Chapters 19 and 20 Summary and Analysis

Joe Biden decided to make a run for the Presidency in 2008 and thought he was the most qualified among the field. The gaffe-prone Biden made an unintentional racial comment in reference to Obama and dropped out after he earned only one percent of the votes in the Iowa Caucuses. Biden was close to Hillary and liked Obama. He decided to keep his options open and not endorse either candidate. He was interested in both the VP slot and the Secretary of State position. Biden advised him to put Hillary on the ticket. But Biden was Obama's choice from the very beginning.

But Obama was a man of process and he vetted over a dozen candidates. He focused on Hillary to see if there was any way they could share the ticket. But Bill loomed as a real problem. Bill...