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Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden
A deep dive into Joe Biden’s history and the origins of his political values
Yesterday’s Man exposes the forgotten history of Joe Biden, one of the United States’s longest-serving politicians, and one of its least scrutinized.
Over nearly fifty years in politics, the man called “Middle-Class Joe” served as a key architect of the Democratic Party’s rightward turn, ushering in the end of the liberal New Deal order and enabling the political takeover of the radical right.
Far from being a liberal stalwart, Biden often outdid even Reagan, Gingrich, and Bush, assisting the right-wing war against the working class, and ultimately paving the way for Trump.
The most comprehensive political biography of someone who has tried for decades to be president, Yesterday’s Man is an essential read for anyone interested in knowing the real Joe Biden and what he might do in office.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2020
78 people are currently reading
900 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
February 24, 2020
This definitive record of Joe Biden’s terrible record was well-researched and well-written - worth reading both for campaign season and for a story of how power can change a person’s politics vote by vote.
“Rather than appealing to the material, class-based interests that unite voters across racial, gender, religious, or other lines, Biden has instead sought to find a nonexistent middle ground between working-class Americans and the rich and powerful, often leaning toward the latter.”
“Rather than appealing to the material, class-based interests that unite voters across racial, gender, religious, or other lines, Biden has instead sought to find a nonexistent middle ground between working-class Americans and the rich and powerful, often leaning toward the latter.”
July 5, 2021
Something of an election season hit piece, from the Sanders end of the 2020 primary.
The argument details all of Biden's conservative preferences, his policy sellouts to the rightwing for campaign purposes while mouthing liberal positions, and his acts in office for the benefit of power. The text isn't wrong, of course, to state that he erred in supporting the crime and drug statutes that increased prison populations needlessly and restricted the rights of defendants, or that he has many times supported regressive tax policy, or that he warmongered at multiple points including the recent wrongful invasion of Iraq, or that he's gone all in for pro-life interests, or that his handling of civil rights has been defective, or that he was too permissive with rightwing court nominations on the judiciary committee, or that he helped make the mortgage crisis by supporting the repeal of Glass-Steagall--and so on. That's all true and correct, not subject to reasonable controversion.
Beyond doubt Trump falsely stated that Biden accomplished nothing in office, and that he's a radical left socialist; these are insipid fascist fantasies, disqualifying the opinions otherwise of anyone who says them as either too uninformed or too dishonest to take seriously. Biden has been an effective parliamentarian for the center-right, mostly, transactional and conciliatory in a way that exasperates the left and infuriates the fascist right.
Perhaps it's a bit transparent however in highlighting Sanders' virtuous counter-position at each available instance. There's also a tendency toward overstatement, such as the inclusion of the detail that Biden's office had a direct secure line to GWB during the run-up to the Iraq invasion--as though Biden were really the responsible party for the war. Similarly, though Biden is tasked for the ineffective assistance for mortgagers during the subprime crisis, it is a bit much to imply that he is responsible for the misconduct of banks.
Heavy-handedness and hyperbole aside, this text is a good reminder of who's now in office--a wolf in sheep's clothing, which is no doubt better than Big Orange Mussolini in trashy faux regalia.
The argument details all of Biden's conservative preferences, his policy sellouts to the rightwing for campaign purposes while mouthing liberal positions, and his acts in office for the benefit of power. The text isn't wrong, of course, to state that he erred in supporting the crime and drug statutes that increased prison populations needlessly and restricted the rights of defendants, or that he has many times supported regressive tax policy, or that he warmongered at multiple points including the recent wrongful invasion of Iraq, or that he's gone all in for pro-life interests, or that his handling of civil rights has been defective, or that he was too permissive with rightwing court nominations on the judiciary committee, or that he helped make the mortgage crisis by supporting the repeal of Glass-Steagall--and so on. That's all true and correct, not subject to reasonable controversion.
Beyond doubt Trump falsely stated that Biden accomplished nothing in office, and that he's a radical left socialist; these are insipid fascist fantasies, disqualifying the opinions otherwise of anyone who says them as either too uninformed or too dishonest to take seriously. Biden has been an effective parliamentarian for the center-right, mostly, transactional and conciliatory in a way that exasperates the left and infuriates the fascist right.
Perhaps it's a bit transparent however in highlighting Sanders' virtuous counter-position at each available instance. There's also a tendency toward overstatement, such as the inclusion of the detail that Biden's office had a direct secure line to GWB during the run-up to the Iraq invasion--as though Biden were really the responsible party for the war. Similarly, though Biden is tasked for the ineffective assistance for mortgagers during the subprime crisis, it is a bit much to imply that he is responsible for the misconduct of banks.
Heavy-handedness and hyperbole aside, this text is a good reminder of who's now in office--a wolf in sheep's clothing, which is no doubt better than Big Orange Mussolini in trashy faux regalia.
April 3, 2020
An adequate summary of a principle-less panderer’s career
March 12, 2020
We are screwed
Never paid much attention to politics through the years , only heard snippets on the news. This book brings all of that into focus and details how not just Biden but all long lived career politicians operate and get re-elected.What a lesson for the public, but I doubt they will learn. What a shame.
Never paid much attention to politics through the years , only heard snippets on the news. This book brings all of that into focus and details how not just Biden but all long lived career politicians operate and get re-elected.What a lesson for the public, but I doubt they will learn. What a shame.
April 14, 2020
Over the course of reading this book, you will begin to doubt whether there is a single travesty of the last 50 years of US government that Joe Biden has not been influential in. It's a really depressing read after he got the nomination, but it will clear your conscience of even the slightest bit of obligation to vote for him. Bourgeois democracy is a joke played on us all!
May 31, 2020
If you’re a Bernie supporter, this book clearly confirms all your doubts about why voters and the DNC chose the wrong candidate for the November elections. “Yesterday’s Man” seems to be a well researched book that critically describes both Biden’s political successes and numerous political failures and injustices. You learn how Biden has never been a hardline liberal, and definitely not a progressive, though he’s been at times outspoken on issues like fair housing, the environment, and maybe support for his beloved middle-class constituency in Delaware and beyond.
But his political career and power, spanning nearly five decades, has enabled him to support and even create legislation and policies that have resulted in a lot of harm and even death of millions of people in and outside this country. From his historic ’94 crime bill that lead to mass incarceration of Black people, to his support of the US invasion of Iraq, and along the way his work to push the Democratic party further to the right and away from its New Deal roots, Biden is definitely not a politician that the working class and minorities can depend on to speak and fight on their behalf.
In this book, you learn how Biden has flip-flopped on various policies and ideological views. He’s never been a visionary. He’s arrogant, unintelligent, and definitely not reflective about his political decisions and activities.
But now in 2020, he’s the "less-than" candidate who essentially is as small minded, arrogant, and racist as Trump, but with less the crass language that Trump uses. It’s clear at the end of the day, that bourgeois interests have had and will continue to have a great influence over Biden. And if by some miracle he wins the nomination, he certainly won’t be bringing any drastic changes to the political economy of this country. In fact, given the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, he will be on the side of pushing austerity especially when it comes to programs to help the poor and most marginalized in this country. (Note: Biden reminds me a lot of the Republican monster, Mitch McConnel. Politically ignorant voters have consistently voted these low-lifes back into office, and they’ve largely been a disaster.)
I really wish more people would read this book, because it includes the type of information that should help voters make a better and more informed decision about who they support as a presidential candidate. This books shows how we need similar critical analysis of Obama, and a comparative analysis of Bernie vs Biden.
“Yesterday’s Man” is an easy read, though it’s not an enjoyable read. I’m even more disgusted after reading it about Biden as the Democratic candidate, and it pisses me off that he’s the alternative to the current gangster president. Whether Biden wins or loses, voters will find that they chose the wrong fucking candidate for office.
But his political career and power, spanning nearly five decades, has enabled him to support and even create legislation and policies that have resulted in a lot of harm and even death of millions of people in and outside this country. From his historic ’94 crime bill that lead to mass incarceration of Black people, to his support of the US invasion of Iraq, and along the way his work to push the Democratic party further to the right and away from its New Deal roots, Biden is definitely not a politician that the working class and minorities can depend on to speak and fight on their behalf.
In this book, you learn how Biden has flip-flopped on various policies and ideological views. He’s never been a visionary. He’s arrogant, unintelligent, and definitely not reflective about his political decisions and activities.
But now in 2020, he’s the "less-than" candidate who essentially is as small minded, arrogant, and racist as Trump, but with less the crass language that Trump uses. It’s clear at the end of the day, that bourgeois interests have had and will continue to have a great influence over Biden. And if by some miracle he wins the nomination, he certainly won’t be bringing any drastic changes to the political economy of this country. In fact, given the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, he will be on the side of pushing austerity especially when it comes to programs to help the poor and most marginalized in this country. (Note: Biden reminds me a lot of the Republican monster, Mitch McConnel. Politically ignorant voters have consistently voted these low-lifes back into office, and they’ve largely been a disaster.)
I really wish more people would read this book, because it includes the type of information that should help voters make a better and more informed decision about who they support as a presidential candidate. This books shows how we need similar critical analysis of Obama, and a comparative analysis of Bernie vs Biden.
“Yesterday’s Man” is an easy read, though it’s not an enjoyable read. I’m even more disgusted after reading it about Biden as the Democratic candidate, and it pisses me off that he’s the alternative to the current gangster president. Whether Biden wins or loses, voters will find that they chose the wrong fucking candidate for office.
June 11, 2020
This is a lot of propaganda, most of it well-researched, but very clearly propaganda rather than a balanced review of total facts.
Take it with a grain of salt and feel free to conduct your own research alongside. It doesn’t lie or misrepresent, it simply leaves some things out and paints a very one sided picture that is clearly anti-Biden, pro-Sanders, and pro-Warren. Nothing terribly wrong with that of course, but it would be nice to at least have the author be honest about the nature of the work.
Take it with a grain of salt and feel free to conduct your own research alongside. It doesn’t lie or misrepresent, it simply leaves some things out and paints a very one sided picture that is clearly anti-Biden, pro-Sanders, and pro-Warren. Nothing terribly wrong with that of course, but it would be nice to at least have the author be honest about the nature of the work.
March 6, 2020
A must read... especially if you haven’t been paying attention to anything Biden has been doing these past few decades... I challenge you to pin him down—to call him a democrat is like saying a chameleon is always grey.
February 14, 2020
Wish it was longer but I do appreciate a tight little edit
Want to read
October 23, 2020
(Die Zeit, 20 October 2020)
I think I'll be back on this on the upcoming 3rd of November.
March 28, 2020
well folks, he rly does suck as much as we thought
March 7, 2021
fuck joe biden
December 6, 2020
A very obviously partisan portrait of the 46th President of the US, written immediately prior to his victory in the Democratic primaries. Marcetic has a thread running through the book that clearly casts Sanders as the true heart of American leftwing politics, whereas Biden is shown to frequently be a Conservative-leaning opportunist, who uses bipartisanship as a faux badge of integrity.
The book is very good on sketching out Biden's years of political networking, making him a powerful figure in the US Senate throughout the 1980s and the Clinton years. Time and again Marcetic, shows us a man who says one thing to his Democratic political base, but then frequently tacks toward the neoliberal right, where a large proportion of his corporate-funding can be found. Ultimately, Marcetic may too neatly overstate Biden's opportunism, but it is undeniable that in electing Biden, the US electorate are very much resetting to the neoliberal disillusionment of the early 2010s, with all the eventual disappointments that will bring.
Yesterday's Man is here to stay, for the time being, until the next Yesterday Man yoyos back toward power. Rather than a new beginning for the US this may be the beginning of the end.
The book is very good on sketching out Biden's years of political networking, making him a powerful figure in the US Senate throughout the 1980s and the Clinton years. Time and again Marcetic, shows us a man who says one thing to his Democratic political base, but then frequently tacks toward the neoliberal right, where a large proportion of his corporate-funding can be found. Ultimately, Marcetic may too neatly overstate Biden's opportunism, but it is undeniable that in electing Biden, the US electorate are very much resetting to the neoliberal disillusionment of the early 2010s, with all the eventual disappointments that will bring.
Yesterday's Man is here to stay, for the time being, until the next Yesterday Man yoyos back toward power. Rather than a new beginning for the US this may be the beginning of the end.
August 14, 2025
This obvious smear job has a lot of citations but they often don't support the text. (In the Kindle version, some of the notes appear to be mixed up.) The author has a habit of writing several pages and then dropping one note of citations to supposedly cover everything. Again and again, doing the work of checking those sources showed key claims were not supported.
The desperation to vilify Biden is such that the same events are categorized in different ways to score points. Biden's reelection in 1990 is described in one chapter as a close call that made Biden take actions out of fear for his future and in another chapter as an easy triumph that made Biden cocky and act out of arrogance.
Those seeking reasons to dislike Biden will find them - especially if they do not dig deep. That Bernie Sanders is repeatedly referenced as a miracle worker who will save us all in contexts that have nothing to do with Biden tells all about the intent of this book. It is unsolicited campaign propaganda.
The desperation to vilify Biden is such that the same events are categorized in different ways to score points. Biden's reelection in 1990 is described in one chapter as a close call that made Biden take actions out of fear for his future and in another chapter as an easy triumph that made Biden cocky and act out of arrogance.
Those seeking reasons to dislike Biden will find them - especially if they do not dig deep. That Bernie Sanders is repeatedly referenced as a miracle worker who will save us all in contexts that have nothing to do with Biden tells all about the intent of this book. It is unsolicited campaign propaganda.
June 18, 2020
The remarkable thing about Biden, one learns from reading this bleak book, is how unremarkable he is. During a depressingly long and powerful political career he has somehow managed to have been on the wrong side of almost every issue and the few times he hasn't, he mostly recanted soon thereafter. Whether it is his despicable senile carcass overseeing the American Empire come 2021, or his more cartoonish Republican opponent, it will be a fitting end to this horrendous superpower.
May 3, 2020
Fuck Joe
July 25, 2020
More like "Yesterday's Book," am I right? Here's a brief, fairly thorough - and honestly, plenty fair - look at Joe Biden's career as a six-term senator and eight-year vice president. That subtitle absolutely pertains to the Democratic Primaries and not to the general election, making this at least the third instantaneously dated "new release" I've read this year. As a Bernie backer (cards on the table here), I promise, I didn't read this in July of 2020 looking for more conversational ammunition against old Joe - that ship sailed back in March and I'm rooting for the guy in November - as much as I read it as a general scrutiny of the neoliberal takeover of the Democratic Party in the '80s and '90s. As a character study, this doesn't even paint Joe Biden in a negative light! Just as an affable, generally well-meaning doofus as responsible as any one man can be for his party's decades-running rightward shift. Anyway, my time's up. I'm sorry.
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January 13, 2025My reading resolution for this year is to DNF more often; nothing in this book made me want to stick with it, so I didn't. Stylistically, it's dense — I checked out this book because I enjoyed the author's shorter pieces, and indeed the writing would work best for an essay. It's also heavily partisan, which in a way where the book feels less like it's conducting an argument and more like a litany of a (somewhat cherry-picked) negative record. I wasn't expecting neutrality but I was expecting a better-crafted case.
DNF.
DNF.
April 10, 2020
“Whether it was saying that “you cannot go into a Dunkin’ Donuts or 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent,” describing Obama as “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean,” or repeatedly invoking Delaware’s history as a “slave state” to make the case for his appeal to Southern voters—Delaware had only fought for the Union “because we couldn’t figure out how to get to the South,”
One of the many passages that stood out. I wanted a better understanding of the difference between 70’s Biden and the Biden today and also a closer examination of how his policies shaped the country during his vice presidency. The strongest part of this book’s investigation is at the beginning of Biden’s career. And although that certainly makes the case of Biden as yesterday’s man, I wanted more reasons why that argument resonants for Biden today.
One of the many passages that stood out. I wanted a better understanding of the difference between 70’s Biden and the Biden today and also a closer examination of how his policies shaped the country during his vice presidency. The strongest part of this book’s investigation is at the beginning of Biden’s career. And although that certainly makes the case of Biden as yesterday’s man, I wanted more reasons why that argument resonants for Biden today.
April 9, 2020
This book is an incredibly well researched study of Joe Biden’s political career. It shows how Biden helped shaping the Democratic Party to become the neoliberal mess it is today. It also shows how Biden’s opportunism has helped Republicans, from the war on drugs and the war on terror to filling the Supreme Court with conservative justices. By now, we know that Biden will be the democratic candidate to fight Trump in November 2020. Although I hope that he beats Trump, what will it mean to have yet another neoliberal Democrat as president alienating voters of the working class and members of marginalized and oppressed groups?
June 15, 2021
A detailed record of Biden's various flip-flops over a long and mediocre career, but also a thinly-veiled propaganda vehicle for Sanders that finds ways to mention him throughout the narrative. Essential reading as campaign 2020 unfolds, and ends right around the time of the SC primary with a reference to how that primary was moved up in the schedule to blunt the momentum of Jesse Jackson back in the 80s.
August 18, 2020
Biden a teetotaler who told a girl he would drop her for smoking? Hello? His first wife was drunk who killed his "little girl" (whose name was Naomi not Amy -- that's his living daughter with Jill) and herself...his sons are drug addicts. give me a break. Poorly researched. I don't know what his point is but this is sheer garbage.
November 15, 2020
Readable and punchy but nothing you couldn’t get from a google search and a basic piece of anti Biden writing for the sole use of getting Bernie the nomination in 2020 which did not work leaving the book redundant now.
May 4, 2020
I am unable to express my true feelings about this book without being put on a CIA watchlist.
February 24, 2021
There are maybe only a handful of people more responsible for the miserable state we're in today than Joe Biden, and a lot of them are dead. At least he's not Trump though!
March 21, 2021
Decent read. Shows how Biden is just another centrist corporate loving friend of the system. He's got some good qualities, but is not lefty
April 11, 2020
3.75
A much needed piecing together of Joe Biden's political career so far. Marcetic smartly manages to cover key political issues (and his related flip-floppery and whoopsies) whilst giving a relatively linear timeline of Biden's time in the Senate, past campaigns for the Presidency and ascendancy into the Vice Presidency.
What I was most surprised about was the ground given to a toxic, inflammatory and obstructionist GOP in the Obama years; something which did not get much attention at the time, never mind during the 2020 Democratic primaries.
My major criticism is the way in which Bernie Sanders (and occasionally Elizabeth Warren) is conjured up by the Verso books/Jacobin-affiliated author and placed into the narrative as a stark contrast to Biden's own actions. I see the need to do this in the book, particularly with the naked agenda of the author, but the way this is clumsily worked in (or not worked in, in most cases) places this at the level of a well-written and researched hit job rather than a work considering a wider political landscape.
Sadly, at the time of reading - and writing this review - it's already too late.
A much needed piecing together of Joe Biden's political career so far. Marcetic smartly manages to cover key political issues (and his related flip-floppery and whoopsies) whilst giving a relatively linear timeline of Biden's time in the Senate, past campaigns for the Presidency and ascendancy into the Vice Presidency.
What I was most surprised about was the ground given to a toxic, inflammatory and obstructionist GOP in the Obama years; something which did not get much attention at the time, never mind during the 2020 Democratic primaries.
My major criticism is the way in which Bernie Sanders (and occasionally Elizabeth Warren) is conjured up by the Verso books/Jacobin-affiliated author and placed into the narrative as a stark contrast to Biden's own actions. I see the need to do this in the book, particularly with the naked agenda of the author, but the way this is clumsily worked in (or not worked in, in most cases) places this at the level of a well-written and researched hit job rather than a work considering a wider political landscape.
Sadly, at the time of reading - and writing this review - it's already too late.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 30, 2025The author summarizes Biden's domestic https://jacobin.com/2025/01/biden-dom...
and foreign-policy disasters: https://jacobin.com/2025/01/joe-biden...
Biden gave us genocide in Gaza, refusal to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war--preferring endless war bucks spent and Ukrainian lives lost. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukr... Biden didn't bother to pretend to care that inflation was eroding our standard of living. Biden is why we got Trump again--now worse than ever.
and foreign-policy disasters: https://jacobin.com/2025/01/joe-biden...
Biden gave us genocide in Gaza, refusal to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war--preferring endless war bucks spent and Ukrainian lives lost. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukr... Biden didn't bother to pretend to care that inflation was eroding our standard of living. Biden is why we got Trump again--now worse than ever.
January 27, 2025
Very well written and accessible . Incredibly important read to understand the longer timeline leading up to both Trump elections, how the dems could’ve have counteracted it and how **should** look to adapt in the future.
August 14, 2020
Important book if you want to know why people don't like joe biden.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews