At the dusk of both of their political careers, surrounded by teary friends and family, President Barack Obama on Thursday bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Joe Biden, the man he called “the finest Vice President we have ever seen.”
The Vice President winced in shock as Mr. Obama announced he was conferring the nation’s highest civil honour on his right-hand-man for eight years. Mr. Biden turned away from the cameras, wiped away some tears, then stood stoically as Mr. Obama draped the blue-and-white ribbon around his neck.
“I just hope that the asterisk in history that is attached to my name when they talk about this presidency is that I can say I was part of the journey of a remarkable man who did remarkable things for this country,” Mr. Biden said.
There were standing ovations, several of them at what was billed as a modest farewell ceremony for Mr. Biden but evolved into a surprise bestowal of the Medal of Freedom, the last time Mr. Obama will present the honour.
“I had no idea,” Mr. Biden said of the award, insisting he didn’t deserve it.
It was the only time Mr. Obama has presented the medal “with distinction,” also awarded only once by each of the previous three Presidents.
Mr. Obama, joined by his wife and daughters, was effusive in his praise of the man who ran against him in 2008, then agreed to be his running mate. He said Mr. Biden had made him a better President, calling him “a lion of American history.”
“To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard and to live life fully,” Mr. Obama said.
The famously plainspoken Mr. Biden has long said he only agreed to the job after Mr. Obama agreed he would be the last person in the room before major decisions were made. Over two terms, they developed a bond that both men said transcended the office, with their wives, children and Mr. Biden’s grandchildren becoming close friends.
They disagreed, too, on occasion, including when Mr. Biden advocated against the high stakes raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Mr. Biden’s tendency to veer off-script caused occasional headaches for the White House, such as when he unexpectedly announced support for gay marriage in advance of the 2012 re-election, forcing Mr. Obama to do the same soon after.
Yet as they gathered for a final goodbye, none of that seemed on either man’s mind.
Mr. Obama said there was “no turf wars between our staffs,” a departure from other recent administrations. And Mr. Biden told the story of how after his son Beau died in 2015, leaving behind a wife and children, Mr. Obama was distraught when Mr. Biden said he might sell his house to help support them, and offered to give them money instead.
It was a reunion for the many staffers and colleagues who worked with Mr. Biden over the years. Joining Mr. Biden’s wife, sister and children in the State Dining Room were former Sens. Chris Dodd and Ted Kaufman, former Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, and even Mr. Biden’s White House physician.
Mr. Obama traced the history of Mr. Biden’s nearly half-century-long political career, from chairing the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees to the “cancer moonshot” effort he started recently and plans to continue. Mr. Obama praised his Vice President for his work on the economic stimulus, middle class issues and curbing violence against women.
“I’ve not mentioned Amtrak yet, or aviators. ‘Literally,’” Mr. Obama said, invoking a few of the more famous “Bidenisms.”
Mr. Biden’s career in Washington started in 1972, steeped in tragedy when his wife and infant daughter died in a car crash just before he was to be sworn in as senator.
After exiting the national stage next week, he plans to stay active in Democratic politics and work on policy issues at a pair of institutes he’s developing at the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania.
“This also gives the Internet one last chance to talk about our bromance,” the President said.
