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Biden Says He Will Not Run For President In 2016

Vice President Joe Biden, flanked by President Barack Obama and his wife Jill Biden, announces that he will not seek the presidency during a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House October 21, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Citing the death of his oldest child, Biden said he is closing the exploration process of mounting a campaign for the presidency. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Vice President Joe Biden, flanked by President Barack Obama and his wife Jill Biden, announces that he will not seek the presidency during a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House October 21, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Citing the death of his oldest child, Biden said he is closing the exploration process of mounting a campaign for the presidency. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Vice President Joe Biden says he won’t run for president in 2016.

His decision finalizes the Democratic Party’s field of White House candidates and sets Biden on a glide path toward the end of his decades-long political career.

Biden spent months deliberating with his family and political advisers about a potential late entry to the Democratic primary.

But he also said he might not be emotionally ready to run after his 46-year-old son Beau died of brain cancer in May.

Biden’s decision bolsters Hillary Rodham Clinton’s standing in the Democratic primary by sparing her a challenge from the popular vice president.

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