U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, 72, is not running for president in 2016. He said he was at the crossroads about whether to run or not, but now believes his decision is right for his grieving family.
Speaking on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, the vice president shared his decision. Biden lost his eldest son Beau to brain cancer in May, reported People.
Biden admitted there were times things seemed unclear. For instance, he shared a heartbreaking moment with Beau's daughter, Natalie, 11.
"At one point, late summer, I thought, 'Well, you know, I think we can do this.' 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?"
Joe Biden's followers were dismayed that he is not running for president in 2016. He made the announcement on Oct. 21 from the Rose Garden of the White House, with wife Dr. Jill. According to President Obama, Biden's family had reached a point where thinking of Beau "brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye."
Vice President Joe Biden had been weighing for months if he will run for president in 2016. Many wondered why it took him long to come up with a decision. "Because it took that long for us to decide as a family," Biden told CBS' Norah O'Donnell.
Biden put an end to a report that the dying Beau urged him to run for president. His son did hope he would run and believed he would win. However, that was not a scene when "Beau grabbed his hand and said: 'Dad, you've got to run, like, win one for the Gipper."
In August, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd detailed the efforts of Biden's son to persuade him to run, reported CNN.
Dowd wrote in her column, "Beau was losing his nouns and the right side of his face was partially paralyzed. But he had a mission: He tried to make his father promise to run, arguing that the White House should not revert to the Clintons and that the country would be better off with Biden values."
