Jay Shetty's podcast On Purpose is the number one health and wellness podcast. The President participated in an interview with Jay Shetty, who you all may know, to discuss the administration's effort to tackle the mental health crisis.
It's President says, a pleasure good, thank you for this.
On that, thank you very very grateful. The day will come when you open that closet door and you smell the fragrance of her dresses, or you're going by that park where you walk with your child or or your boy, or your husband, or the thing that reminds you that for the longest time, we'll just bring a tear to your eye. But eventually, everyone in a while, I'll bring a smile that before bring the tear to your eye. When that happens, you know you're going to make.
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Number one health and wellness podcast.
On Purpose with Ja Shetty.
I'm so grateful and honored that you're here with me right now. Thank you so much for all your love and all your support for On Purpose. It's incredible what we've been creating together, what we've been building together, and I'm so excited to share some big news with you. This is an extremely special interview today as I'm sitting down with the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
This is only possible because of all your love and support for the podcast and making us a platform that the President and his team felt was right to talk about mental health. This conversation is dedicated to the person behind the podium. I always want to get to know the human behind the title, behind the position, behind what they do in the world, and spotlight and shine a light on mental health. We talk about so many of the things that he's gone through in his personal life.
I'm so grateful that I got to have this conversation that we're going to share with the world at large and make sure that mental health is a mainstream conversation because it's so integral to all of our lives. I hope you enjoy this conversation. Thank you for all your love and support. Means the world to me. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health and wellness podcast in the world. Thanks to each and every one of you that come back every week to learn, listen,
and grow. Now you know our mission here is to make the world happier, healthier, and more healed. And I believe that learning about people's stories of healing, of grief, of loss of growth is a powerful way to do that. And today I've been graciously invited to the White House and I'm sitting with mister President, and I'm so grateful and honored to be here and to have you on our platform, and for you to choose our platform to have this conversation. I couldn't be more honored. Thank you
so much, Thank you. I'm on interview me absolutely Well, let's dive straight in. The first question I'd like to ask you is what is your earliest childhood memory that you believe defines who you are today and passing you've become.
The earliest memory I have is there's two of them. One is there was a bully in the neighborhood lived down an area called the Plot, and we lived up the hill, and I was out with my friends in the alley behind our house and my mother was at the pantry looking out. The tough guy in the neighborhood smacked me. Was a couple years older than me, and I came in hold on my face, and my grandfather was at the kitchen table and sw what's the matter, Joey, and he said, that's a shame. I walked in and
my mother said, Joey, go back out there. So go back out there. I said, walk up to wait till he walks up to you. As soon as he does, smack him right in the nose. And the nose. She said, I'll give you fifty cents if you do it. And I said, why Mom, She said, you won't be able to walk in that alley again if you don't. I was scared to death. I walked out, popped him in the nose. That bled. He ran, and I thought, huh,
it worked. But I think the lesson I learned the most so is I used to stutter badly and I would talk like like like that, and then I'd catch my rhythm and and it was something that I thought was the worst curse could happen to me because everybody makes fun of it.
I had a similar experience with being bullied, so that resonates very strongly with me.
I think everybody does. Yeah, I was the run of the litter, No, it really was. I was a little guy, and I was a relatively good athlete even when I was a kid. But I literally was the runt of the litter.
Well, well, for me, it was my weight. I was overweight growing up, and it was the color of my skin. I grew up in an area where I wasn't surrounded by a lot of Indian people. And so those were the two reasons. Except my mother didn't give me that advice. Sometimes I wish she did. My mother did the opposite. She actually came into my school and spoke to the teachers, which it's really embarrassing at that age, and you know, no helpful for him.
No, I think maybe it is. You know, I had a similar thing I when I was in I went to Catholic grade school in high school, and you're sitting in those days, sat in alphabetical order, and I was in the first row, Biden, four people down and reading class. Everybody read a paragraph. I got to my paragraph, and I remember what it was because I used to try to memorize it rather than have to look at the word when I was rereading it. And I said, and he was a gentle man and this, And the teacher said,
what's that, mister Biden? He wanted she minded to say gentleman, but it's easier to not start her say gentle man, I said, gent I said, mister Biden, what is that? And I got up and walked out and walked home about two miles and my mother was sitting there tapping the table when I walked in and see get in. The car went down in the car. We walked in, went to the principal's office, sat me outside. The door
of the door was cracking. I was one of those opaque glasses glass windows and it didn't go to the ceiling anyway. To make a long story short, she said, I'd like to speak to the teacher. My mother said, and she said, mister by said, I'd like to speak to the teacher. So the teacher walks in and looked at me like you're in trouble now. Biden walked in, sat down. There was a crack and the door. I'll
never forget this. And my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnigan Biden, and she she looked and like, I said, what should you say to my son? She said, did you say, but Bob Biden. So I'm just trying to make a point, missus Biden. She said, if you ever do that again, I'll come back and rip that bonnet off your head. Do you understand me. Swear to God, get up, walked out,
go back to class, Joey. But you know, it's everybody has something that is tough, particularly when you're younger, and it makes such a difference when when somebody reaches out. I'm sure you had also had some experiences someone say, come on, like, for example, there's more than a handful of young stutterers. They're not so young anymore that I
still keep in touch with it. One young kid he introduced me when I ran for president, took such courage because he talked to talk like that, and he practiced, He practiced, he practiced, but it's had a profound impact on his life. Another young man, when I was vice president, he was I could tell you can tell a stutter if you're a stutter, just by when he was in line with his mom was in Tennessee and I was doing a thing for al Gore, and she introduced her
son and I could see him go the lips. I said, I said, hey, I'm about to finish my speech. Why don't you come help me write it? And the mother looked at me, and he looked at me and took him in and I showed him how I marked up my speeches so that I could get a little cadence with what I did. Did you ever see the movie The King Speech? Yes, of course. Well the gentleman who had that had a copy of the King's speech? Who
did it? Sent me a copy, and I don't know if I have my book with me, but there's one of these days I'll show you my speeches. I looked at it and I marked it up the same way. Every speech I mark up is the same way they might have it. See the slash marks I put on. Yes, well, it's just to help me. But you know there are people who reached out to me too. Maybe that impediment was the best thing ever happened to me.
It's incredible, isn't it. How I challenge that you're going through actually helps you become more compassionate and empathetic towards other people.
It's kind of human nature for most people. When you understand the pain someone's feeling, your first instinct is, look. We have an expression in the family. From the time I was a kid, it's all about showing up to just being there. I mean, I imagine the times when you were down because they're making fun of your Indian heritage, an all white population. That having someone come up and say, hey, come on you and mean let's do boom, it makes a difference.
Absolutely. Yeah, I'll never forget. You've just reminded me. Ian Winds was his name. He was the toughest kid in school and he had my back. That was that pass and that reached out to me. So if anyone had a problem with me, they had a problem with him, he take care of him. I felt very safe, felt very safe with you.
Well, it really is all about reaching out, isn't it. I mean, for real, think of all the young people today. I think that there's more anxiety and loneliness today than there's been in a long long time. You know, my friend I appointed, Admiral mcmurthy, he was telling me about, you know, the percentage of young people today who are feeling lonely alone, and sometimes it's just just touching, just showing up. I used to get see son, Beau, who
should be sitting here instead of me? Would I always say, Dad, you don't have time to make that call, you know, I'd get in a plan and go home. And because so someone had a serious problem, lost a wife or daughter, and I said, Dad, you don't have time when he passed away. The hundreds of people have told me how he called, he showed up, he was there, And because the people have showed up for me too, this really matters.
Yeah, you've been through you mentioned it there. You've been through so much tragic loss in your life, as you just mentioned there. You didn't run for presidency in twenty sixteen, shortly after the loss of your son. You've lost your first wife and daughter in a horrific accident. I can't even begin to understand how someone has the courage to process that much loss in grief, let alone move forward in the way you have. It's truly admirable. How did you begin?
I had an overwhelming advantage in the loss, and that was I had a really close family that was there. For example, when my wife and daughter were killed, my first wife and my two boys were very badly injured. Attractor trailer brought side of I was not in an accident. When I got home from the hospital, my sister and husband already gave up their apartment and moved in helped
me raise my kid my brother. We lived in a suburban area that was more country than suburban, and there was a little barn on a prock garage bar and my brother came and he turned the loft to the barn into an apartment for himself. They were there for me all the time. That was a gigantic difference, my best friend in my life and my sister and my brothers.
And.
So I had an enormous advantage. And I think that when you see people who were going through something tough, it does matter if you reach out. I mean it does matter. Like for example, you know you have a when you're a senator. For all the years I was in a small state, you know so many people and people would pass away, show up at the wake of the funerrmal matter what was happening. I learned it early on.
People would stop and just come and throw their arms around me because if they know you know the pain they feel, they get some solace in it. It's not always easy, but it's it just matters just to just to reach out, let people know you see them.
How did you allow yourself to receive that help too? I feel like, as you were mentioning earlier, with the loneliness and anxiety that exists, a lot of people either struggle to know what to say. I think we live in a society where people are like, but what do I say if they've gone to them? And the opposite end what you just said. Being able to be open enough to actually receive help requires a certain amount of courage and strength as well. I was.
Raising a family, for real, extended family, my grandparents as well, where my dad. In an expression, family is beginning, middle and end. There was a rule in the family growing up, not a joke. We didn't notice the time, but whenever you wanted to speak to your mother or father, I mean, they said, can we he had a problem. No matter what they were doing, they stopped. No matter what they
were doing, they stopped and heard, listen to you. And I did the same with my children, and they did the same with theirs, because it's a matter of them knowing that they are the most important thing in your life. Have they got a problem, You're there to listen. I have seven grandkids, four of them five, and mold them up to talk on the phone. You know, every day I either text them or call them. And a matter of fact, or in any campaign they were having a I
didn't realize they're having an interview. The four oldest grandchildren, they said, And just at the time, and they said, they call me pop. Pop calls us every day or text us every day, and I call them the phone. Right. Well, I give my word. I had no idea, but it's a look. I just think being there is is important and it makes such a difference. I think knowing that someone's going to be there for you, just to listen, just to just to hold you, just to hug you.
Yeah, I believe you're right. I believe we often over complicate things. We think we have to say the perfect thing, we have to have the solution, we have to be able to fix.
I agree, But it's just half of just showing up. Even people you don't know that well, but you've met the fact you'd call and say I'm thinking of you. I learned this from my experience. The day will come when you open that closet door and you smell the fragrance of her dresses, or you're going by that park where you where you where you walked with your child, or your or your wife or your husband, or the thing that reminds you, and for the longest time, I'll
just bring a tear to your eye. But eventually everyone in a while, I'll bring a smile that before bring the tear to your eye. When that happens, you know you're going to make it. That's the moment, you know. I doesn't mean you still don't cry, doesn't mean that pain still isn't isn't real even years later, but you know you can make it. I think there's an advantage sometimes if you have deep faith, whether you're you know, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim,
you know whatever. My family, when I want to get an important message to me, they tape it on the mi in the bathroom. I'm serious.
So you wake up in the morning and yeah.
No, it's on the mirror. I guess I was down early on. I missed ten years ago. I was down from me and my daughter actually taped on she's a social worker, taped on my mirror. Happiness is something something to do, someone to love, and someone to look forward to. Even dad, you have all those things just remind you, you know.
I think what you just said about the smile before the tear is probably one of the realist things I've ever heard. I think we often are trying to create a world in which we only have smiles and where we put pressure on ourselves and the people around us to be forever happy. And what you just said there
was really really resonated with me. It really hit me, actually, the idea that you will cry, it will happen, But that tiny smile that you experience even through a loss, even through grief, You're fortunate that you've got to have that experience that allowed you to find that smile at
that time. And I feel like you've been through so many obstacles in your life, but I'd love to know what you see as the relationship between vulnerability and strength, especially as a leader, because I think leaders have an overarching pressure to display strength in a certain way. I'll
give you an example. I coach several CEOs and individuals, athletes and others, and one of the CEOs who leads a large organization called me a few months ago and we were working through some things together and at one point I said to them, I said, it would be really wonderful for you to tell your teams that you lead what you've been going through and growing through. And they said, Jay, I don't know if I can tell them.
I don't know if I can tell them. And I said why, and they said, well, because it will look like I'm weak. And I said to them, well, no, you being vulnerable and sharing your growth is the greatest strength. That's not a weakness, but that was you. Because so many leaders feel they have to portray a set and type of strength. But even today I can see there's a grace in the way you're sharing.
Well, I have a rule that I thought that everybody in my staff knew because I had when I was a Senator for a long time. At one point, I don't know how they measured it, but I had the same staff longest than anybody in the Senate at the time. For example, we were doing a very very important Supreme
Court hearing. I was chairman of the shared Committee, and we worked on it very hard and did all the research and you know, anyway, and there was the one young man with people say he was invaluable because he's the guy who knew all the detail about certainty. And I found out that he was having trouble at home and I said, I want you to go home, don't come into hearing. Said I can't go home, go home, And you know why, because I would go home. I
have a thousand bosses, but only one me knowing. And so I know when I had Cristies at home raising the boys, I went home. I don't know how many years ago it was, but in this job and as vice president, another person was having some trouble at home and I found out. But I said, go home. They said, no, no, I can't. I got I said, if you don't go home, I'm going to fire you. Go home. Give relationship. It was a hell a lot more important to whatever you're doing for me. So that's a rule we have. Not
a joke, absolutely not. And they never have to tell me why. All you got to say is I'm not gonnent. I take you to your word. If it turns out you're playing games with me, I'll learn. But I know you too well take the time because you're not any better than your relationship. And that's a little bit what you were just talking about. And you know, I think
you have to ask my staff. I don't know, but I think they as long as they know, that's more important, more important than doing whatever specific thing you're doing at that moment for me.
How do you apply that rule when it feels like what they are working on this specific moment seems obviously to be the most important thing in the world. How do you.
Well, Because there's only one advantage of getting older, You've had a lot of experience and you can imply a little bit of wisdom. It's really critical. Yeah, and by the way, there's a selfie aspect to it, because when you have a problem with someone you love or some problem you're you know, you got to deal with it.
Yeah, and you can't even perform as well.
Exactly right. Yeah.
Absolutely, You've every day for years had to make difficult and stressful decisions, high stakes, hugely impactful on so many people. When you're making decisions. Do you follow your head, your heart, your gut? How do you think about decision making?
I don't know how to separate the three. Many times my heart brings me to the problem, and my gut tells me what I think I want to do, But my head, meaning the research the back, sometimes says that's the wrong answer. I think you're driven by a value set. You know what you value, you know what you think is important in life, you know what you think is consequential. And I think people who know what they value doesn't mean they're better work. But if you follow your value set.
To me, they're kind of basic things. My dad used to have an expression for real, said Joey. Everyone's entitled to be treated with dignity. Everybody dignity. This word dignity and what I find myself looking through the prison. For example, I was at an event the other day where I was talking and we were talking about a problem a mom was having providing for the hell the needs of
a child of actually a teenager. I said, all I can think of one hearing about not being able to afford the treatment was how she's deprived of her dignity. Imagine being a parent and you can't do anything about it because you don't have the financial wherewithal, because you don't have the connection, but you don't know where to go. It's a little bit like you know, I think the most dangerous, the most hated word in English language and any other language translated is cancer. You can't it's just
strikes fear and everybody. Well, it's one thing to get an analysis by great doctor, but you still need someone to guide you through. Located and we're finding significant breakthroughs in cancer, but you need someone to sort of lead you through who knows about it. I think it's the same way with about any problem people have. If there's a way to let people know there's an avenue, there's a way through. You know. I used to have a friend named Bob Gold who who died of a heart attack.
And I used to say, Bob, do you understand me? Said Joe, And I don't understand you. I overstand you, but you got to know how to know. And that's why we can be so little things it can be of enormous value. It's like, you know, you're walking across an intersection. They don't let me do that anymore, but you walk across the intersection and there's a you know, an elderly man or woman knowing they're waiting to see if they have enough time, just grabbing their hand and
walking across. It's a little tiny thing, but it anxiety. It relieves.
Yeah, No, that resonates the idea of the more we're a part of the solution, the less the problem feels overwhelming.
I think so now I have to admit, when you've been through something that's been particularly difficult, helping someone going through it again forces you to relive your experience, like, for example, the people I admire when we have functions where we're trying to make a point of how we can help someone with health care, whatever it is. The people have been through it who show up and support it. I always compliment them because it's like it happened yesterday.
When you start to focus on it, and it's hard, we underestimate what we can do. I'm not about time being president, I mean just what we can do in terms of dealing with people. I try to understand and what is motivating the other person when I'm doing things internationally or personally, because if you can understand what motivates them, there's a shot, even with the bad guys, you can break through and get something done. There's a way to
expose the meanness without causing direct conflict. For example, I remember I went to a Catholic grade school and we didn't often get invited to the katillion, which was in the local school down the street at Mount Pleasant School, And so I got invited and I was going to go. I was all excited about going. I think it was ninth grade, maybe the eighth grade. A little dance and there was a guy who was a good athlete that was a relatively good athlete. He was a good athlete
from the school. The other school, big guy became friends. But so I'm getting dressed and I didn't have a shirt to wear. So my mother got my uncle's shirt, who was a smaller man than my dad, and French cuffs and rolled up the cuffs so who looked like it fit? And I couldn't find my dad's. We couldn't find my dad's cuff links. So my mom went and got a nut in a bolt. I wondered why she was down downstairs in the laundry room looking for it and put him in. I said, Mom, I can't do this.
They'll make fun of me. I'll be embarrassed seeing anybody comes up and says they do you look at them and say, and here's what to say. This guy, Frank came up to me and said, hey, look, adbye, look what he's got here.
Hey?
And I looked at him and said, you don't have a pair of these? And he said, well, yeah, yeah, I got a pair. But I'm serious.
How do you assess people's motivations like you were just saying that when you can understand someone's motivation, you can almost disalm them without exposing them, which is what you just gave that example of now, how do we do that so that we go to the roots of it. I think often we get it's so caught up in what someone's what we think someone's thinking, or what we think someone's saying, but actually going to the heart of it and the root of it.
You know, it's hard to explain. I get credit for these days for sort of whole in the international community together, and I try to understand what the circumstance the other world leader is facing and see if there's a way what needs to be done. Is the way through that he doesn't or she doesn't have to make a great sacrifice to do what she's doing, but help make the case why they're helping others. But there's ways to do that, and it's doesn't require the person if they have a
fundamental difference with you on a subject. But if they're doing something because they don't have the political bandwidth to be able to do it at home, you can provide it. I will say to this leader sometimes, well why don't you let me criticize you for this or thank you for that, or And most of the time, now you don't do off the top of your head. You got to know some of these people. They'll go, okay, or why don't you why why don't you criticize me? Why
don't you criticize me for my not doing something? And then I'll respond and say okay, and then you can do what you want to do. It's just basic human nature. But I think I think trying to figure out what leeway a person has. I don't expect everybody to that I'm dealing with to appear in the second editions the profiles and courage nor may. I mean, it's hard, but
there's ways you can work. Not always, but you can work through things where you can allow the other person to save face and still get to where you want to go. Yes, and sometimes it works with your working with two people, yes, to get that done. Yeah. But it's just trying to figure out what is really what impediments are in their way to keep them from being able to do what you know, you feel in your gut, you know they know they should do.
That's a great perspective. I'm so happy you said that, because so many of us are fixated on what we want out of something, or where we want to get to, or what our challenges are. But mister President, I'm so grateful for your graciousness and kindness in giving me this time today. We end every on purpose interview with a final five Oh and these final five questions are questions we ask every guest, and there are some great ones
in here for you. So the first question I'm going to ask you is what is the best advice you've ever received? And what's the worst advice you've ever received.
I guess the best advice I've received is show up, Just show up there and get up. My mother used to say, Joey, get up, never bow, never been, never get up, just get up. But showing up is just that's a big part. And I guess the worst advice I've ever received was holding a grudge, because lots of times when people do something that is really not good, it's because they were fearful and they did it, not fearful of you, but their circumstance, and it gets you nowhere,
which means people doubt. Well, I'm really irish. The joke inside was really irish, But all getting aside, remembering is important, but holding a grudge is it's not helpful, very true, very true. Fast.
I'm for both of those answers.
I love it. Okay.
Second question, a lot of Americans today are seeking therapy as a form of support. Where does the president seek support and guidance in your own challenges?
And Jenny, Well, my best friend is my wife, a woman who has probably had more to do with my success than anyone. Is my sister Valerie and my brother Jim, And I think that's the place where I go most. But also I have a great advantage over the years, I've grown to have some great, great relationships with people have worked with and or run of my staff. And I think most of my staff would tell you the senior staff is I don't treat them like they work for me. I treat them which they are. They know
reason I hire them. I want them to know more than I know. And there are some things that I seek advice from a religious perspective, but that's really personal.
Yeah, beautiful, Okay, bad question. I believe it's been said that you told your first wife when you met her that you wanted to be or one day you would be the president of the United States. Is that true?
No, it's not true. I love it. I read all this what I did tell her, and I and the same with no man deserves one great love, let alone too for real. The two women that I married one passed away were women I knew when I went out with them the first time. I wanted to marry them. My first wife, I told her when I met her. We went to I went to I had eighty nine dollars tax returned. I'm want five guys down to Florida, and I don't drink. So I was bored with all this,
so I went to with three. I went to Nassau for you could apply for twenty five bucks round trip. And I met my deceased wife and I told her when I hung out with her for four days down there on the beach, and that I was going to marry her, and she looked at me, said I think so. And I started commuting every day every weekend when I was a senior in college. That's how I up to Syracuse. She's in there and my present wife was. It was a blind date that my brother set up for us,
and I know what I saw her. I was on that TEMOCLLS bachelor's list for five years. And it's not a fun thing because there are a lot of it. Don't get me wrong. A lot of nice people, but I've kind of given up on They're thinking I could have us, and I got the blind date. I'll never fear. My brother said, you'll like her. She doesn't like politics.
I'm glad I asked that question. Question number four. This is very important to social media. So the question is there are so many shows today based on the presidency, the White House mirroring it shows on TV eaming platforms. Which one is the most accurate and which one is the least accurate?
Mission impossible, the most the most look. I uh. One of the problems I have is I don't and I should. I don't watch much television. No, it's not because I'm above it or anything like that. It's just that, For example, for thirty six years after the accident occurred, and I commuted every day three hundred miles a day, and the press actually I had won. I got to know all
the conductors so well. I became friends. And one day as Vice president, I was going home on the train, which the secret surf doesn't like because there's so many opportunities to interrupt the train. And this particular guy, I'm not going to embarrass him and say his name. Company grab me and cheek is Joey baby. I thought they're going to shoot him any I said, no, no, he's He said, I just read in the paper you traveled a million,
one hundred thousand miles on air Force planes. Because I have a list how many miles a travel on And he said, big deal, he said, Joey, we had a retirement dinner. He said, you know what you figured out? You know how many miles you travel on Amtrak? I said no. He said a million, two hundred thousand miles, one hundred and nineteen days a year, three hundred days, three hundred miles round trip, thirty six years plus. My point was I was on the training lot, and so
when I get home, there wasn't much to watch. I mean not it was the watch. But I'd always make sure, I think, and I think you know all your guests know this, that children need to know that they're the most important thing in your life. So even if I got home late, I'd climb in bed or my two boys at the time, and just even if they were asleep, and get up in the morning. And it wasn't like
Ouzzie and Harriet. I wasn't fixing their breakfast but I'd be there and have breakfast them, they'd take off for school. I'd take off for the train. So I've been back and forth so much. I haven't I just haven't watched many problem And by the way, there's a lot of good stuff, I'm sure. I mean, everyone's wanted to turn on. And by the way, they got a great advantage here.
You got a movie theater and so yeah, and they tell me, I get this list what movies are in and we have the uh, the the new one, that's the the Oppenheimer Oppenheimer.
Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. They're the movies I see these days. I get to see them at night once in a while. Okay, very nice, amazing, all right. Fifth and final question. We asked this question to every guest has ever been on the show, but it truly is unique asking you this question.
If you could create one law in the world that everyone had to follow, what would it be.
I don't think it's a matter of being able to have any one law that could change people's attitudes. I think I'm optimistic. I think we have we're on the cusp. We're in the time of real change, and we're an inflection point. In moral history. Whether I'm president or not, things are going to change drastically, and you see it happening all around the world. We have an enormous opportunity. But the thing I want to I could want to change is American attitude that we can do anything. We
can do anything. There's nothing we've ever set our mind that we've not been able to do. We've done together for real. And so I laid out four things that I thought were critically important in my stateud you know. One was to make a fundamental change in cancer treatment. We can cure that, and that's why we put another six billion dollars. I mean, pick the impossible thing I have.
Caroline Kennedy gave me a copy of President Kennedy's. Part of President Kennedy's speech when about going in the morning, he said, because we refuse to postpone, we have to refuse to postpone anymore. There's so oh much we can do, and I mean it. I believe it with every fiber in my baby. I've been doing this a long time and I've never been more optimistic about our chances than now. And that's why when I ran, I said, I ran for three reasons one to restore the soul of America,
sense of decency, just the way we talk to one another. Secondly, to build this country from the middle out and the bottom up. The wealthy still do very well, but everybody has a shot. And thirdly, to unite the country. And I think we can do it. I really genuinely do. But then again, as my offer referred to, I'm a cock eyed optimist, but I really believe it.
Mister President, Thank you so much for the autum. I'm so grateful. I have two tiny requests for you. I'd love for you, if you don't mind, to walk me through what's here, because I saw these beautiful pictures when I walked in, and I thought they looked really special, and I'd love to shad them this one.
My dad was a real gentleman and a well read man. Never got a has to go to college. And he'd always said, Joey, never explained, never complained. And so we were having my fourth reelection effort as a senator in the late nineties, and my dad was over at our house to you know, to be there with me, and I was standing on this back porch overlooking this pond. I built a smaller home when the home we had when everybody moved out. But it sits on a pond,
a ten acre pond. And I was saying, my deceased wife, she lived in Lake Skinny Atlas and the finger legs beautiful. She I said, you know, I wish nearly could have seen this. And my dad thought, I was man, feel sorry for myself. So he came. He said I'll be back, and he took off, and he went up to the local Hallmark store and came back with this cartoon. This is his philosophy life. It's Hagar the horrible lightning strikes, his boat's going down. He's looking up to God and
having to say why me. The next frame of voice mevericans by why not? My dad always say, what makes you so special? You don't have these problems. I'll put it down here. The other ones, there's a bunch there, but one of my well, one of my favorite ones is of that one. My son BeO. This is when he came home from being a rack for a year
with his unit, and uh, this is his son. Little Hunter got on his shoulders and wouldn't get off his shoulders, just would not, I mean for hours, was on his shoulders. The others are my mom and dad. My that's my daughter, the love of my life, the life of my love. Anyway, there's a lot up there. I'm Beautiful'm pally born the hell out of you.
It was wonderful to see them when I came in, so thank you.
Well, like I said, my dad really was one of these guys, and it was about and so was my mother's side of family. That family. My dad would say, it's the beginning in the middle of the end. I believe it is. I mean, I know what you're trying to do is all those folks out there that are lonely, all those folks out there that are feeling uneasy, all those folks out there that aren't sure. I don't know. I just just sometimes just reaching out it makes a difference.
Thank you, mister president.
Thank you, thank you so much. You're doing good work for people. I really mean it. Thank you, thank you.
That means the world coming from you, and I look forward to many more conversations.
Thank you.
Thank you to