The 2012 Re-Election and Work as Vice President
President Obama granted Biden significant authority over both domestic and foreign policy. He oversaw both the administration’s Iraq War policy and its domestic infrastructure agenda.
When Republicans gained control of Congress, Biden’s bipartisan relationships with Senators proved invaluable as he led negotiations on fiscal policy with then-Speaker John Boehner and Leader Mitch McConnell.
After Obama’s re-election in 2012, Biden was expected to run for president again in 2016. However, after tragically losing his son Beau to brain cancer, Biden declined to run.
Hillary Clinton would ultimately go on to win the Democratic nomination but lose to Republican candidate Donald Trump. Just days before the end of his vice presidency, Obama awarded Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom in an emotional ceremony. (Tom Pennington, iStock)