still had the edge. >> i think i have a real firewall in south carolina. >> reporter: but now? biden's career facing a make or break test in the the place where the bonds are deeper than politics. south carolina has been a biden destination for years, especially in 2015 as a family in mourning. >> when we lost our son beau, we came to south carolina to to the low country to find a sense of peace. you helped us heal. >> reporter: one week before he kicked off his third presidential campaign, biden recalled how one of the state's icons helped launch a 29-year-old on his first run for senate. >> i thought if this powerful senator thought i could be a senator, maybe i really can do this. maybe i really have a shot. >> reporter: in washington biden also formed a bond with south carolina's other senator, a former dixie democrat turned republican, offering the jewel you'll ji in 2003. >> strom and i shared a life in the senate for 30 years. i tried to understand him. i learned from him. and...