponsored with his friend John McCain the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milosevic over Serbian actions in Kosovo.^[67][74] In 1998, Congressional Quarterly named Biden one of "Twelve Who Made a Difference" for playing a lead role in several foreign policy matters, including NATO enlargement and the successful passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.^[49]

Biden gives his opening statement and questions to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on Iraq, September 11, 2007

Biden had voted against authorization for the Gulf War in 1991,^[67] siding with 45 of the 55 Democratic senators; he said the U.S. was bearing almost all the burden in the anti-Iraq coalition.^[75] Biden was a strong supporter of the 2001 war in Afghanistan, saying "Whatever it takes, we should do it."^[76] Regarding Iraq, Biden stated in 2002 that Saddam Hussein was a threat to national security, and that there was no option but to eliminate that threat.^[77] The Bush administration rejected an effort Biden undertook with Senator Richard Lugar to pass a resolution authorizing military action only after the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts. In October 2002, Biden voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, justifying the Iraq War.^[67] While he soon became a critic of the war and viewed his vote as a "mistake", he did not push to require a U.S. withdrawal.^[67][73] He supported the appropriations to pay for the occupation, but argued repeatedly that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about the cost and length of the conflict.^[66][74]

By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted, and he opposed the troop surge of 2007,^[67][73] saying General David Petraeus was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.^[76] Biden was instead a leading advocate for dividing Iraq into a loose federation of three ethnic states.^[78] In November 2006, Biden and Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, released a comprehensive strategy to end sectarian violence in Iraq.^[79] Rather than continuing the present approach or withdrawing, the plan called for "a third way": federalizing Iraq and giving Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis "breathing room" in their own regions.^[80] In September 2007, a non-binding resolution passed the Senate endorsing such a scheme.^[79] However, the idea was unfamiliar, had no political constituency, and failed to gain traction.^[76] Iraq’s political leadership united in denouncing the resolution as a de facto partitioning of the country, and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a statement distancing itself.^[79]

In March 2004, Biden secured the brief release of Libyan democracy activist and political prisoner Fathi Eljahmi, after meeting with leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.^[81][82] In May 2008, Biden sharply criticized President George W. Bush for his speech to Israel's Knesset in which he suggested that some Democrats were acting in the same way some Western leaders did when they appeased Hitler in the runup to World War II. Biden stated: "This is bullshit. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement." Biden later apologized for using the expletive. Biden further stated, "Since when does this administration think that if you sit down, you have to eliminate the word 'no' from your vocabulary?"^[83]

Delaware matters[link]

Biden receiving a 1997 tour of a new facility at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base

Biden was a familiar figure to his Delaware constituency, by virtue of his daily train commuting from there,^[12] and generally sought to attend to state needs.^[46] Biden was a strong supporter of increased Amtrak funding and rail security;^[46] he hosted barbecues and an annual Christmas dinner for the Amtrak crews, and they would sometimes hold the last train of the night a few minutes so he could catch it.^[28][46] (He earned the nickname "Amtrak Joe" as a result, and in 2011, Amtrak's Wilmington Station was named the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Railroad Station, in honor of the over 7,000 trips he made from there.^[84][85]) He was an advocate for Delaware military installations, including Dover Air Force Base and New Castle Air National Guard Base.^[86]

In 1975, Biden broke from liberal orthodoxy when he took legislative action to limit desegregation busing.^[47] In doing so, he said busing was a "bankrupt idea [that violated] the cardinal rule of common sense," and that his opposition would make it easier for other liberals to follow suit.^[47] Three years later, Wilmington's federally-mandated cross-district busing plan generated much turmoil, and in trying to legislate a compromise solution Biden found himself alienating both black and white voters for a while.^[87]

Since 1991, Biden has served as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, Delaware's only law school, where he has taught a seminar on constitutional law.^[88][89] The seminar has been one of Widener's most popular, often with a waiting list for enrollment.^[89] Biden has typically co-taught the course with another professor, taking on at least half the course minutes and sometimes flying back from overseas to make one of the classes.^[90][91]

Biden was a sponsor of bankruptcy legislation during the 2000s, which was sought by MBNA, one of Delaware's largest companies, and other credit card issuers.^[12] Biden fought for certain amendments to the bill that would indirectly protect homeowners and forbid anti-abortion felons from using bankruptcy to discharge fines; the overall bill was vetoed by Bill Clinton in 2000 but then finally passed as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act in 2005, with Biden supporting.^[12] The downstate Sussex County region is the nation's top chicken-producing area, and Biden held up trade agreements with Russia when that country stopped importing U.S. chickens.^[46]

In 2007, Biden requested and gained $67 million worth of projects for his constituents through congressional earmarks.^[92]

Biden sits on the board of advisors of the Close Up Foundation, which brings high school students to Washington for interaction with legislators on Capitol Hill.^[93]

Characteristics as senator[link]

With a net worth between $59,000 and $366,000, and almost no outside income or investment income, he was consistently ranked as one of the least wealthy members of the Senate.^[94][95][96] Biden stated that he was listed as the second poorest member in Congress, a distinction that he was not proud of, but attributed to being elected early in his career.^[97] Biden realized early in his senatorial career how vulnerable poorer public officials are to offers of financial contributions in exchange for policy support, and he pushed campaign finance reform measures during his first term.^[47]

Joseph Biden, U.S. Senate photo

During his years as a senator, Biden amassed a reputation for loquaciousness,^{[98][99][100]} with his questions and remarks during Senate hearings being especially known for being long-winded.^[101][102] He has been a strong speaker and debater and a frequent and effective guest on the Sunday morning talk shows.^[102] In public appearances, he is known to deviate from prepared remarks at will.^[103] According to political analyst Mark Halperin, he has shown "a persistent tendency to say silly, offensive, and off-putting things";^[102] The New York Times writes that Biden's "weak filters make him capable of blurting out pretty much anything".^[100] Nor is Biden known for modesty; journalist James Traub has written that "Biden’s vanity and his regard for his own gifts seem considerable even by the rarefied standards of the U.S. Senate."^[76]

Political writer Howard Fineman has said that, "Biden is not an academic, he’s not a theoretical thinker, he’s a great street pol. He comes from a long line of working people in Scranton—auto salesmen, car dealers, people who know how to make a sale. He has that great Irish gift."^[28] Political columnist David S. Broder has viewed Biden as having grown since he came to Washington and since his failed 1988 presidential bid: "He responds to real people—that’s been consistent throughout. And his ability to understand himself and deal with other politicians has gotten much much better."^[28] Traub concludes that "Biden is the kind of fundamentally happy person who can be as generous toward others as he is to himself."^[76]

Final year[link]

After ending his second presidential bid in January 2008, Biden focused instead on running for a seventh Senate term against Republican Christine O'Donnell. In late August 2008, he was picked by Obama to be his running mate. Biden nevertheless continued to run for Senate re-election as well as Vice President,^[104] as permitted by Delaware state law.^[46] On November 4, 2008, Biden was re-elected as senator, in addition to winning the vice presidency.^[105]

Having won both races, Biden made a point of holding off his resignation from the Senate so that he could be sworn in for his seventh term on January 6, 2009.^[106] He became the youngest senator ever to be sworn in for a seventh full term, and said, "In all my life, the greatest honor bestowed upon me has been serving the people of Delaware as their United States senator."^[106] Biden cast his last Senate vote on January 15, supporting the release of the second $350 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.^[107] Biden resigned from the Senate later that day; in emotional farewell remarks on the Senate floor, where he had spent most of his adult life, Biden said, "Every good thing I have seen happen here, every bold step taken in the 36-plus years I have been here, came not from the application of pressure by interest groups, but through the maturation of personal relationships."^[108]

Delaware's Democratic governor, Ruth Ann Minner, announced on November 24, 2008, that she would appoint Biden's longtime senior adviser Ted Kaufman to succeed Biden in the Senate.^[109] Kaufman said he would only serve two years, until Delaware's special senate election in 2010.^[109] Biden's son Beau ruled himself out of the 2008 selection process due to his impending tour in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard.^[110] He was a possible candidate for the 2010 special election, but in early 2010 said he would not run for the seat.^[111]

Political positions[link]

Biden's official Senate photo in the mid-late 2000s

A method that political scientists use for gauging ideology is to compare the annual ratings by the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) with the ratings by the American Conservative Union (ACU).^[112] Biden has a lifetime liberal 72 percent score from the ADA through 2004, while the ACU awarded Biden a lifetime conservative rating of 13 percent through 2008.^[113] Using another metric, Biden has a lifetime average liberal score of 77.5 percent, according to a National Journal analysis that places him ideologically among the center of Senate Democrats.^[114] The Almanac of American Politics rates congressional votes as liberal or conservative on the political spectrum, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006, Biden's average ratings were as follows: the economic rating was 80 percent liberal and 13 percent conservative, the social rating was 78 percent liberal and 18 percent conservative, and the foreign rating was 71 percent liberal and 25 percent conservative.^[115] This has not changed much over time; his liberal ratings in the mid-1980s were also in the 70–80 percent range.^[47]