Politics and Stuttering Mix Well: Vice President Biden Part of Distinguished Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jane Fraser
info@stutteringhelp.org

alt text MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Stuttering hasn’t kept men and women out of politics. Take Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden is one of many leaders from all backgrounds and political parties who has dealt effectively with stuttering. Others include Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf, former Alaska Gov. Bill Sheffield, Prince Albert of Monaco, and even King George VI.

Nowadays Biden is known as a loquacious orator. But that wasn’t always the case. As a child, Biden stuttered and was teased by his classmates and even by some of his teachers. But that didn’t stop him. Using techniques like those outlined in Self-Therapy for the Stutterer, he practiced reading aloud in front of a mirror and worked hard to overcome this distressing disorder.

“Joe Biden’s success has helped to dispel some of the myths that still surround stuttering,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. “He and others serve as an inspiration to the 3 million Americans who struggle with this disorder.”

Biden is included on the Stuttering Foundation list of Famous People Who Stutter.

The Stuttering Foundation is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization helping those who stutter and their families. Web sites,www.stutteringhelp.org and www.tartamudez.org, offer free resources and streaming videos. Call 800-992-9392 for more information.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Alan Rabinowitz

Alan Rabinowitz, Ph.D., who passed away in 2018, was an explorer, wildlife conservationist, and author. He established the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve in northern Myanmar, which is about the size of the state of Vermont.

His love for animals began when he was very young.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.