| | | | |  | | By Alex Thompson, Jonathan Lemire and Max Tani | Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max WILMINGTON, Del. — Visitors here leave flowers and American flags, yes, but also momentos and emblems with a personal or even spiritual connection to the sacred grounds. There's the "I Voted Early" bracelet from New York City and an untouched letter, wrapped in plastic and addressed to "President Elect Biden and Dr. Biden." There's also a USA Olympics pin, a black squash ball and a "U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Chaplains" medal from the National Guard. In the seven years since BEAU BIDEN died at 46 of cancer, his tombstone in Wilmington has become a regular gathering place not only for President JOE BIDEN and his family, but also Beau's friends, former political staff, and the local community. With the array of decorations and tributes and old flowers regularly swapped with fresh ones, the site is a monument to a man that his father and many in his orbit still grieve. In recent months, festive holiday decorations remained standing: a Christmas angel statue imprinted with "Peace & Love," a St. Patrick's Day clover wreath, and some "happy birthday" confetti. There are always rosary beads and dozens of visitation stones.People also leave a lot of change — a tradition for servicemen. A penny for a visit; a nickel if they trained together at boot camp; a dime for people who served together in some capacity; and a quarter if the person was present when that veteran died, according to the Department of Military Affairs. There are many quarters. One has a tails side showing Washington crossing the Delaware. A newer addition to the site includes a coin with the presidential seal. And of course there's a dark blue rubber bracelet that asks: "WWBD," or "What Would Beau Do?"
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An angel figurine placed on Beau Biden's gravestone by a visitor | Alex Thompson | On Monday, Biden attended a 7 a.m. mass with family and close friends. He then walked to Beau's grave with JILL BIDEN, fresh pink flowers in hand. It was Memorial Day, but it also coincided with the seventh anniversary of Beau's death on May 30, 2015. "Days like this bring back, before your eyes, their smile and their laugh. And the last conversation you had, each of you know it. The hurt can be overwhelming," he said later that day at Arlington National Cemetery. "But for so many of you, as is with Jill and me, the hurt is wrapped around the knowledge that your loved one was part of something bigger — bigger than any of us." Biden has mentioned his son in at least 50 of his public remarks as president so far, according to a West Wing Playbook review of White House transcripts. He carries Beau's rosary beads every day, and he often wears a hat emblazoned with the logo of Beau's foundation. He checks in regularly with Beau's friends, former colleagues, and his widow. He often plays golf with his son's father-in-law. Beau's memory serves as a north star for the president, and he has told some of his closest confidants he often asks himself "What would Beau do?" as he thinks through a difficult moment. Often, he mourns the bright future that was taken away. He has said publicly and privately that Beau — who had announced a 2016 run for governor of Delaware in which he was highly favored — ought to be president right now. "[Beau] should be sitting in this chair," the president told MSNBC's LAWRENCE O'DONNELL last year.
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A "46" placed on Beau Biden's gravestone by a visitor | Alex Thompson | He's not alone. "He would have been the next governor and he would have been the next president, I'm sure of it," said CINDY LOOBY, a local resident who visited Beau's grave Monday. She came with her sister DEBBIE , who wore a "JOE 2020" t-shirt and said she used to babysit Beau. "History really changed. The history of the state, the country." They often stop by his grave to pay respects after visiting their parents who are buried nearby. "He never had a bad thing to say about anybody," Debbie said of Beau. "Just a strong man. Still hard to believe." Others in the community also take special care of the spot. JASON CASPER , who helps manage the cemetery, told us that he makes sure the graves for the Biden family members — which also include the president's daughter, NAOMI, and his first wife — are "tidy, edged and neat in appearance." "In the Catholic faith, caring for the dead is considered to be a Corporal Work of Mercy," said Casper, who attends the same Delaware church as Biden. "Joe cared enough about my son to help him at a time when he desperately needed encouragement. Helping care for the graves of Beau and Naomi is the very least that I can do for him." On Monday, the gravesite looked crisp and stately and old flowers had been discarded. It was a hot, cloudless day as various people came to visit the spot. Some stayed around a half hour — kneeling on the grass, pacing the area around the marker, and at least one left another visitation stone. Among the visitors was White House deputy staff secretary MICHAEL HOCHMAN, Beau's college roommate and one of his best friends, who declined to comment afterward. ALEX MACKLER, who managed Beau's 2010 re-election campaign for attorney general and worked for Biden when he was vice president, also came. He declined to comment but wore a dark blue bracelet that spoke for him. "WWBD," it read.
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Beau Biden's gravestone | Alex Thompson | TEXT US — Do you have memories of Beau to share for tomorrow's newsletter? We want to hear from you. And we'll keep you anonymous if you'd like. Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.
| | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | | With the White House Historical Association During which presidency was the Oval Office constructed? (Answer at the bottom.)
| | | THEM'S THE BREAKS: Met with one crisis after another since entering office, the president feels like "he just can't catch a break," NBC News' CAROL E. LEE, PETER NICHOLAS, KRISTEN WELKER and COURTNEY KUBE report. Citing interviews with nearly two dozen former and current White House and congressional officials, the team reports Biden's unhappiness with repeated "clean-up campaigns" by aides who rush to clarify comments he makes, feeling it undermines his authority. The White House, however, said that "no clarifications of the president's remarks are ever issued without his direct approval." But some connected to Biden do think some White House aides are patronizing in the way they issue such clarifications. A person in Bidenworld told West Wing Playbook, "What the hell are they doing 'cleaning up' comments that nearly everyone agrees with?! The man knows what he's doing, and clearly has a better sense of the people's pulse than some of his staff does." LUNCH DATE: In between meetings with top government officials and pop stars, Biden sat down for lunch earlier today with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS. Such a meeting normally wouldn't be seen as anything out of the ordinary, but the Harris-Biden lunches have become a topic of interest in recent weeks. Biden initially promised the vice president they would have lunch at least once a week, a callback to the weekly meetings he had with BARACK OBAMA when Biden was vice president. But the duo have not kept up the ritual. As Real Clear Politics noted, Biden has only had lunch with Harris two times before Monday's meeting. In the book "This Shall Not Pass," authors JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEX BURNS reported that the lunches reflected a gulf between the two leaders, and that they "lacked a real depth of personal and political intimacy."
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RM, center, accompanied by other K-pop supergroup BTS members from left, V, Jungkook, Jimin, Jin, J-Hope, and Suga. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo | BTS IN THE HOUSE: Ahead of their meeting with the president, K-pop boy band BTS spoke at today's White House press briefing in honor of the last day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. "We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending languages and cultural barriers," band member Jungkook said, according to a translator. "We believe music is always an amazing and wonderful unifier of all things." White House National Economic Council director BRIAN DEESE spoke after the group, opening with: "I get to go home and tell my kids that BTS opened for me." 'BLAXIT' IN THE WHITE HOUSE: The Biden White House is historically diverse, but our DANIEL LIPPMAN reports at least 21 Black staffers have left in recent months or are planning to leave soon, an exodus some Black aides have started to call "Blaxit." The White House called it "a normal time for turnover across the board" in any administration. "Black staff have been promoted at a higher rate than staff who are not diverse," White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said. The White House stressed that those who left did so on largely good terms. But, as Lippman reports, that's not universally the case and those who remain are worried about the lack of mentorship and promotion opportunities. BAZAAR TREATMENT: JILL BIDEN landed on the cover of Harper's Bazaar in a piece out this morning, the first time a first lady has appeared on its cover, according to the fashion magazine. In it, the first lady reveals she and Joe took to fighting over text messages when he was vice president, so as not to argue in front of Secret Service agents. It's a term she calls "fexting." The article's author, MATTIE KAHN, also put the first lady on this "Top 10 Best-Dressed Political Wives" list for Vanity Fair back in 2013.
| | | HENS IN THE FOXHOUSE: The White House is making a push to get right-leaning media to see the economy the way Biden views it. On Monday, it rolled out its economic team on Fox News to push back against negative headlines about the state of the American economy. Deese was on "America's Newsroom" to discuss inflation and Biden's meeting with Federal Reserve Board chair JEROME POWELL. Just a few hours later, senior Biden adviser GENE SPERLING, who helped roll out the American Rescue Plan, had a heated exchange with the hosts of "America Reports" over the administration's economic recovery efforts. And over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by the president in which he laid out his plan to bring down inflation. START BIKING?: From the Washington Post today: "Fuel prices set a new record Tuesday after the European Union agreed to a partial ban on Russian oil, the bloc's most significant economic move yet to punish Moscow for the unprovoked invasion. The U.S. average for a gallon of gasoline now stands at $4.62, according to AAA; that's 52 percent higher than last year and an inflationary pressure point that can choke consumer spending and flatten economic growth."
| | | Guided U.S. Rockets Could Double Ukraine's Strike Range (WSJ's Michael Gordon and Nancy Youssef) FTC's Antitrust Probe of Amazon Picks Up Speed Under New Boss (Bloomberg's Leah Nylen) Russian Military Is Repeating Mistakes in Eastern Ukraine, U.S. Says (NYT's Helene Cooper) Mazie Hirono Urges President Biden To Free Leonard Peltier (HuffPost's Jennifer Bendery)
| | | With the "Top Gun" sequel setting massive box office records, C-SPAN's HOWARD MORTMAN shared an old clip of then-Sen. Biden talking about the original film on the Senate floor in 1989 while future White House chief of staff RON KLAIN looks on.
| | | A jam packed day for the president. He received the president's daily brief in the morning and held a bilateral meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister JACINDA ARDERN in the Oval Office. He and Harris had lunch together. The president also held a meeting with Fed Chair Powell in the Oval Office, where the pair discussed inflation and the economy. He capped off his day meeting BTS.
| | | She also met with Ardern.
| | | When Domestic Policy Council Director SUSAN RICE worked for former President Barack Obama, she also served as an unofficial fashion consultant. When St. Patrick's Day came around, the president attended the morning briefing wearing a tie that was "teal blue with weird flecks in it," Rice said on "The Late Show with STEPHEN COLBERT" in 2019. Rice told the president the tie was not green, making it insufficient to wear for the holiday. Obama initially defended himself, but Rice got others in the meeting to back up her opinion that it was teal blue. "So he turns around, very annoyed, walks back upstairs to the residence, comes back down a few minutes later with a legitimately green tie," Rice said. The fashion advice didn't exactly hold though. The next year on St. Patrick's Day, Obama wore the same teal blue tie, she added. Can't win 'em all!
| | | In 1909, in the first few months of WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT's presidency, the first Oval Office space for the president was constructed in the building that would later be known as the West Wing. A CALL OUT — Think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein
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