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Like President Bill Clinton, Joe Biden He is outgoing, empathetic and has a large network of friends. Like President George W. Bush, he maintains strict personal discipline (for Biden this year, which involved cycling and protein shakes to compensate for his ice cream habit).

Like President George HW Bush, he respects American political traditions and shares eight years of history, experiences and some war wounds in Washington with President Barack Obama.

However, when Biden arrives at the White House in January, after four turbulent years of Trump presidency and a chaotic transition period, he will bring with him your skill pool.

In 36 years as a senator and eight as a vice president, he perfected the techniques for operating in Washington. Based on his actions and positions over the past 18 months as a presidential candidate, these are four main elements of how Biden could approach government in January, 48 years after his arrival in Washington.

Consult with specialists, elected officials and your circle of associates

This year, Biden he drew on a combination of expert opinion and conversations with elected officials across the country to develop his plans trying to address today’s dire economic and public health crises and has provided us with insight into the types of inputs that can help you make decisions as president.

When the pandemic hit, Biden’s reaction was to get in touch by phone.

Although he did not have the authority to enact policies, Biden felt it was important to keep in touch with mayors, senators and governors; He often called them, and in his public talks he referred to what he had learned from their experiences. It was like staying true to his role as vice president, where he was almost always the Obama administration’s best connection to the Capitol, and showed the respect he has for other elected officials.

At the same time, A key part of Biden’s message during the general election was that, as president, he would listen to specialists as he tackled the country’s most important challenges..

However, despite all the expert recommendations that will be available to him in the White House, his positions also involve, in general terms, a primary circle of close associates and advisers and some family members – most notably his wife and sister. that have been advising you for decades.

Last week he appointed Ron Klain, a political adviser who started working with Biden in the 1980s, as chief of staff. But he also promised to form an inclusive government.

“We want the stability, experience and confidence of veterans,” former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said of the Biden administration’s prospects. “But we also want new blood, new ideas, new faces to contribute to them. I’m the next generation. I think that’s the way Joe will see it. “

Can be flexible with deadlines

In the most important moments of his campaign, Biden wanted to gather as much information as possible.

And then I waited.

His allies claim that, after all, Biden is bold and they say he’s not the type to hesitate or fail to keep a promise when he’s struck a deal in a deal. But it proved it I can’t rush you when it comes to important personal or political decisions.

This was more than evident during the Vice President nomination process, when Biden postponed the self-imposed deadlines for appointing his running mate before settling for Senator Kamala Harris. In it he found someone to trust as a staunch ally, a leader who shares his ideas on how to govern and who possesses political skills that he does not have.

That moment could be representative of how announcements from his cabinet members and other appointments on his team will play out in the coming weeks as Biden carefully weighs his options and also addresses the political constraints of a potential Republican-controlled Senate.

Biden hinted that he could appoint some members of the government around Thanksgiving, which is an initial test of whether his deadlines as president-elect are more accurate than when he was running.

He’s a man who has the Senate in his heart, but it remains to be seen if the Senate wants him to come back.

Biden was a vice president of the United States, a veteran politician of his party and, now, president-elect.

However, In many ways, he’s still a Delaware senator at heart, who at times delved into the jargon of speeches (last year, in the debate stage, she referred to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as her “illustrious friend”) and who in the election campaign of the entire 2020 competition cited the Senate mentors from decades ago.

His experience in the Senate has defined his political positions – which see consensus, civilization and bipartisanship as essential to any progress – and helps explain why he will come to the White House with great respect for Congress. His insistence that he can “lower the spirits” politically was a central part of his speech throughout the race, and he indulged in marginalizing Democrats who saw those positions as naïve.

The question is whether Biden’s positions will be rewarded by Republicans on Capitol Hill., some of whom refuse to recognize the legitimacy of their choice.

He has a mission to be himself

After four years with President Donald Trump in the White House, Biden, in many ways, it promises a return to the previous norms and traditions that have largely defined the position.

Don’t expect Biden to use his Twitter account to fire members of his government, to participate in television news coverage, or to suddenly announce policies. In fact, his campaign team argued that he turned down Twitter because it was not a good way to gauge the views of the majority of Americans.

But expect to see a president who assumes the traditional role of acting as a fundamental comfort in tragic moments. Biden’s ability to empathize with people in pain is one of his most characteristic qualities as a politician, following the 1972 car crash in which his first wife and child died and the death of his eldest son. Beau Biden, in 2015.

Last week, on Veterans Day, he visited the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia and is determined to show respect for those who wear the uniform.

Biden has rarely shown his anger more clearly during the campaign than when he cited comments Trump would make about downed soldiers. Biden carries a card in his bag which, among other things, contains the exact number of American soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and systematically concludes his comments by saying “May God protect our soldiers.”

But despite all the respect Biden has for American institutions: the courts, Congress, the military. He is also a colorful character in American politics with a strong personality that Americans and world leaders will now see up close and personal..

He’s known for his empathy, but he can also get so defensive that, apparently, during a heated dialogue, he once called a voter “fat” (which his campaign team denied) and issued a challenge. of sit-ups. . It’s full of “Bidenism“And a varied wisdom that he attributes to various long-deceased families and colleagues, and is also very proud of his Irish Catholic roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

“Look at me,” Biden has recommended to voters over the years. “If you like what you see, cooperate. If not, vote for the other ”.

This time, enough American voters liked it. Now they and the rest of the world are about to take a closer look.

© The New York Times 2020