num_pages: 352
description: The extraordinary partnership of Barack Obama and Joe Biden is unique in American history. The two men their characters and styles sharply contrasting formed a dynamic working relationship that evolved into a profound friendship. Based on original interviews media reports memoirs and other accounts Barack and Joe is the first book to tell the full story of their historic relationship and its substantial impact on the Obama presidency and its legacy.Their affinity was not predestined. Barack and Joe began wary of each other as senators each eyeing a run at the presidency; gradually they came to respect their competitor's values and strengths growing so fond of each other they were often caught on camera hugging joking and even crying together. Never had such a relationship been witnessed within the walls of the White House. Side-by-side through two tension-filled terms they shared the day-to-day joys and travails of leading the most powerful nation on earth. Joe took on an unprecedented role as chief adviser to Obama reshaping the vice presidency. Together they took Americans through a dire economic crisis passage of health care reform changing perceptions of gay marriage a national reckoning with mass shootings and police killings of unarmed black men a shift in America's policy in Iraq and the elimination of Osama bin Laden. As friends Barack and Joe weathered the strains on their relationship--magnified by intense media scrutiny--and experienced joy and sadness together: Barack provided comfort to Joe through the loss of his son Beau. As high-level exemplars the president and the vice president modeled the virtues of male friendship for men everywhere. In the Trump era many Americans are nostalgic for the Obama presidency the absence of scandal the dedication to truth the respect for the media. What Americans also remember fondly is the warmth and decency of Barack and Joe's friendship.
language: English
title: Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership
publisher: Hachette Books