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FROM 1987: BIDEN WITHDRAWS BID FOR PRESIDENT IN WAKE OF FUROR

FROM 1987: BIDEN WITHDRAWS BID FOR PRESIDENT IN WAKE OF FUROR
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September 24, 1987, Section A, Page 1Buy Reprints
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Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., declaring that his candidacy had been overwhelmed by ''the exaggerated shadow'' of his mistakes, dropped out of the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination today.

The 44-year-old legislator from Delaware betrayed little bitterness but some sadness as he stood behind a forest of microphones at a crowded news conference. In sharp contrast with former Senator Gary Hart, who withdrew from the Democratic contest in a blur of invective against the news media, Mr. Biden chose to swallow most of his private anger and place the burden for the end of his candidacy on himself.

''I made some mistakes,'' said Mr. Biden, who has faced 10 days of news reports on his lifting of sections from the speeches of others and on his record in college and law school. Role in Bork Hearings Stressed

Mr. Biden cast his departure as a choice between salvaging his candidacy or fulfilling his responsibility as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the hearings on Judge Robert H. Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court. Mr. Biden said he felt his first responsibility was ''to keep the Supreme Court from moving in a direction that I believe to be truly harmful.''

''I intend to be deeply involved in that battle,'' he said. ''I intend to attempt to bring it to victory.''

Mr. Biden made clear today that he thought another Presidential campaign might lie ahead of him.

The impact of Mr. Biden's withdrawal on the Democratic contest was unclear, in part because he had not achieved any broad national recognition until the Bork hearings and the recent disclosures about his speeches and his law school record.

But Senator Biden had built a formidable corps of fund-raisers whom other candidates may seek to enlist. After Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, he was the best-financed Democratic candidate in the field. Ted Kaufman, Mr. Biden's finance director, estimated today that the campaign had raised $3.7 million. Bitter Note Is Sounded

Today, Mr. Biden joined Mr. Hart in questioning the system of electing Presidents that drove both of them from the contest before a single ballot was cast.

''Although it's awfully clear to me what choice I have to make, I have to tell you honestly, I do it with incredible reluctance, and it makes me angry,'' said Mr. Biden as his wife, Jill, stood at his side, her face a study in dejection.

''I'm angry at myself for having been put in the position - put myself in the position - of having to make this choice,'' Mr. Biden said in a firm, clear voice. ''And I am no less frustrated for the environment of Presidential politics that makes it so difficult to let the American people measure the whole Joe Biden and not just misstatements I have made.'' 'Shadow' of Mistakes

Mr. Biden said that ''the exaggerated shadow'' of his mistakes had ''begun to obscure the essence of my candidacy and the essence of Joe Biden.''

Reflecting the immediate priority of the remaining Presidential contenders in winning over some of Mr. Biden's financial backers, Ann F. Lewis, a Democratic consultant, said that over the coming weeks, ''members of the Biden finance committee are going to be the most popular people in town.''

Mr. Biden stood at about 10 percent in public opinion polls in Iowa, where the first key nomination test will take place. According to a survey by The Des Moines Register, Mr. Biden's supporters were likely to disperse widely among the remaining Democratic Presidential candidates.

When Mr. Biden's supporters were allocated to the remaining candidates on the basis of their second choices, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri led in Iowa with 21 percent, followed by Mr. Dukakis with 16 percent, Senator Paul Simon of Illinois with 13 percent and the Rev. Jesse Jackson with 11 percent. Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona, had 9 percent, Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado had 6 percent and Senator Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee had 2 percent.

The Register's findings were based on a re-analysis of a survey of 316 likely Democratic caucus participants conducted in the third and fourth weeks of August. Joins Hart as Casualty

Mr. Biden was the second candidate, after Mr. Hart, to be knocked out of the contest by a quick succession of revelations in the press. And he was among the first to suffer from the spread of video-technology, which can make even the most intimate living-room campaign gathering into a national political event.

Mr. Biden's troubles began with the revelation in The New York Times and The Des Moines Register that he had used, without attribution, long portions of a moving address by the British Labor Party leader, Neil Kinnock. Later, it emerged that he had also used passages from the speeches of Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey.

Then, it was revealed that Mr. Biden had been disciplined as a first-year law student for using portions of a law review article in a paper without proper attribution. Mr. Biden tried to put the charges behind him by admitting to mistakes at a news conference, but he was hit again by a Newsweek magazine report on a videotape of an appearance in New Hampshire in which he misstated several facts about his academic career.

The events unfolded just at the moment when Mr. Biden had hoped to make a favorable national impression in the hearings on Judge Bork. Instead, his national image was deeply tarnished. A New York Times/CBS News Poll of 838 adults conducted on Monday and Tuesday found that Mr. Biden was viewed favorably by 3 percent of Americans, unfavorably by 16 percent. Ironic Development

The irony for Mr. Biden is that his handling of the Bork hearings were in fact winning him something he had never achieved in the past: broad respect from Washington's professionals.

''I'll be careful to credit Hemingway,'' said Ms. Lewis, ''but the phrase for what Biden has done in the last few days is 'grace under pressure.' ''

According to his aides, Mr. Biden made the final decision to withdraw from the Presidential campaign at 1:15 A.M. today.

After Tuesday's hearings on Judge Bork ended, Mr. Biden took the train to his home in Wilmington, Del., for dinner with his family. At the table to discuss his decision were his wife and two sons, Beau and Hunter, along with his sister and campaign manager, Valerie Biden Owens, and his mother.

After dinner, the discussion was expanded to include six aides who analyzed Mr. Biden's prospects with him.

By removing himself from the Presidential contest on a conciliatory note, Mr. Biden believed he had begun the task of reestablishing himself as ''a classy, strong man who definitely has a future in American politics,'' said Thomas E. Donilon, a key adviser.

''There will be other Presidential campaigns, and I'll be there, out front,'' Mr. Biden said. Only once did Mr. Biden even let a suggestion of real bitterness enter his address.

''I appreciate your consideration,'' he told the reporters. ''I appreciate your being here. And lest I say something that might be somewhat sarcastic, I should go to the Bork hearings.''

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: FROM 1987: BIDEN WITHDRAWS BID FOR PRESIDENT IN WAKE OF FUROR. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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