Did you know? Joseph Biden

Last update: August 27, 2008 - 8:22 PM

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1. The vice-presidential nominee had a severe stutter in his youth.

2. He never works on Dec. 18, the anniversary of the car accident that killed his first wife, Neilia, and their infant daughter, Naomi, in 1972.

3. He survived two brain aneurysms in 1988.

4. His son Beau, 39, is to be deployed to Iraq on Oct. 3. Beau is Delaware's attorney general and is a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's Judge Advocate General's Corps.

5. Biden commutes about 100 miles daily via Amtrak from Wilmington, Del., to Washington, and each Christmas he hosts a party for the train crew.

6. He met his wife, Jill, on a blind date arranged by his brother Frank. He proposed to her five times before she accepted.

7. He is one of the least wealthy senators. In June he reported that his bank accounts, mutual funds and other major assets totaled between $59,000 and $366,000. In 2007, his wife earned $20,500 as a teacher.

8. His memoir is called "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics."

9. He's got a fallback option. His Senate seat is up for reelection in November, and Delaware law allows him to be on the ballot for both the Senate and the vice presidency.

10. He let go with this quip about then-GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11."

ROBERT HOVDE

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