Now that the curtain has come down on Joe Biden’s long political career, we can finally take a hard look at what, exactly, he leaves behind. No more excuses. No more spin. The verdict isn’t catastrophic – but it isn’t redemptive either.

The denouement of Joe Biden is unbearably sad. The Irishman who could spend 45 minutes answering one question lost his gift of gab. The father who saw two of his children die and two spin into addiction wilted under the ongoing stress, especially when Hunter Biden — “my only living son,” as Joe called him — got tangled in the legal system.

Former President Joe Biden and his family were preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of his son Beau’s passing from brain cancer on May 30. Two weeks before that solemn day, the elder Biden had been dealt a cancer diagnosis of his own.

Alex Thompson, co-author of the new Biden book, "Original Sin," talks with The D.C. Brief about his reporting on Biden's decline

Before his cancer diagnosis, Biden had been taking the train from Delaware to Washington, meeting with his post-presidential staff, allies and former Cabinet secretaries, accordin