Vice President Joe Biden has decided not to run for the White House in 2016, he announced Wednesday.
Biden announced the decision during a speech at the Rose Garden, with President Barack Obama by his side. “Unfortunately, I believe we're out of time,” he said, reports the Associated Press.
Biden, 72, had been considering running for the Oval Office for a third time, but ultimately decided not to. Many Democrats had been hoping that he would enter the race to provide a strong alternative to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Today’s news will likely be celebrated by the Clinton campaign, since it means she will have one less major opponent.
In May, Biden’s son Beau Biden died of brain cancer and the Vice President is still grieving over his loss. Still, as the New York Times points out, Biden was making obvious political moves in recent months, even appearing at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh. He even made an emotional appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Biden has been in politics since the 1970s and was first elected as Delaware Senator in 1973. He ran for the White House unsuccessfully in 1988 and 2008 and has been Obama’s Vice President for both of Obama’s terms. Biden’s decision not to run now effectively ends his long career in Washington.