Biden didn’t protest or fight in Vietnam. Now he’s making a crucial visit.

Joe Biden once explained his lack of interest in the Vietnam War protest movement — for many, the defining cause of his generation — with a simple answer.

“I wore sports coats. You’re looking at a middle-class guy,” Biden told reporters in 1987. “I am who I am. I’m not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts and — you know, that’s not me.”