"Promise Me, Dad" - The Touching Memoir of US President Joe Biden

Joe Biden's memoir Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Perpose, published in the US in 2017, was ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

The translation titled Promise Me, Dad (translated by Nguyen Xuan Hong) was released to domestic readers by Dan Tri Publishing House and Tan Viet Books in 2021.

In a profound voice, as a narrator, Mr. Joe Biden begins the book by telling about his family's trip, with grown children who still want to be with their parents on Thanksgiving Day.

"My family was my main escape during my five and a half years as Vice President. With them, I felt safe in the eye of the storm, a reminder of the natural comfort and rhythms of our old lives. Peace was about to come again when my time in office ended," the book reads.

At that time, his eldest son - Beau Biden was struggling with brain cancer. This made Joe collapse.

Hứa với con, ba nhé - Cuốn hồi ký xúc động của Tổng thống Mỹ Joe Biden - 1 — Cover of the book "Promise me, Dad" (Photo: Tan Viet Books).

Considered Joe Biden version 2.0, Beau brings together all the inheritance from his father, having a strong influence on Joe not only because of the father-son relationship but also as a partner and a hope.

It was in his despair and helplessness that Joe Biden understood that he needed to live with purpose no matter what happened. He could not abandon his country, the Obama administration, his family, himself, and that was also the way he did not abandon Beau.

Also a seasoned politician , Beau understood what his father was facing: national and international issues on one side, and a son fighting for his life on the other.

Promise me, Dad, write down Beau Biden's instructions to his father, when he announced that he had a malignant brain tumor and was uncertain about his chances of survival.

Beau said, "I know there's no one in the world who loves me as much as you do. I know that. But look at me, Dad. Look at me. I'll be okay no matter what happens. I'll be okay, Dad. I promise you."

But you have to promise me, Dad. That no matter what happens, you'll be okay. Promise me, Dad, that you'll be okay. Promise me, Dad."

“I'll be fine, Beau,” Joe said.

Beau Biden's heartbreaking story reflects Joe Biden's deep, complex, interwoven, and often contradictory emotions.

More than once in the book, Joe Biden is confronted with the question: What does he really want the rest of his life to be like?

It could be 10 years of enjoying your family, building financial security and spending more time with them. Or 10 years of trying to change your country and the world for the better. There are other things a politician can do besides family.

That's when what Beau wanted for his father came back to Joe Biden:

"Beau was worried that I would withdraw from my obligations to the larger world. Beau insisted that I stay true to myself and all the things I had done over the years."

Joe Biden kept his word. In 2020, he won a tight race against Donald Trump to become the 46th President, and the oldest elected President of the United States.

"Surprisingly, given the central theme of the book, Promise Me, Dad is refreshing and uplifting, a crystallization of the author's innate cheerfulness and irrepressible candor.

It's a glimpse into a recent past that feels not so distant," Vanity Fair magazine commented.

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