“But all kidding aside, the best line of the debate was after it’s all over, the announcer, the questioner — who was a good guy, but supported my opponent, who was a good man as well, I might add — and he said, ‘Sen. Boggs, is there anything else you want to say?’ And he said, ‘Yes, just one thing.’ And he took the microphone. He said, ‘You know, Joe, if you accepted my commission to the — my appointment to the academy,’ he said, ‘you’d still have one year and three months’ active duty and I’d have no problems right now,’” Biden added.
Biden’s autobiography does not include any story about being appointed to the Naval Academy, and given the U.S. military’s involvement in the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s, Biden would likely have deployed with the Navy upon graduation.
Instead, Biden received five student draft deferments while attending the University of Delaware, as well as three years while studying at Syracuse University College of Law, a USA Today fact check confirmed.
Upon graduating law school in 1968, Biden was reportedly judged as being unable to serve in the military due to childhood asthma. Notably, his autobiography also fails to mention the affliction when recounting his time as a football player or his work as a lifeguard.
Additionally, asthma is not mentioned in a report released by Biden’s doctor late last year.
