In a surprise ceremony in the East Room of the White House, President Obama surprised Vice President Joe Biden by bestowing upon him America's highest civilian honour- The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Having invited Biden and his wife, Jill, to the White House for a private farewell, Obama instead brought him to a room where his friends, family and colleagues had gathered to witness the honouring ceremony.
Moreover, for the first time, the outgoing president awarded the medal to Biden with distinction, an added level of veneration which had been reserved for recipients like Pope John Paul II and Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state by previous presidents.
The ceremony saw Mr. Biden seemingly breaking down, turning his back to the audience to console himself, and pulling out a handkerchief, as the president called up a military aide to read the proclamation. However, once Mr. Obama hung the medal around the his neck, he cried openly.
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| President Obama bestows the Presidential Medal of Honour upon Vice President Joe Biden Credit: CNN |
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| U.S. Vice President Joe Biden wipes his eyes as Preident Barack Obama presents him with Medal of Freedom Credit: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images |
In the address that followed, Vice President Biden hurled a joke towards Steve Ricchetti, his chief of staff, saying, "Ricchetti, you’re fired! I had no inkling." Later, speaking of Mr. Obama, he said that he had never met anyone who had "the integrity and the decency and the sense of other people’s needs like you do." He also added, "Mr. President, you got right the part about my leaning on Jill,” referring to the president’s remarks about the couple’s love. "But I’ve also leaned on you and a lot of people in this room."
The ceremony is being seen as an emotional conclusion of a partnership, the success of which was deemed to be improbable and unlikely when in 2008 Barack Obama asked his former presidential rival to be his running mate. In the eight years that followed, the two men became not just the best of friends, but "brothers", as president Obama would like to put it.
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