Beau Biden in 2008
Branden Brooks was a shy 8th grader with a stutter when his class visited the White House twenty years ago. He bravely put up his hand to ask Senator (before he was Vice-President) Joe Biden a question during a Q&A session. Biden stuttered in his youth, and approached Branden afterwards to give him some words of support, and later sent him a personal letter. Today Branden is a practicing lawyer, and in 2008 was sworn in by no other than Joe Biden's son Beau, who tragically died of brain cancer this year. Branden says that Joe Biden's words and letter always inspired him. Read more about this story here.