Joe Biden, The Man By Barack Obama’s Side
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
7/14/15 2:36 PM EDT
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
When President Barack Obama stood in front of a White House lectern to announce a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, Vice President Joe Biden was at his side. As he was the previous week, for Obama’s Rose Garden statements when the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare and the right to same-sex marriage. As he was when Obama signed a hard-fought bill on fast-track trade authority.
The partnership between Obama and his vice president has never been as visible as it has been in the last few weeks. One reason is that these have been big, defining moments of this administration, and Obama thinks of them as ones he achieved with Biden at his side, figuratively and increasingly, literally.
That’s especially true on foreign policy. Back when Obama was first running and being mocked as an inexperienced dreamer, putting Biden on the ticket gave him needed credibility. In the six and a half years since, Biden’s given him the advice and guidance that’s helped crystallize Obama’s theories and ideas into actual fact.
It’s Obama’s Iran deal, but the president’s signaling that it’s Biden’s too, just off to the side and slightly in the background, much like he was in the frame Tuesday at the White House.
Biden “frequently stands with the President for particularly important announcements,” a senior administration official said on Tuesday. “The Vice President has also worked on this issue for a long time, including in the Senate. He’s worked on issues related to Iran, Iran sanctions, for decades. And so given his foreign policy experience which focused on this issue and simply for the fact that this is a very significant moment for the administration, the President wanted the Vice President there standing by his side. I think it sends a message about how united our entire administration is in support of this course of action.”
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/joe-biden-obama-relationship-120103.html#ixzz3fv7adffb
= new reply since forum marked as read
