Joe Biden\u2019s higher education story is quintessential. After graduating from the exclusive Archmere Academy, a private school in his hometown of Claymont, Delaware, the former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate pushed his way through undergraduate and eventually law school, meeting his first wife along the way.
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At Archmere, Biden was a standout student and leader amongst his peers<\/a>. He was elected class president both his junior and senior years. [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”ICTxQQEm” upload-date=”2021-02-13T22:23:31.000Z” name=”Joe Biden – On Higher Education And 6 Other Key Issues” description=”Here is where Joe Biden stood on key issues prior to becoming president,” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n And on the athletic field, Biden was equally, if not more, impressive. As a three-sport athlete and star halfback, he led Archmere\u2019s football team to an undefeated season his senior year. \u201cBlessed with boyish charm, athletic agility, a dazzling smile, and the quick and overflowing gift of gab, young Joe tap danced through an elite Catholic prep school,\u201d Jules Witcover, a long-time political journalist wrote in his biography \u201cJoe Biden, A Life of Trial and Redemption<\/a>.\u201d Biden\u2019s high school friends remember him as a trailblazer, frequently speaking of environmental issues and condemning the embedded racism of the late fifties and early sixties. \u201cHe was an early environmentalist, and in high school in the sixties, he was more concerned about desegregation in Delaware than I was,\u201d David Walsh, Biden\u2019s best friend in high school, told Witcover for Biden\u2019s biography. \u201cI for one was mindless about it, but he led some protests,\u201d Walsh added. \u201cJoe would talk about it. At the Charcoal Pit, a hangout for everybody else, blacks weren\u2019t allowed. He noticed; I never did.\u201d Upon graduating from Archmere, Biden carried his boyhood charm, smarts, athleticism and forward-looking political beliefs to the University of Delaware (UD), where he double-majored in political science and history, played on the freshman football team, and became the president of his freshman class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although most of his teammates on the football team were members of the Theta Chi fraternity, Biden never joined<\/a>. He would go to fraternity parties to socialize, as he has always loved to do, but he never smoked or drank. Biden has a history of substance abuse in his family, which left a permanent stain on his perception of things like alcohol and cigarettes. At times, he even had trouble tolerating others using them around him. Witcover writes about this in Biden\u2019s biography. He describes an instance where Biden, who was known to be a bit of a lady\u2019s man in college, was on a date with a woman he had recently met. As soon as she lit up a cigarette, he gave her an ultimatum: throw it out the window, or the date would be over. \u201cI knew the relationship wasn\u2019t going to go very far,\u201d she later said. Biden, with a Catholic school background and aspirations to go to law school and eventually enter politics, always dressed in professional attire. His typical daily garb that he\u2019d wear to class and around campus included a pair of penny loafers, a sweater, a nice shirt and occasionally a sport coat. From a young age, he would often tell people that it was his goal to reach the U.S. Senate and eventually become president. But despite his high ambitions and outfit to match, Biden struggled academically at UD, particularly early on. In his autobiography \u201cPromises to Keep: On Life and Politics<\/a>,\u201d he\u2019d blame this on being a \u201clittle too interested in football and meeting new girls.\u201d Whatever the reason, after seeing his first semester grades, Biden\u2019s parents told him he wouldn\u2019t be playing spring football. \u201cThe first two years, I just didn\u2019t buckle down,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. \u201cI was even put on probation for hosing down an RA with a fire extinguisher. I spent a lot of time in the lounge with my friends, where I could always find a good argument.\u201d By the beginning of Biden\u2019s junior year, he was worried that his slip-ups early on would keep him from being able to talk his way into a good law school. So, he turned to a young political science professor, David Ingersoll, for advice. Ingersoll set him straight, telling him to buckle down or he\u2019d have no shot. \u201cOnce I made the commitment, I did,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. \u201cI carried 37 hours the next two semesters with decent grades, even while taking another run at the football team. I hadn\u2019t played for two years, but I surprised the coaches by moving up the depth chart fast.\u201d Once spring came around, Biden, with resurging confidence, went down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with some of his friends for spring break. But Biden, who didn\u2019t drink, quickly became bored with the spring break culture. So, he and his friend Fred Sears put what little money they had, most of which came from their recent tax returns, towards a plane ticket to Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas. The trip, for Biden, would be life-changing. On Paradise Island, Biden would meet his first wife, Neilia Hunter. After spotting her sitting poolside, he rushed over to say a word or two. \u201cBasically, I fell ass over tin cup in love — at first sight,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. \u201cAnd she was so easy to talk to. She was in school at Syracuse University, right down the road from her hometown, Skaneateles, New York. She was just two months from graduation and hoped she\u2019d be teaching at a junior high school in Syracuse that September.\u201d Upon their return to the United States, Biden and Hunter continued to see each other. Biden, blinded by love, quit the football team once more and structured his next semester of classes so that he would have Fridays free, allowing him to go visit Hunter in Syracuse every weekend. It became clear where Biden would apply to law school. \u201cWith Neilia part of my future, I was even more focused; I took my schoolwork more seriously than ever,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. \u201cAnd I wrote my senior thesis on a congressman from the Hunters\u2019 district in New York State. I felt it was prudent to get to know the political landscape in upstate New York in case Neilia really wanted to stay home.\u201d Biden\u2019s hard work paid off. In March of 1965, a letter of acceptance to Syracuse University Law School arrived at his parents\u2019 house. And with a bit of financial aid from Syracuse and the state of Delaware, Biden was able to afford his $3,600 annual tuition. Early on, Biden had a good time at Syracuse. He joined an intramural football team, got a job as an RA, and, most importantly, was able to spend time with Hunter. But, just like at UD, Biden saw his grades slip. \u201cJoe Biden wasn\u2019t hitting the library on very many Saturday nights,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. \u201cTo me, law school was just like college; all I had to do was get through to graduation, and I could get moving on real life. The work didn\u2019t seem so hard, just boring, and I was a dangerous combination of arrogant and sloppy. I\u2019m not sure I even bought all the books I was supposed to have first semester. And I was a less-than frequent visitor to class. Once a week, I\u2019d ride home with Clayton Hale, and he\u2019d hand me his notes to copy.\u201d About six weeks into his first term, Biden was accused of plagiarizing a portion of one of his papers. His plagiarism was not intentional; he just had improperly cited a passage. So, the deans and professors didn\u2019t ask him to leave, but he did have to retake the course. \u201cThe truth was, I hadn\u2019t been to class enough to know how to do citations in a legal brief,\u201d Biden wrote in his autobiography. He would go on to graduate 76th out of 85<\/a> in his class.
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