Joe Biden didn’t run for president because he ‘couldn’t win’
Vice President Joe Biden says he wanted to run for president but realized he “couldn’t win.”
“I’ll be very blunt,” Biden said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a joint interview with his wife, Jill — their first sit-down since he declared he would not mount a bid for the Democratic nomination. “If I thought we could’ve put together the campaign that our supporters deserve and our contributors deserved … I would have gone ahead and done it.”
Biden said the constant speculation about his possible bid took a toll.
“Serious press people would say, ‘Well, we have on good authority from a very close friend of Joe Biden’s that he’s going to announce tomorrow,’ or, ‘We have on good authority that he’s not going to run,’” the vice president recalled. “And that used to drive me crazy. And so part of it was, I’d get up some mornings and say, ‘Let’s just end this thing, man … I don’t want to keep getting buffeted like this.’”
He also said that a deathbed conversation he had with his son Beau — who died from brain cancer in May — was not the "Hollywood moment” it was reported to be.
“Nothing like that ever, ever happened,” Biden said. “Beau, from the time he was in his 30s — or actually his late 20s — was my, he and Hunter [Biden’s other son] were one of my two most reliable advisers. And Beau all along thought that I should run and I could win. But there was not what was sort of made out as kind of this Hollywood-esque thing that at the last minute Beau grabbed my hand and said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to run, like, win one for the Gipper.’ It wasn’t anything like that.”
The vice president said he came close to deciding to run, but time spent with his granddaughter made him reconsider:
At one point, late summer, I thought, “Well, you know, I think we can do this.” And I’ll never forget my little granddaughter, we’re down by the swimming pool; mom says, “Time for dinner, everybody.” And everybody goes up, and she’s lying between my legs with her head on my … chest and turns around and puts her arms around me and starts sobbing and says, “Pop, I see Daddy all the time. I see Daddy all the time. Pop, you smell like Daddy. You’re not gonna leave me, are you, Pop?” Well, when that happens, you go, “I don’t know, man, how, you know, how could …” and so there are those kinds of ups and downs.
Biden also revealed the moment he told his family of his decision.
“I came home and Hunter, our son, was upstairs — with mom, with Jill — and I walked in and said, ‘You know, I just don’t think there’s time,’” Biden said. “I remember Jill just got up off the couch, gave me a big hug, and said, ‘I think you’re right.’”
But Jill Biden says she also felt disappointed.
“I think I was disappointed,” she said. “I mean, I thought Joe would be a great president. And you know I’ve seen his — in the 40 years we’ve been together — I’ve seen, you know, the strength of his character, his optimism, his hope. So I believed he would’ve been the best president.”
Vice President Joe Biden, with his wife, Jill, and President Obama, arrives at the Rose Garden to announce that he will not seek the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Biden also explained how he informed his boss, President Obama, of his decision not to try and succeed him.
“I called the president early in the morning, and he was in the gym working out,” Biden said. “And he took my call, and I said, ‘Mr. President, We decided. I’m not going to run.’ And he knew how close it was, what was going on. And I said, ‘I’m going to go out and announce it this morning or early afternoon.’ He said, ‘Joe, I’ll be proud to stand with you.’”
During his announcement in the Rose Garden, Biden said he didn’t think “we should look at Republicans as our enemies,” a comment many believed was a thinly veiled shot at Hillary Clinton, who during the first Democratic debate said the GOP was one of her enemies.
But Biden said his comment wasn’t aimed at her.
“That wasn’t directed at Hillary,” he said. “That was a reference to Washington. All of Washington.”
“I like Hillary,“ Biden added. “Hillary and I get along together. The only reason to run is because I still think I could do a better job than anybody else could do. That’s the only reason to run — not to run against Hillary.”
Biden admitted the Rose Garden speech sounded a little bit like a campaign platform, but not because he’s leaving the door open to a last-minute presidential bid.
“I do want to influence the Democratic Party,” he said. “I want to make no bones about that. I don’t want the party walking away from what Barack and I did.”
But the 72-year-old also said he’s done running for public office.
“I can do so much more, I believe,” Biden said, adding: “I hope I leave office in … as a respected figure who can convene people and bring people together.“
