staffers were overlooked or excluded; clashes over policy decisions and Biden bloop- ers; the inherent cynicism of having chosen someone the team and the boss consid- ered fundamentally undistin- guished. Publicly, Biden was seen


as likable and productive, if easily mocked for his toothy exuberance, his unhip hustle. Despite cavernous differ-


ences in style and tempera- ment, Obama and Biden found common ground and mutual sympathy, growing closer over shared goals and family con- nections. When Beau Biden died in


2015, Obama’s speech at his funeral was intimate, sensi- tive, and heartfelt. But the Obama team


placed pragmatism over sen- timent. When the 2012 re- election approached, they se- cretly ran focus groups to test replacing Joe on the ticket with Hillary, who was serving as Obama’s secretary of state. While no one wished to hurt Biden’s feelings, his brittle ego was never an administra- tive priority. The betrayal was taken a


leap farther in 2016, when Obama, on the verge of com- pleting two terms in office, declined to promote Biden as the next-in-line Democrat nominee, even though the ba- ton historically was passed to the vice president. Obama thought Clin-


ton was the better choice — smarter, more capable of continuing his legacy, a stronger candidate, more


64 NEWSMAX | AUGUST 2024


likely to win, and more de- serving. Hillary, Obama be- lieved, had earned it. Obama dispatched his


top aides, David Plouffe and David Axelrod, to break the news to Joe: The consensus in the Oval Office was that Biden should not run for the White House in 2016. He should remove himself


from the race, clear the way for Hillary, and accept that Obama would support Clin- ton regardless of tradition. Biden was devastated. The perception that he


was not presidential material, a perception that was widely shared by his colleagues and his party, a perception that was whispered to him from the confines of his own soul, was crushing news. In the White House, in


Washington, in the nation at large, the opinion was the same: Joe Biden was lucky to have gotten as far as he had.


Third Time Lucky


In the fall of 2016, as he prepared to leave the White


O


nce again, that should have been the end of it.


OBAMA TO THE RESCUE The former president convinced rival Democrats to drop out of the 2020 race despite Joe Biden’s dismal run in the primaries, clearing the path for Biden to gain the nomination and, in a general election campaign impacted by COVID-19, win against Donald Trump.


House and his residence at the Naval Observatory, Biden was 74, and there were already signs that he was losing a step. The fire had left his eyes, his


focus was fading, his speech was jumbled. He was starting to truly look and act like a se- nior citizen. But then in November,


Clinton suffered her cataclys- mic loss to Trump. From the moment Trump


took office, Democrats were wild to regain the White House, and Biden was sure he was their best bet. This cycle, he felt, he would not be just an- other dim wannabe hovering on the periphery of the ballot, but the heir apparent. In April 2019, via a video an-


nouncement, Biden launched his third presidential bid. It quickly went the same way as his previous efforts in 1988 and 2008. Biden was a geriatric in a young person’s game, a


DEBATE/WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES / SEAN RAYFORD/GETTY IMAGES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100