--- title: Read Transcript of President Obama Honoring Joe Biden description: President Barack Obama on Thursday bestowed Vice President Joe Biden with the nation’s highest civilian honor during a surprise ceremony. canonical: https://time.com/4633826/joe-biden-obama-presidential-medal-freedom/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-12T23:45:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:13:28.525Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Full Transcript of President Obama Honoring Joe Biden og:description: The surprise moment brought Vice President Joe Biden to tears og:url: https://time.com/4633826/joe-biden-obama-presidential-medal-freedom/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9cd6dad524117dc5/6988b569e20a8771f9a93bd8/joe-biden-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama Awards VP Joe Biden Presidential Medal Of Freedom og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Full Transcript of President Obama Honoring Joe Biden twitter:description: The surprise moment brought Vice President Joe Biden to tears twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9cd6dad524117dc5/6988b569e20a8771f9a93bd8/joe-biden-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Transcript of President Obama Surprising Joe Biden With the Medal of Freedom > 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=39907e0f-bb11-45c0-8912-133c53db594c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Obama Gives Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom [Watch (HLS stream): President Obama Gives Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4Pu87r8z.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2017-01-12. Biden wiped away tears and shared a laugh with Obama_  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 12, 2017 11:45 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 12, 2017 11:45 PM UTC [President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4631086/president-obama-farewell-speech-joe-biden/?iid=sr-link2) on Thursday [bestowed Vice President Joe Biden](http://time.com/4633555/joe-bien-presidential-medal-freedom/) with the nation’s highest civilian honor during a surprise ceremony that [brought the president’s right-hand man to tears](http://time.com/4633604/joe-biden-obama-cries-medal/?xid=homepage). Obama awarded Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom after calling the vice president his “brother” and a “lion of American history.” An emotional Biden accepted the honor but said it was “well beyond” what he deserves. Below is a complete transcript of the event. --- > “” --- ## Transcript For the final time as President, I am pleased to award our nation's highest civilian honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom [ APPLAUSE ] For the first and only time in my presidency I will bestow this medal with an additional level of veneration. An honor my three most recent successors reserved for only three others Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan and General Colin Powell. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction to my brother, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ Applause ] Appreciate you man. 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