Joe Biden won’t seek presidential nomination in 2016

In remarks made in the Rose Garden at the White House on Oct. 21, Vice President Joe Biden said he would not seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.

A movement had been underway to “draft” Biden into the race for the nomination, which currently includes Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee.

The following are Biden’s remarks at the news conference:

As the family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said all along what I’ve said time and again to others: that it may very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president. That it might close.

I’ve concluded it has closed. I know from previous experience that there’s no timetable for this process. The process doesn’t respect or much care about things like filing deadlines or debates and primaries and caucuses.

But I also know that I could do this if the — I couldn’t do this if the family wasn’t ready. The good news is the family has reached that point, but as I’ve said many times, my family has suffered loss … and I hope there would come a time … that, sooner rather than later, when you think of your loved one, it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes. 

Well, that’s where the Bidens are today. Thank god. Beau — Beau is our inspiration. 

Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. But 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. And this is what I believe. 

I believe that President Obama has led this nation from crisis to recovery and we’re now on the cusp of resurgence. I’m proud to have played a part in that. This party, our nation, will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the Obama legacy. 

The American people have worked too hard, and we have have come too far for that. Democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record. They should run on the record.