The Irony of Joe Biden’s retreat trips
Biden is an older man, but he goes on family trips with his grown-up children. Whenever Biden and his wife want to go for a retreat to have a good time, the grown and married children also want to accompany them. Ironically, the children are already grown and married with kids but still insist on going on private vacations with their aging parents. Biden writes, "I suspect there are parents who might feel put upon when asked to give up their alone time. I regarded these requests as the fruits of a life well-lived." Consequently, Biden is justifying the inability to get private with his wife because the grown-up children are always present.
The Irony of Bidens political life
After over 50 years in politics, Biden is still not thinking of going out of political life anytime sooner. The reader finds it ironic that Biden is still strong, and he wants to continue his political life to infinity. Biden says that he has been in politics for decades, and by the year 1973, he was already a senator. Forty years down the line, Biden is still going strong in the political career.
The Irony of Biden advising President Obama
Under normal circumstances, bosses know that they are superior, which is why they are given the top seat. Obama took a different leadership approach in which he allowed his juniors to advise him. Despite the huge age difference between Obama and his Vice President, he listened to him for advice. Biden writes, "I believe I did my job well enough to earn his trust. He sought advice as much as ever at the end of 2014, and seemed to value it, which meant there were days when I felt that I had it in my power to help bend the course of history ever so slightly for the better.”
The Irony of Jill, Biden’s second wife
Unlike other stepmothers who prioritize their biological children, Jill loved Hunt and Beau as her own, and she filled the gap of their demised mother. Therefore, Jill is a symbol of true motherhood, which might seem satirical to many. Biden remembers Jill remembering to be a good caretaker when she carried a catalog to keep the boys away from boredom during a six-hour journey. Biden writes, "Now, six hours is a long time for two boys to be trapped in the backseat of a moving car, but Jill was already proving herself a resourceful caregiver." Even after the marriage, Jill became the perfect mother for Biden’s children.
The irony of cheating time
After Biden's son, Beau, was diagnosed with brain cancer, the father knew that he had no much time left. Therefore, Biden optimized his time to take him on thanksgiving trips together with other family members to keep him company in his last days. Ironically, Biden knew that he was only cheating time because Beau died at forty-six when the time came. Biden writes, "But despite all that position standing, I was capable of doing the thing I wanted to do heading into that holiday week: to slow down the Master Clock at the top of my driveway, to make those red ticking numbers hesitate, to give myself, my family, and, most importantly, my older son, a little extra breathing room. I wanted the power to cheat time."
