--- title: Obama Puts Joe Biden in Charge of Curing Cancer description: Just months after Biden lost his son to the disease canonical: https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-13T02:55:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:42.444Z article:section: Politics og:title: State of the Union 2016: Obama Says Biden Will Cure Cancer og:description: He put him in charge of a new initiative to beat the disease og:url: https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte382c255cb8323b7/698878e75f570f8682b1f2a5/facebook-barack-obama-president-state-of-the-union-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2151 og:image:height: 1210 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-STATE OF UNION og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: State of the Union 2016: Obama Says Biden Will Cure Cancer twitter:description: He put him in charge of a new initiative to beat the disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte382c255cb8323b7/698878e75f570f8682b1f2a5/facebook-barack-obama-president-state-of-the-union-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Puts Joe Biden in Charge of Curing Cancer > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=779961d1-7dfe-4e52-94ce-3d523b3f55bf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IYWlSLur.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2016-01-13. State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes_  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jan 13, 2016 2:55 AM UTC  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jan 13, 2016 2:55 AM UTC President Obama announced Tuesday in his final State of the Union that Vice President Joe Biden would spearhead an initiative to cure cancer. “Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer,” Obama said, before noting that Biden has worked with Congress to add resources for the National Institutes of Health. “Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.”  President Barack Obama gestures to Vice President Joe Biden during the State of the Union Address in Washington on Jan. 12, 2016. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images This comment got enormous applause, as the President turned to Biden and went off script, saying, “What do you say, Joe?” Biden gave him a thumbs up, to more applause. “Let’s make it happen,” President Obama said. Vice President Biden lost his son, Beau Biden, 46, to brain cancer in 2015. ## Transcript Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, My Fellow Americans. Tonight marks the eighth year that I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm gonna try to make it a little shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I've been there. [ LAUGH ] I'll be shaking hands afterwards if you want some tips. But for my final address to this chamber, I wanna focus on the next five years, the next ten years. And four big questions That I believe we as a country have to answer. First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? How do we make technology work for us and not against us? How do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman? How can we make our politics reflect What's best in us and not what's worst. The United States of America right now has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streak of private sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs, the strongest two years of job growth since the 1990s, Our unemployment rate cut in half. Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks. [ APPLAUSE ] The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. [ APPLAUSE ] When you come after Americans, we go after you and it may take time but we have long memories and our reach has no limits Our foreign policies to be focussed on threat from ISIS and Al- Qaeda but it can't stop there. The world will look to us to help solve these problems and our answer needs to be more than tough talk. War calls to corporate bombs [ INAUDIBLE ]. We also can't Try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. But on issues of global concern, we will mobilize the world to work with us. And make sure other countries pull their weight. Leadership means a wise application of military power. And rallying the world behind causes that are right. The future we want. Opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living, a sustainable peaceful planet for our kids. But I can't do these things on my own. So my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe, Whether you prefer one party or no party, whether you supported my agenda or fought as hard as you could against it, our collected futures depends on your willingness to uphold your duties as a citizen. To vote. But I can promise that a little over a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I will be right there with you as a citizen. Inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that helped America travel so far. That's the America I know. that's the country we love. Clear eyed, big hearted, undaunted by challenge. Optimistic, that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. [ APPLAUSE ] That's what makes me so hopeful about our future. I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that's why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our union [ APPLAUSE ] Is strong. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you. God bless. [ APPLAUSE ] God bless the United States of America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/"},"headline":"President Obama Puts Joe Biden in Charge of Curing Cancer","datePublished":"2016-01-13T02:55:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:40:42.444Z","description":"Just months after Biden lost his son to the disease","url":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/","keywords":["State of the Union 2016","Barack Obama","Joe Biden","Obama","Cancer","state of the union"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte382c255cb8323b7/698878e75f570f8682b1f2a5/facebook-barack-obama-president-state-of-the-union-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte382c255cb8323b7/698878e75f570f8682b1f2a5/facebook-barack-obama-president-state-of-the-union-joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-STATE OF UNION","caption":"Vice President Joe Biden points at President Barack Obama during the State of the Union address at a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.","creditText":"Evan Vucci—Press Pool","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/state-of-the-union-2016/","name":"State of the Union 2016"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/","name":"President Obama Puts Joe Biden in Charge of Curing Cancer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes","description":"State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IYWlSLur/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-13T04:30:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IYWlSLur.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/","duration":"PT3M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```