BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT — Ringwood Family Tree

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Happy Father’s Day!

Joe Biden first ran for president when I was 26 years old. He ran for president a second time when I was 46 years old. Joe Biden is running for president again. If things turn out as I hope they will, I will be 58 years old when Joe Biden is elected President of the United States.

Think of it this way, when Joe Biden ran for president in 1988, I had one dog and no children. I’d been married for 2 years and teaching at Corcoran High School for 4 years. In 2008, I had 2 dogs and 3 children (ages 12, 10, 8). Mary and I had been married for 12 years and I had been out of the classroom for 6 years. WHEN I VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN NEXT YEAR (I hope I don’t jinx it!), John will be a college graduate, Will will be 6 months from his college graduation and Emma will be half way through college.

My life certainly has changed over the past 32 years: 1 wife, 3 children, 4 dogs, 2 houses, 5 jobs… One Joe Biden related thing that has not changed in all these years and that one thing has an Auburn connection: Brian McKeon. You’re probably wondering where all of this is going – Biden for President, jobs, children, dogs, Father’s Day, Auburn, Brian McKeon…

I try to keep in touch with Brian especially when I need to rant about the current resident of the White House. I touched base with him a while back in order to find out how he and Joe Biden got together in the first place. Brian has worked for Joe Biden for the better part of 34 years in many different capacities: Legislative Correspondent, Chief Counsel (Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Deputy National Security Advisor. Brian is currently the Senior Director of the Penn-Biden Center for Diplomacy. Fingers crossed that Brian has a new job in January, 2021 at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

When I asked Brian about becoming a part of the Biden team, he told me a pretty heartwarming story. The year was 1985. Brian had graduated from college and started “pounding the pavement on the Hill” for a job. All of the “pounding” paid off because Brian landed a job in Senator Biden’s office. According to Brian, he thought he got the job on his own. Apparently, Brian’s dad called Robert Hunter to “put in a good word”. Mr. Hunter called Senator Biden and before long, Brian was hired. The best part of the story is that Brian’s dad never told him and he didn’t learn of the call that Mr. Hunter had made until years later. I love that story…fathers quietly helping their children.

Hearing Brian’s story got me thinking…did Dad “put in a good word” for any of you? I thought it might be a fun Father’s Day “chatter”. I look forward to reading your stories.

I really hadn’t started “working” before Dad passed away. I don’t think he pulled any strings to get me hired as a Camp Counselor at SCC or as a dishwasher at AGCC. I do know that I probably wouldn’t have gotten hired by the Syracuse City School District or Le Moyne College had Mike not “put in a good word” for me. Thank you Mike!

Happy Father’s Day! VOTE BIDEN!!

-David Ringwood, June 2019

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