Joe Biden's Resilience on a Roller Coaster Ride

Before the 1972 election, Nordy Hoffman, directing the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, got a call from a young county councilman seeking support, declaring "the Bidens are going to be the Kennedys of Delaware." 

A bemused Hoffman, who was an All-American football player for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame,  passed it on to Ted Kennedy.

Tonight, that New Castle councilman will be celebrated as President of the United States at the Democrats' national convention. He'll get a well-deserved, enthusiastic, even, emotional reception.

Joseph Robinette Biden's journey over that half century has seen extraordinary peaks and painful valleys, right up to a month ago when, under pressure from party leaders, he reluctantly dropped out of a reelection race he was destined to lose.