>>12735861 (lb)
I thought that was a strange thing to say, as well. Especially since he spoke them in 1974, at a time when it would not have been considered appropriate. What man would discuss his dead wife in that way? Weird.
A Bizarre and Revealing Biden Interview
'''Death and the All-American Boy
Joe Biden was a lot more careful around the press after this 1974 profile.'''
>“Let me show you my favorite picture of her,” he says, holding up a snapshot of Neilia in a bikini. “She had the best body of any woman I ever saw. She looks better than a Playboy bunny, doesn’t she?
>At first she stayed at home with the kids while I campaigned but that didn’t work out because I’d come back too tired to talk to her. I might satisfy her in bed but I didn’t have much time for anything else. That’s when she started campaigning with me and that’s when I started winning.
>“I have no illusions about why I am such a hot commodity, either. I am the youngest man in the Senate and I am also the victim of a tragic fate which makes me very newsworthy. I’m sure that’s why I get so many invitations all the time. I don’t accept them and most people understand why. Rose Kennedy is always calling me to come to dinner. She has invited me at least ten times and I’ve only gone once. Most guys would kill to get invitations like that but I don’t accept them because I like to be with my children as much as possible. Whenever Ted and Joan Kennedy call me for dinner—and they call quite a bit—I usually say I have to go home. They are great because they understand why.”
>His 29-year-old sister Valerie and her husband Bruce have moved into the Senator’s house to take care of the children.
(So why did he need Jill to babysit?)
> I would like very much to fall in love and be married again because basically I am a family man. I want to find a woman to adore me again.
>“And I would like very much to fall in love and marry someone exactly like Francie Barnard. I think she is bright, pretty, and engaging. I like her quiet kind of style. She’s like my wife in that way. She does not come on strong. She is the only woman I have dated and I am with her every chance I can. We spend a lot of time in Delaware because I am more comfortable at home. The first time I took her to meet my family everyone started talking about heavy romance. They didn’t understand, I guess, that I would never take out anyone my mother didn’t meet first. That might sound weird but that’s the way I am.
>“In spite of all the rumors around town right now, I can look you straight in the eye and say that I have no present or future plans of getting married. Besides, why should someone like Francie marry a guy like me who is still in love with his wife, who has a political constituency and a readymade family. She deserves better than that.
>“We have been seeing each other steadily since Christmas but all this press speculation is making her very nervous. She is worried that her friendship with me will jeopardize her professional status as a reporter. And, I can tell you one thing for sure: She’s not as high on the press as she used to be as a result of all the questions she’s been getting lately.”
>Ms. Barnard, a pretty, 28-year-old version of Natalie Wood, admits as much in a telephone interview.
(Francie Bernard? Where's Jill?)
> I’m about as liberal as your grandmother. I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body. I support a limited amnesty, and I don’t think marijuana should be legalized. Now, if you still think I’m a liberal, let me tell you that I support the draft. I’m scared to death of a professional army. I vote my own way and it is not always with the Democrats. I did vote for George McGovern, of course, but I would have voted for Mickey Mouse against Richard Nixon. I despise that man.”
https://www.washingtonian.com/1974/06/01/joe-biden-kitty-kelley-1974-profile-death-and-the-all-american-boy/