[149] Biden responded that politicians often borrow from one another without giving credit, and that one of his rivals for the nomination, Jesse Jackson, had called him to point out that he (Jackson) had used the same material by Humphrey that Biden had used.[21][28]
A few days later, an incident in law school in which Biden drew text from a Fordham Law Review article with inadequate citations was publicized.[28] He was required to repeat the course and passed with high marks.[150] At Biden's request the Delaware Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility reviewed the incident and concluded that he had violated no rules.[151]
Biden has made several false or exaggerated claims about his early life: that he had earned three degrees in college, that he attended law school on a full scholarship, that he had graduated in the top half of his class,[152][153] and that he had marched in the civil rights movement.[154] The limited amount of other news about the presidential race amplified these disclosures[155] and on September 23, 1987, Biden withdrew his candidacy, saying it had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his past mistakes.