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the Senate in the case of a tie. “The most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived” was the disgusted way that John Adams, vice president to George Washington, described his position in 1789. And John Nance Garner, Franklin Roosevelt’s first vice president, in 1933, had similar feelings, although he expressed them less eloquently: “The vice presidency isn’t worth a bucket of warm piss.”

However, during the twentieth century the vice presidency grew to include advising the president, representing the president, and helping the president govern. Lyndon Johnson was invaluable to President Kennedy in working with Congress, and Walter Mondale brought foreign relations experience to President Jimmy Carter’s team. George W. Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, was criticized for taking on too much importance. He was accused of making policy decisions on his own, without the president’s knowledge.

From January to June 2008, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York fought for the Democratic nomination for president. Joe Biden would not endorse either one until the choice was final. But he promised to work hard, campaigning for the primary winner in the fall.

Barack Obama was already thinking carefully about who he’d want on his team if he were elected. Joe Biden would certainly be a good choice to balance the ticket. While Obama was a younger African American man from the middle class, Biden was an older white man with working-class roots.

Obama had been elected to the Senate only a few years before. Biden, serving in the Senate for thirty-six years, had many connections in Congress and in foreign countries. And his outgoing, passionate style of campaigning complemented Obama’s cool, reserved style.

Obama did want a candidate for vice president who could help him win the election. But he also wanted a person highly qualified for the job—and he wanted someone who would work well with him. He respected Joe Biden’s achievements in the Senate, including his ability to get along with Republicans as well as Democrats. Obama also thought Biden’s years of experience in foreign relations would be valuable.

In June, when Obama was sure of winning the Democratic nomination, he called Biden and asked if Joe wanted to be considered for vice president. Biden said no. He enjoyed his respected position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to trade that to become the president’s sidekick. Obama insisted that he think some more about it. “Go home and talk it over with the family first.”

To Joe’s surprise, Jill thought that he should say yes. For one thing, she said, if the Bidens were living in the vice president’s residence in Washington, they’d be right near Hunter and his family. And on weekends and vacations, they’d still have their house in Wilmington, right near Beau and his family.

Jean Biden, Joe’s mother, agreed with Jill. Hadn’t Joe always believed in the cause of civil rights? This was his chance to do something really important for civil rights. He could help elect the first African American president of the United States.

In the summer weeks leading up to the Democratic Convention, Barack Obama became pretty sure that Joe Biden was his first choice for vice president. One factor that impressed Obama was Biden’s devotion to his family. Obama’s aide David Axelrod noticed the Bidens’ open affection for each other too. “There’s something really special about that family,” he told Obama.

Before Obama made his choice, Joe Biden met him privately, in a hotel in Minneapolis, for a final three-hour discussion. Biden explained that if he were Obama’s vice president, he would want to be his chief advisor. “If you’re going to ask me to do this, please don’t ask me for any reason other than that you respect my judgment. If you’re asking me to join you to help govern, and not just help you get elected, then I’m interested.”

That meant that Biden would want to meet with the president in private at least once a week and be included in all important group meetings. Of course, final decisions would always be for the president to make, but Biden wanted to be consulted.

Obama, for his part, sincerely wanted a vice president who would tell him the truth, rather than what the vice president thought the president wanted to hear. Obama was convinced that Joe Biden would do just that. In fact, Biden was famous for saying what he thought, even when he should have kept his mouth shut.

The two men were on the same page.

Mr. Vice President

On August 7, 2008, only weeks before the Democratic National Convention, Russian troops invaded the neighboring country of Georgia. The Bush administration condemned Russia’s action. A cease-fire was brokered, but Russia still threatened the smaller, weaker country.

As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden flew to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. He met with the Georgian president, and he returned home recommending that the United States should send Georgia $1 billion in aid. Barack Obama recognized this moment as great publicity for Biden—and for his own campaign, if he chose Biden as vice president.

Two days before the Democratic Convention, Obama called Biden to officially offer him the job. Biden took the call at a dentist’s office, where Jill was undergoing a root canal procedure. Joe was so happy and excited that he started talking a mile a minute.

As Obama and Biden began campaigning together, the two men discovered things they had in common. They both loved sports, and they both understood how to be team players. They were both devoted to their families.

Their families hit it off too. “I liked Jill, Joe’s wife, right away,” Michelle Obama wrote later in her memoir, Becoming. Jill, like Michelle, had hesitated to commit to her husband’s political career. Jill had also pursued a career while raising children.

“And then there were the Biden grandkids, five altogether, all of them as outgoing and unassuming as Joe and