Joe Biden Destroys Reagan Administration on South Africa Policy 30+ Years Ago – Why He Deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom
If anyone doubts why Joe Biden deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to him today by President Obama, please watch this video. This is from July 23, 1986. It is a hearing on U.S. Policy in South Africa. And in this clip (start at 1:38:50 to see Biden’s key part), he excoriates Secretary of State George Shultz for his collaboration with apartheid. This is a degree of moral clarity almost unheard of in American politics.
It is also among the handful of moments in history that convinced me, as much as anything, of what I needed to be doing with my life. I remember watching this as it happened on C-Span, and being utterly transfixed by it. Sadly, he got so much flak for this that he ended up apologizing for his tone. But he had NOTHING to apologize for, and I still applaud him for it. Please watch…
