Joe Biden recently admitted that he regrets not being president.
In a report from The Washington Post, during an appearance at Colgate University this past Friday, the former Vice President of the United States discussed everything from the middle class and the digital revolution, before answering a question given to him by the school's president, Brian W. Casey.
"Did you ever think, what if," Casey asked Biden. "Any regrets that you didn't run?"
"I had planned on running for president, and although it would've been a very difficult primary I think I could've won," Biden responded. "I had a lot of data and I was fairly confident that if I were the Democratic party's nominee, I had a better-than-ever chance of being president."
However, it was the death of Biden's son, Beau, that ultimately resulted in him removing himself from the race. Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 (since his son's death Biden has given multiple speeches addressing the need to combat cancer, with the most recent one being an appearance at this year's SXSW).
The death understandably took much of Biden's focus out of his possible presidential run, with the media wondering if he was playing a game (when he actually was trying to keep Beau's illness from being discussed during that time).
"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. "...At the end of the day, I just couldn't do it."
He then circled back to the question with a definitive answer: "Do I regret not being president? Yes. Do I regret not running for president, in light of everything that was going on in my life at the time? No."
