In many ways, the incoming Biden Administration could not differ more than that of Trump. There may never have been a broader break in empathy and compassion towards others than in the past four years, and during this incredibly tough political climate, the ability to understand others has never mattered more. President Trump has shown, throughout his life and his presidency, that he has little or no regard for the emotions, experiences, or suffering of others. He doesn’t seem to comprehend the feelings of other people, meaningful human attachment appears almost foreign to him—and he has therefore seemed indifferent to the harm and pain that his policies have inflicted towards others.
Joe Biden is a world apart, likely due to a fundamental difference in his character and his formative years of experience. Biden is shaped by his lifelong struggle with stuttering, for which he was at times fiercely mocked, even by members of his own congregation. Biden has also been shaped by many personal encounters with great loss and suffering. First, the death of his first wife, Neilia, and his 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, in a 1972 car accident, when Biden was just 30 years old. Similarly, the death of his oldest son, Beau, in 2015 greatly affected Biden. That tragedy became an inflection point for the incoming President, as he reflected and mourned the loss of his son. “One key to life is tying periods of suffering to a narrative of redemption,” said Biden. Facing nearly unbearable losses, Joe Biden used his personal experience to find greater meaning in his life, to find a narrative of redemption.
Through that journey of grief, Biden not only found purpose, but he also searched within himself to find even greater empathy and compassion. There are countless stories of Biden reaching out and offering a listening ear, comfort, and counsel to those caught in the grip of grief. Over the years, he has become a monumental figure to friends, colleagues, and even strangers. The ability to feel pain and to sympathize, comfort, and listen to others makes one much more understanding and inherently a better leader.
This is not to say that Joe Biden will not make mistakes as president; he most certainly will. However, the message does mean that some measure of integrity and dignity will return to the presidency; that the unprecedented effort by an American president to divide us will end. That a person who has experienced true grief in his life can use what he’s learned to help bind up our wounds as a nation.
Joe Biden isn’t necessarily everything that many hoped or dreamed of in a president, but he has compassion and the ability to empathize with pain. Right now, our country is desperate for a person like Joe Biden to be in charge. Right now, our nation is experiencing pain that is unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime, Joe Biden’s empathy may be the exact thing that America needs.
