Joe Biden
Joe Biden’s political career stretches from the Reagan era to his election to the office of President in 2020. He was Barack Obama’s Vice President and heir apparent when his son Beau died. Everything changed following that tragedy as Biden decided against running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in the 2016 election, a fateful decision the consequences of which he could never have imagined.
Beau Biden
Beau Biden was the eldest son of Joe from his first marriage. Joe Biden’s personal life has suffered unspeakable tragedy as first he lost that wife and his baby daughter in a car accident and then in 2015 watched his son Beau succumb to brain cancer when he was just 46 years old.
Barack Obama
Biden had been in the U.S. Senate since 1973 when he launched his campaign for President in the 2008 election to succeed the outgoing George W. Bush. Thanks to Bush’s spectacularly low approval numbers, the fall campaign itself almost seemed superfluous; it appeared that whoever won the Democratic primary fight was going to be the next President. Biden’s campaign sputtered quickly as he lost ground to two other candidates who between had not been in the Senate as long as Biden. One of them would eventually go on to the nomination and become President. Barack Obama chose former competitor Biden to be his running mate and the two served alongside each for eight years.
Hillary Clinton
That other Senator was former First Lady Hillary Clinton. As the 2016 election approached, the biggest question was who would be the natural front-runner to replace Obama at the head of the ticket. History suggested that person would be his Vice President, not his former Secretary of State. Clinton had left that distinguished post in 2013, affording her a head start in openly laying the groundwork for another Presidential run that Biden could not match while still in office as VP. The cruel hand of fate made the looming showdown moot as Biden chose not to run again in the midst of his grief for his son. The rest is, as they say, history.
