By: Ann Wang
Vice President Joe Biden ended the speculation about his political future the afternoon of last Wednesday in an arranged speech in the White House Rose Garden, announcing that he will not run for president in 2016. With his wife, Jill, and President Obama at his side, Biden stated that the window for a successful campaign “has closed.” In May, his son, Beau, died of brain cancer, devastating the vice president and his family.
“As the family and I have worked through the grieving process, I have said all along and time again what I have said to others; that the process by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president. That it might close. I have concluded it has closed,” Biden said.
Speculation about his political future began after a report in August by The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd that Biden’s late son Beau had encouraged his father to run for president in 2016 prior to his death. Biden has said that the biggest factor in his decision-making process had been whether he and his family had the “emotional” energy for the undertaking following Beau’s death and told Stephen Colbert in an interview in early September that he would “be lying” if he said he was ready to commit the “110 percent” to campaign at that time.
Although Biden will not pursue the White House, he said he intends to continue to use his position as vice president to influence the course of the country and seal the president’s legacy. “While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.”
Trump thanked Biden for not running, tweeting, “Joe, thanks for not running!” and “I think Joe Biden made correct decision for him & his family. Personally, I would rather run against Hillary because her record is so bad.”
Clinton, however, had only praise for Biden, describing him in a Tweet as “a good friend and a great man. Today and always, inspired by his optimism and commitment to change the world for the better,” she wrote. She signed the Tweet “–H” denoting that she, and not a campaign aide, composed the message.
On another hand, Sanders said in a statement that Biden had made a decision that he feels “is best for himself, his family and the country. I thank the vice president for a lifetime of public service and for all that he has done for our nation.”
“We are so grateful for the gigantic outpouring of support from hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country in our effort to encourage the Vice President to run,” Executive Director Will Pierce said. “While the Vice President has decided not to run, we know that over the next year he will stand up for all Americans and articulate a vision for America’s future that will leave no one behind.”
In Biden’s speech, he talked about fighting for college education, child care and immigration and promoted “an absolute national commitment to end cancer as we know it today.”
