i'm chris matthews . after 36 years in the senate and another eight as vice president, could joe biden make another try tore the white house? in this "headliners" a revealing look at what makes joe run. >> could joe biden have defeated donald trump? >> oh, you don't know. >> this is the great what-if. >> i say to democrats and republicans and independents alike, don't sell this country short, folks. >> joe biden has spent a lifetime as a political power player. >> he just had encyclopedic

knowledge of foreign policy. >> one thing i know about joe biden, this is a guy i would take on a long patrol. >> he celebrated triumphs. >> i accept your nomination to run and serve with barack obama! >> weathered setbacks. >> you were on the verge of dying, weren't you? >> the hearings caused an incredible backlash. >> and endured devastating personal tragedies. >> we can always get another senator but they can't get another father. >> you cannot lose a child and three months later get on the campaign trail. >> this was a tough one. he said bo was his soul. >> he has stepped off the political stage but doesn't hold back when it comes to an unconventional president. >> i wish during high school i could take him behind the gym. >> joe feels viscerally this is a guy who talks about representing the people that joe grew up with and has no feel for them. >> does joe biden still have more history to make? >> do i regret not being president? yes.

♪ ♪ do you think you could go to your grave never having ran for president? >> oh, man, you're tough. >> you going to run for president? >> are you going to run? >> is there no scenario in which you could see yourself getting into this race? >> absolutely not? >> i'm not going to run for president. >> i don't know. >> the answer is a lot is at stake and i might. >> you look like you're going to run for president. are you? >> it is a question joe biden has been asked for decades. >> all of the time, particularly now, everyone says, "hi, valerie, is joe going to run?" >> with donald trump's electoral victory over hillary clinton in 2016, speculation about a biden 2020 run has only intensified. >> do i regret not being president? yes. i thought there was a need to

bring the country together. >> he would be a formidable opponent. he's got a good standing with the american people i think. people like joe biden. >> i would never count joe biden out. this man is the energizer bunny. he just does not quit. >> before hillary clinton became the front-runner, conventional wisdom predicted 2016 could be joe biden's year. but tragedy derailed his plans. >> con dodolences are pouring i for joe biden and his family after he announced his son lost his fight with brain cancer. >> bo did not want his illness to stand in the way of his dad's running. he wanted joe to run, but of course you can't do it. i mean you cannot lose a child and three months later say, oh, yeah, i'm going to get on the campaign trail. you just can't do it. >> bo hurt him really bad. whew, this was a tough one. he said bo was his soul.

>> five months after bo's death, biden formally announces he will not run for president. >> bo is our inspiration. unfortunately, i believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. but while i will not be a candidate i will not be silent. >> now a private citizen, biden has been openly critical of president trump. >> when the president of the united states stiff-arm and moved and then stood like this, that was the image of america, almost the image of the ugly american. it has such resonance. >> ah, i don't know what i said, ah. >> whether it was making fun of a reporter or denigrating women or saying things that would be hu hurtful, that's against everything joe biden stands for.

>> deep in his being, what he most can't stand to see is powerful people using their power over less powerful people. >> violence against women is a crime pure and sim phil mickelson. >> if you want to see joe biden emotional, it is going to be on that issue. >> what my parents hated were bullies. that was the lowest thing that you could be. >> you know, my father used to say the greatest abuse is the abuse of power, economic power, political power, physical power. >> the audio tapes surfacing late today in which trump is heard making crude and vulgar comments about women. >> before the 2016 election, donald trump's comments about groping women, particularly inflamed the vice president, who decades earlier championed the violence against women act. >> i have not wanted to get into, if you notice in the national press, talking about trump's behavior. but what he said he did and does

is a textbook definition of sexual assault. >> this was at a time as well that i know he was very active in getting out to our college campuses and talking about the prevention of sexual assaults. >> he said, "because i'm famous, because i'm a star, because i'm a billionaire, i can do things other people can't." what a disgusting assertion for anyone to make. the press always asks me don't i wish i were debating him. no, i wish during high school i could take him behind the gym, that's what i wish. >> that's joe. joe feels viscerally that this is a guy who talks about representing the people that joe

grew up with and has no feel for them and is using them and has a dismissive attitude towards them. so it wouldn't surprise me that he on behalf of the people of scranton, pennsylvania would want to take him behind the gym. >> biden is also willing to be candid about his own party. >> "the washington post" quoted the former vp as saying of hillary clinton, i never thought she was a great candidate. >> biden continued saying he did think she would be a good president. following her loss, pundits speculated what might have happened if biden had been the democratic candidate. >> this is the great what-if. i think the minute donald trump got elected every political observer in the country said, you know what, joe biden -- >> joe biden is thinking, if only. >> if only. i tell you, a lot of democrats are thinking that. >> the states that put trump over the top against hillary clinton, rust belt, it was michigan, it was pennsylvania. where is joe biden from? joe biden, from scranton, pennsylvania. do you think he could have won

the extra 70,000 votes? >> could joe biden have defeated donald trump? >> oh, i don't know. i'm not going to speculate on it. >> the rust belt? >> look, i -- >> your home territory. >> it's -- >> regrets? >> no, i just wasn't prepared to do it after i lost my son. i have no regret in the sense that did i make the wrong decision. i made the right decision, but do i regret that my point of view is not going to be reflected in the next administration because we have mr. trump? yeah, i do regret that. >> coming up -- >> november 7thth we were sitting on top of the world. december 18th our world had collapsed.

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who became delaware's favorite son. you were the first decision i made as a nominee, and it was the best. [ cheering and applause ]. >> joseph robinette biden jr. is born to a businessman and homemaker in scranton, pennsylvania on november 20, 1942. looking for better opportunities, his parents moved 10-year-old joe and his younger siblings, valerie, james and frank, to delaware. >> there was no sense of entitlement in my family. there was an imperative that we get an education. >> in high school biden is nicknamed "dash" because of a debilitating stutter. >> they had an all-star football team. everybody signed the winning football, and one guy put dash, dash, dash biden. it was because it was j-j-joe

biden. >> i was one of the few people exempted from public speaking class because i stuttered so badly. >> knowing what it felt like to be the object of someone's joke or disdain gave him an even greater ability to walk in somebody else's skin and to know how they felt. >> i am today announcing my candidacy -- >> in 1960 john f. kennedy runs for president and inspires 17-year-old biden to consider politics. >> i remember getting out the congressional digest where it lists the biographies of all of the senators and congressmen. everyone was either independently wealthy or a lawyer, and that's when i decided i wanted to go to law school. >> biden wins junior and senior class president, and by high school graduation he has overcome his stutter. >> one of the nuns i had used to tell me that the way to get it under control was to sort of get

a rhythm to the way you read and the way you spoke, and i memorized a great deal. >> biden begins college at the university of delaware and works as the only white life guard at an all-black pool. >> that was the beginning of his education about the black community. biden would walk the streets, be with folks, protest with folks, go around with us, joke with us like one of us. >> biden goes to syracuse law school in 1965 and marries nelia hunter a year later. when he graduates, biden begins practicing law in delaware. with two sons, bo and hunter, in 1970 biden runs for the newcastle county council. >> he was going for it and so i knew i was going for it with him. >> biden wins the county council seat. two years later after having a third child, naomi, he runs for his seat in the u.s. senate. >> i was his campaign manager.

my brother, jimmy biden, was the fundraiser. my brother frankie biden was the volunteer coordinator, my mom was the coffee chair. >> biden's opponent is veteran republican senator caleb boggs who has run undefeated for 25 years. >> nobody took us seriously. the press called us "the children's crusade." >> i'll tell you how bad it was. on labor day we had a serious poll come in, boggs 47, biden 19. >> just two months later in one of the biggest upsets in senate history, 29-year-old biden defeat 63-year-old caleb boggs. >> they announced he won, i thought to myself, i will never, ever believe again that something is impossible. >> biden is one of the youngest senators ever elected. just after election day he turns 30, and in december heads to washington. nelia and the children stay home to prepare for christmas.

>> i was with my brother and we were hiring staff. jimmy biden called and said, come home. i said, we have to go. and we both, we went home. >> after buying a christmas treat, nelia and the children are in a car accident. in an instant everything changes. >> the two boys were in the back seat of the car and the new baby was in the front seat of the car, and she was hit by a hay truck. >> uh-huh. it was, unfortunately, the most graphic demonstration in the world for me as to how little control one has over their lives and their destiny, how much a roll fate plays and how

vulnerable we all are. >> nelia and the baby had been killed and bo and hunt were in the hospital seriously injured. >> with both sons in the hospital, biden decides to give up his new senate seat. >> i had six or seven senior senators, including republicans, who said, "joe, come down." in retrospect, they saved my sanity. >> one of the senators said, "nelia and the boys and you worked too hard for this, you have to give it a shot." that one got him. >> biden is sworn in next to his son's hospital beds. >> congratulations, senator. >> thank you. if in six months or so there's a conflict between my being a good father and being a good senator, we can always get another senator but they can't get another father. >> the boys kept him going and he kept going by trying to be a united states senator. >> it sounds like an urban myth, but i mean every single day he

would take the train back to delaware so that he could read stories to his boys and tuck them in. >> the hour-and-a-half commute each way earns him the nickname amtrak joe. >> our senate hearings sometimes do not begin until 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning. we had to sort of gauge our situation on the basis of joe's train. >> biden dives into his work but says the absence of nelia and naomi was like a companion that never left his side. >> my family held me in place from going over the edge until jill lifted me up and moved me on. >> an advertisement featuring model jill jacobs catches biden's eye at the wilmington airport. >> two nights later frank and jim and my sister val were all going out together for dinner with their dates, and my brother frank said, well, i got just the girl for you to meet. >> biden agrees to go, and his

date is the exact same girl from the photo. >> i was used to dating guys with jeans and bell bottoms and clogs. when i opened the door there he was in a dark suit and leather shoes, and i thought, "well, you know, this is only going to be one date." we went out on a date and he was really interesting. when he took me to the door to say good night, he shook my hand and i went upstairs and i called my mother and i said, "mom, i finally met a gentleman." >> the boys tell their dad, "you should marry jill." biden agrees and proposes but doesn't get the answer he wants on the first proposal. >> there were absolutely five, but the boys had lost their mother and their sister and i had to be 100% sure that it was going to last till death to us part. >> biden marries jill, who has launched a teaching career, and they have a daughter, ashley.

as joe's political star rises in washington, he sets his sights on the top seat. coming up -- >> you were on the verge of dying, weren't you? >> yeah. "headliners" is sponsored by mass mutual. recognizing the importance of relying on others. ♪ but there is another way to live. ♪ a way that sees the only path to fulfillment- is through others. ♪ anyone ever have occasional y! constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? she does. she does. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily

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♪ i announce my candidacy for president of the united states. >> after 14 years in the senate, 44-year-old joe biden runs for president in 1987. >> senator joseph biden of delaware has raised the most money. >> a lot of things start going right for him. he's giving speeches that are getting a lot of attention. he is known as one of his party's most effective, inspiring. >> as biden's campaign gains momentum, a controversial judge named robert bork is nominated to the supreme court. >> robert bork is a lightning rod nomination. he has all sorts of provocative writings on american social issues and democrats react with

terror. >> as chairman of the judiciary committee, biden will oversee the supreme court hearing while continuing his run for president. amid everything biden starts to get debilitating headaches but works through the pain. >> so the headaches started. it is not like he said, i got a terrible headache. you will just notice he is popping some aspirin. >> during his campaign, biden is inspired by a speech given by british labor part leader and begins referencing it on the trail. >> kneneil kennick was telling personal story about the dignity of working class life, about the potential of building something better for the next generation, about the role government can play in helping families like that, and so he did start making it kind of a staple of his message on the campaign trail. >> almost every major press person in the country had heard me repeatedly attribute that quotation to kennick. >> could be made of the time --

>> at the iowa state fair, democratic presidential candidates debate he again quotes kennick in his closing statement. >> why is it that joe biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? >> this time biden forgets to attribute the line to kennick and faces accusations of plagiarism. >> senator, can you clarify any of your comments -- >> it wouldn't have been a problem if he had acknowledged the source of it. >> plagiarism charges dog biden's campaign. >> i concluded that i will stop being a candidate can for president of the united states. >> the thing that was disqualifying back then are no longer disqualifying. >> immediately after ending his presidential campaign, biden walks down the hall and continues presiding over the bourque hearing. >> ted kennedy slips him a note and says, i've been there, there's life after this. that resonated with biden at that moment because kennedy had

been there. >> after an historic constitutional debate led by biden, the senate rejects bork's nomination. as biden presses forward in the senate his severe headaches continue. >> the headaches really got bad after when drew from the race. >> and in february of 1988 an aneurism ruptures in joe biden's brain. biden is rushed into emergency surgery. >> you were on the verge of dying, weren't you? >> yeah. >> what did you say to your children? >> in general terms i told them how much i believed in them and what i expected of them if i died. >> i think there's a reason for what happened, and i think that getting out of the race was, quite frankly, a god send. >> it was at that point that i made my peace with the campaign falling apart. in the long-run if he wants to be president i think it will make him a better president.

>> after lifesaving surgery biden returns to the senate. >> i mean he is a man who really has a lot of strength and fortitude. he just gets up. >> in 1990, troubled by data showing increasing crime against women, he introduces the violence against women act. >> the idea that someone could can abuse a woman and not face the full penalty of the law was just an anathem to him. >> it will act the first time the government will address violence against women but it dies in committee. >> when he introduced it, it was not a subject on the political radar. >> he reintroduces his act in 1991. again, it doesn't make it to the floor for a vote. later that year the issue of sexual harassment makes headlines when clarence thomas is nominated to the supreme court. again, biden will oversee the

nomination hearing. >> then joe biden's judiciary committee finds out that anita hill says that clarence thomas had sexually harassed her. >> anita hill is called before the judiciary committee. >> he spoke about acts he had seen and pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes. >> it was the first time that the issue of sexual harassment was being aired like this. >> thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess. >> biden is still pushing to get the violence against women act passed. however, he and the all-male panel are criticized for appearing unsympathetic to hill and for not calling other women with similar allegations to testify. >> in fact, he never did ask you to have sex, correct? >> in 1991 sexual harassment was not a common term. i don't think that they understood it from the point of view of victims of sexual

harassment. >> it just seems so incredible to me that you would not only have visited with him twice, i would think that these describes which you describe are so repugnant that you would never have talked to him again. >> nobody was covered with glory, not any of the members of the committee, republican or democrat. >> when we look back, of course we look at joe biden because he was the leader, but the responsibility has to be with the whole group. >> this is a tragedy. the people keep mentioning that. i do apologize to the women of america if they got the wrong impression about how seriously i take the issue of sexual harassment. >> clarence thomas denies all charges of sexual harassment. biden votes against confirming thomas, but the senate sends him to the supreme court. >> the hearings caused an incredible backlash. ended up calling 1992 "the year

of the woman." there were female candidates that ran for office across the country, saying they were enraged not enough senators believed anita hill. that's where the momentum comes i think to pass the violence against women act. >> biden reintroduces the violence against women act in 1993. >> if we mean to do something about it, do something about it. >> this time it passes and is signed by president clinton. >> the one decision he made to introduce this bill and get it passed has had an incredible effect, multiplier effect across this country. >> it is the legislation he is most proud of, and it continues on to this day. i have met women who came up to me and said, "you know, my sister wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for your husband." >> instead of keeping us at arm's length, vice president biden has decided to say, "i'm going to fight for them." it is impossible to describe unless you have been a survivor. >> doing the violence against women act was the single most significant thing i have ever

been part of. that's a fact. >> coming up -- >> joe had no interest in running for vice president. we. but having his parents over was enlightening. ♪ you don't like my lasagna? no, it's good. -hmm. -oh. huh. [ both laugh ] here, blow. blow on it. you see it, right? is there a draft in here? i'm telling you, it's so easy to get home insurance on progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto.

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richard lui with top stories. alabama republican senator richard shellby saying his state can do better than roy moore in tuesday's special election for senate. shelby did not vote for moore. he wrote in the name of another republican. vice president pence is describing the palestinian authority refusing to meet with him. also says the white house is moving forward with peace efforts there. back to "headliners," joe biden. ♪ standing up for the values protects us better than any barrier we could build between ourselves and the rest of the

world, because our values are what draws the world to our side. >> as a member of the senate foreign relations committee since his 30s, joe biden has been a front row seat to u.s. foreign policy. >> he had been involved in foreign affairs of one kind or another his entire adult life, whether it was protesting the vietnam war or working on arms control or being a champion for humanitarian intervention in the balkans. >> he tries to put every policy issue through a prism of people, whether it be military policy, foreign policy or domestic policy, he tries to relate it to people. >> after decades of getting to know the world's leaders, at age 58 in 2001 biden is named chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. >> we served for 30 years together on the foreign relations committee, and joe was really endefatigable with his

travels. >> he was well-known in the capitals around the world. he knew the prime minister, the president, whatever it might be, the foreign ministers. they were comfortable with him and they would listen to him. >> when he got to know all of these foreign leaders, he came away with a better understanding of who they were and what they had to get out of a negotiation, and you only really can get that honestly if you make friends with these people. it doesn't mean that you may not be adversaries from time to time. >> on september 10, 2001, biden gives a prophetic security warning at the national press club. >> the real threat comes to this country in the hold of a ship, the belly of a plane. >> a day later -- america is attacked. the u.s. goes to war in afghanistan the next month, and iraq two years later. initially biden argues the u.s. should avoid entering the world

in iraq. >> i do not believe, and never have as you know, believe there's a direct correlation between the threat that comes from al qaeda and international terrorist organizations and saddam hussein. i believe that's a bunch of malarkey. >> ultimately, like most democrats, biden votes in favor of the war. he later says he regrets the vote and is a fierce critic of bush's policies in iraq. >> he had strong views of what was going on in both afghanistan and iraq, and i know that he made those views known to the president. sometime his advice was accepted and sometimes it was not accepted, but he would not hold it back because somebody might not like it. he always was trying to find the solution. >> my friend talks about letting the iraqi political -- >> the way he fights you endears him to you. you can actually oppose somebody and come out of the contest more liked. i think he's been wrong about a

lot of stuff on foreign policy, but he's passionate and he does it in a very respectful way. >> as bush's second term comes to an end, biden eyes another shot at running for president. >> we thought we were the right person at the right time for the right reasons. >> i'm thinking he better run because i want to end that war in iraq. our son was in the military. i really wanted that war to be over in the worst way. >> are you running for president? >> i am running for president. >> and you're going to talk on hillary clinton, barack obama and all other comers? . >> i'm going to be joe biden and try to be the best biden if i can be. if i can, i have a shot. if i can't, i lose. >> what three nations other than iraq represent to you the biggest threat to the united states? >> the biggest threat to the united states is right now north korea. iran not as big a threat but a long-term threat and, quite frankly, the tendency of putin to move in a to tal tetalarian direction. >> every single one of the debates joe biden found himself

to get in the mix in a way that showcased knowledge of foreign policy. >> biden gets only 1% of the iowa vote and drops out of the race. barack obama wins the nomination and asks biden to be his running mate. >> joe had zero, zero interest in running for vice president. he thought he had a stronger position to influence policy as being chair of foreign relations, and my mom said, "joe, the first african-american president whose policies and principles you have supported your entire rife and you're nli going to help him because you don't want to be vice president, really?" >> i said, how can you not do it. this is a moment in history. think of the things we will be able to accomplish. >> the next vice president of the united states of america -- >> obama presses joe biden to reconsider and he says yes, as long as he could be the last guy in the room. >> joe wanted to be a full partner.

the one way to be sure i'm a full partner is i'm the last person in the cabinet room or the oval office. >> yes, yes, i accept your nomination to run and serve with barack obama! [ cheering and applause ]. >> obama and biden win the 2008 election, and in 2009 delaware's career senator -- >> i joseph robinette biden jr. do solemnly swear -- >> become the united states of america's 47th vice president. >> that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> it just felt like joy. it was all, look at the possibilities. looking out on to that mall and seeing thousands upon thousands of people, you just didn't want to miss a minute of>looking outd seeing thousands upon thousands of people, you just didn't want to miss a minute >looking out o and seeing thousands upon thousands of people, you just didn't want to miss a minute of it. coming up -- >> i could list several things that the vice president had done and the press never saw that.

♪ >> come on. >> they won't let me. >> they won't let you? >> they won't let you? >> president obama and vice president biden become one of the closest political partnerships in white house history. >> i'm confident that in their conversations joe told him what he thought ought to be done, but when the president made his decision i'm also sure that joe biden supported him to the fullest. >> they confided in each other about everything. >> i think it was a surprise to both of them actually about how much they came to actually love one another. >> they had an outlook on the world that was very much a

consensus, and because they had that consensus you could then have the vice president playing a more central role. >> the first challenge of the obama administration is addressing what is called the greatest global financial crisis of our time. >> instantly the new obama administration is confronted with something that no president since fdr was confronted with. the economy was melting down. >> we were losing 750,000 jobs a month, we had the banks on verge of collapse. >> biden gets involved, putting his years of experience in the senate to use. >> i have asked vice president biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort because nobody messes with joe. >> senator mcconnell gets on the senate floor and says, hey, the only person i'm going to deal with is joe biden. >> president obama had two years of senate experience, joe biden had 35.

those relationships count when you're passing legislation. >> joe understood sort of what you could and couldn't do, and he was able to work with senator mcconnell in a way i don't think anybody else in the white house could have done it. as a result, we avoided a fiscal calamity. >> obama also leans on biden's relationships on issues such as health care, and iraq. >> president obama knew that biden brought a kind of rolodex that could be drawn upon to try to help navigate iraqi politics and our relationship. >> biden helps orchestrate a handover of power to the iraqis in 2010, a move celebrated and criticized. >> it is clear to me they wanted to get out and it is an example of where i think they got it wrong. you could can argue bush got it wrong, you can argue i got it wrong, but i think he and obama made a mistake. >> we're not claiming victory. what we're claiming here is that we've done the job our administration set out to do, to end the bleeding, both financially and physically, that

this war has caused. >> throughout their administration obama and biden develop a synchronized approach. >> i think it evolved quite naturally. the president tends to be reflective and he would like to hear from all sides. the tendency is if people know the president wants to go in one direction, they go in that direction. it was helpful to have the vice president willing to say, look, this is what i think and let people debate with him. it worked. >> what the president wanted him to do was to help him get his head around a problem, what are the assumptions, what are the premises, what are the implications. biden would raise a question that nobody wanted on the table raised. >> biden becomes the highest-ranking white house official to endorse marriage equality, publicly supporting it before president obama. >> men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights. >> they talked about it a lot.

it wasn't a surprise to president obama that the vice president felt that way. the timing was a little surprising to us, but i think it just came up naturally in an interview. he was asked a direct question and he answered it. >> in 2012 obama and biden are re-elected to a second term. the thrill of the win is sho short-lived. >> right after the reelection, of course, we have the terrible tragedy of sandy hook elementary school, and president obama asked vice president biden to lead our effort to try to get the most sensible legislation through to keep guns out of the wrong hands. >> we now belong to a lousy club, a lousy, stinking club where -- where as a parent, for whatever reason you have a child predespees you. >> in the end we failed and it was a huge disappointment for both of them and for all of us.

>> biden's personal touch endears him to colleagues. >> i remember seeing a note basically telling people that if they missed birthday parties or recitals that he would be mad, that he didn't want people to use their work at the white house as an excuse not to spend time with one's family because of how precious it is. >> when we were in iraq one time he found out that it was my daughter's birthday, and we were in the middle of baghdad and he ended up calling my daughter from iraq and wishing her a happy birthday. >> when my first daughter was born, you know, he taught me the irish lullaby i still sing to this day to each one of my kids, they request it, they know it word for word. >> when my father died the vice president called up and he said, "i'm going to come see you." i thought, sometime in the next few days. he came right up and he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the face and said, "it will get better," and it just

meant so much to me he would do that for me. >> i could list several things that the vice president had done with wounded warriors, with people that were sick, of friends that he called that were struggling, of parents that he called of children that had died, and the press never saw that. >> never saw that. >> he's been through such tragedy in his life and you recognize what other people are going through, whether it's illness or loss. they know that he understands their pain. >> when the biden family is shattered again on may 30, 2015 by the death of bo, who served as delaware's attorney general. the people biden has touched rally around him. >> i immediately went to vice president biden's house and stayed with him. there was a spot where he and bo would always sit and talk. and he just wanted me to walk out there with him. we probably sat there for 30

minutes, didn't say a word. he could only feel that -- the loss that he felt. >> president obama gives the eulogy at bo's funeral. >> what a great inheritance than to be part of a family that passes on the values of what it means to be a great parent, that passes on the values of what it means to be a true citizen. that passes on the values of what it means to give back fully and freely without expecting anything in return. that's what our country was built on. >> before he passed away, bo had asked his dad to make him a promise. >> he said, promise me, dad, promise me you'll be okay. meaning we'll all stick together. we'll all be here. >> what motivates joe is that,

you know, if you want to honor bo, keep doing things that bo believes in and he believes in. just an unusual man who can keep doing this. >> coming up. >> i've always, always said that joe would make a great president. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. appearing next to me in plain sight. hallucinations and delusions.

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and it's been an honor to serve with you. >> president obama honors biden with the highest civilian award in the united states. >> i am pleased to award our nation's highest civilian honor. the presidential metal of freedom. >> the internet explodes with a series of memes about biden's and obama's pbromance. >> he thinks they're funny. he laughs at himself. he immediately was like, yeah, you know, that's a trance s a.m i'm a corvette guy. >> before leaving office he

races collin powell on c nbc's jay leno's garage. >> i would let him get out briefly ahead of me and then floor mine to the finish line. but jay leno did not show that last five seconds. so it looks like we're turning and coming back and we're even. we weren't even. i was about to beat his butt. don't let him tell you anything else. >> my name is joe biden, i've been vice president of the united states for 48 more hours. i'm here today to issue a call to action. >> after watching the 2017 handover to the trump administration, biden begins life as a private citizen. >> the election's over. donald trump is president, and

i'm disappointed, to state the obvious. >> he forms a pack called american possibilities, ostensibly to support democratic candidates. >> joe is worried about the working man and woman. he wants social justice. i think he's trying to get the democratic voter to understand the trump voter better. we may disagree on the outcome, but he's driven by helping people. >> there's a recent article the vice president penned in the atlantic that the soul of america is under stress and if the president isn't going to stick up for our values, it's incumbent upon the rest of us to do that. >> after 36 years in the senate, eight years in the white house, and a lifetime of service, the question remains -- >> you're not closing the door on it? >> no, i'm not closing the door. i've been around too long. i'm a great respecter of faith

but who knows what the situation is going to be in a year and a half. >> i don't know what 2020 will bring, all i know is what 2020 brings i'll be with him. >> age is a number, having been in the second spot for eight years and served so long in the senate, he knows exactly what it takes to be president. >> one thing i know about joe biden comes to me from my military background. something we say about people when we believe they are the best of breed and you can trust them, and that is this is a guy who would take on a long patrol. >> he's sort of an inspiration, i think, to people in my business. that you can be for the progress i've agenda in this case and still do business with people like me. if you ask me an example of somebody that a young person would want to emlate, it would be joe biden. >> he lost his wife, get up. you lose your kids, get up.

people say things about you, you get over it and get up. >> right now we're focussing on 2018, getting democrats elected. and i've always, always said that joe would make a great president. and i haven't changed. i'm craig melvin, george clooney is the first and only person to be nominated in six different oscar categories and he's cofounded a billion dollar business, but his true passion may be his work as a global humanitarian, headliners takes a look at the life of the hollywood megastar and human rights activist. twice named the