Category: Scribner

Joe Biden: Leader of the Free World

On By Marc NadeauIn Chris Whipple, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Freedom, Harry S. Truman, History, Joe Biden, Leadership, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Scribner, Simon & Schuster Canada, Tyranny, Ukraine, US Politics, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Winston ChurchillLeave a comment

“To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents,” declared Winston Churchill. For many, that hour comes early. For some, like the heroic British Prime Minister, it comes later. For others, like US President Joe Biden, it comes even later in life.

As we commemorate today the tragic first anniversary of the murderous onslaught launched by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, it seems fitting to write about one of the best political biographies I have read in a long time. The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House (Scribner) is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the character of the 46th President of the United States.

In the summer of 2017, the events surrounding the extreme-right manifestations in the streets of Charlottesville convinced former Vice President Biden that Donald Trump “was giving evil a safe harbour”, thus contributing to the Democratic politician’s decision to run. The combat for 2020 was between good and evil. And no one was better equipped than Joe Biden to lead it.

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“The epicenter of the Cold War”

On By Marc NadeauIn Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, History, Iain MacGregor, James A. Baker III, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Ronald Reagan, Scribner, Sir Robert CorbettLeave a comment

In June 1987, just shy of my 13th birthday, international affairs were already part of my daily interests. I would clip newspaper articles about the Cold War from our local paper before my parents even had the chance of reading it, much to their despair. During that month, on the 12th to be more precise, US President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and pronounced a major speech calling for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall. “He’ll never do that”, my father replied to me. Retrospectively, anything is possible of course. But few people could imagine back then what would happen only two years later when the Wall crumbled without a single shot being fired.

Fast-forward to 2015. After 9 grueling months stranded as administrative prisoners in Poland due to lack of efficient bureaucracy (to put it mildly), we finally received our coveted residency cards. First order of business was to plan a serious change of scenery for everyone. I could finally take a few days off. Berlin was just a couple hours away by train and I knew this was an opportunity not to be missed.

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