--- title: Joe Biden Has One Big Regret: Not Being the President description: “Do I regret not being president? Yes," Biden said during a recent conversation with Colgate's president Brian W. Casey. canonical: https://time.com/4713618/joe-biden-regret-president/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-27T12:08:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:09.106Z article:section: Politics og:title: Joe Biden Has One Big Regret: Not Being President og:description: “Do I regret not being president? Yes," Biden said during a recent conversation with Colgate's president Brian W. Casey. og:url: https://time.com/4713618/joe-biden-regret-president/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeee62a7500f7a62/6988bffe8fd2ee520a3564db/joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Beau Biden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Joe Biden Has One Big Regret: Not Being President twitter:description: “Do I regret not being president? Yes," Biden said during a recent conversation with Colgate's president Brian W. Casey. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeee62a7500f7a62/6988bffe8fd2ee520a3564db/joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Joe Biden Has One Big Regret: Not Being President > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times 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. ## 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 [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2017 12:08 PM UTC  Joe Biden in Newark Del., on March 25, 2017. Joe Biden in Newark Del., on March 25, 2017. Star Shooter/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2017 12:08 PM UTC [Former Vice President Joe Biden](http://time.com/4170922/joe-biden-regrets-not-running-president/) does not regret sitting out the 2016 race for the White House. Biden told a crowd at Colgate University recently that he was comfortable with that decision, which he made in the wake of his son [Beau’s death](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/us/politics/joseph-r-biden-iii-vice-presidents-son-beau-dies-at-46.html?%5Fr=0) from cancer. But Biden does regret not being the president. “Do I regret not being president? Yes,” Biden said [during a recent conversation](https://www.facebook.com/colgateuniversity/videos/10158439351760181/) with Colgate’s president Brian W. Casey. “Do I regret not running for president, in light of everything that was going on in my life at the time? No.” If the former Vice President had run in 2016, it would have been his third time attempting to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Biden has been open about his [desire for the presidency](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/joe-biden-best-president/story?id=39023077) and his [decision not to run in 2016](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/06/joe-biden-to-stephen-colbert-i-don-t-plan-on-running-in-2020-but-never-say-never.html). Biden told the crowd he had the data to justify a run and he still believes he would have won, but he knows his heart wouldn’t have been in it. When he lost Beau, who died of brain cancer in May 2015, Biden said he lost “part of my soul.” “No man or woman should announce for president of the United States unless they can look the public in the eye and say, ‘I promise you I am giving 100 percent of my attention and dedication to this effort,’” Biden said. Later in the event, the former second-in-command under Barack Obama denounced some of President Donald Trump’s positions, including his ongoing battle with the news media. But Biden also urged Americans not to give up on the President. “We should all have hope that not knowing anything about the job before he did it … he can grow more into the job and understand that the United States is the essential nation in the world in the year 2017,” Biden said. ## 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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