On Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden launched their new charitable foundation, the Biden Foundation. This will be a continuation of the couple’s work on equal rights, which they focused on during their years in office. The new organization will prioritize fighting cancer, ending violence against women and children, supporting military families, and achieving equal rights for all.

The fight against cancer became particularly important to the Biden family after Joe’s oldest son Beau passed away from the disease in May 2015. The foundation will continue to support the Cancer Moonshot Initiative–the White House anti-cancer effort that Biden headed–which aims to find the cure. Jill Biden is a college professor and will keep working on her longtime goal to increase people’s access to affordable, high-quality education. In a video promoting the new foundation, the former vice president said, “As long as we have a breath in us, we’re going to be working on it.”

Joe and Jill Biden announce The Biden Foundation in new vid, plan to focus on cancer research, violence against women, foreign policy issues pic.twitter.com/z6296Cp8wi

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 1, 2017

The foundation’s executive director will be Louisa Terrell, who used to work for Facebook, Yahoo, and for Joe Biden when he was a senator. The board will also consist of several former Biden aides and advisers. It will accept donations from private foundations, donor-advised funds, and corporate foundations, but not from foreign citizens, entities, or any other foreign sources. In a statement the Bidens said:

We look forward to this new chapter where we will continue our work to ensure that everyone—no matter their income level, race, gender, age, or sexuality—is treated with dignity and gets a fair shot at achieving the American Dream.

In the promotional video, Biden also said he has high hopes for the millennial generation, calling it the most open, most tolerant, and most generous generation in American History. He said that we now have the power to change the culture, “Just as we did when we spoke up and said that the only criteria for who you marry should be who you love.”

From fighting cancer to changing the culture on domestic violence — we’re just getting started. Join us: https://t.co/QHaFokMnrZ

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 1, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Joe Biden announced in a press conference in the White House’s Rose Garden today that he won’t seek the presidency. Flanked by President Obama and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, he announced that the door has closed for him to mount a successful campaign for President.

He pointed out that he won’t just be a quiet spectator however–he plans on weighing in on various national conversations as they unfold in the Democratic primary and general election.

“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time.” @VP Joe Biden won’t run for president https://t.co/Z8PnoAJ2Hn pic.twitter.com/rXnNv8eOYS

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) October 21, 2015

In his announcement, Biden spoke strongly about Obama’s legacy, of which he said he was proud to be a part, but also emphasized that he didn’t want anyone to back away from that legacy–clearly a shot at any Democrats who seek to distinguish themselves from Obama in a negative way.

Biden also highlighted many issues that the Democrats need to focus on moving forward. The bevy of issues he chose to highlight included a need to focus on helping the middle class, combatting the influx of money in politics, the need for affordable college education, upping the childcare tax credit, raising taxes on the very rich, accepting that we can’t be the world’s police, compromising with the Republican party, and seeking equality for different communities such as immigrants, women, minorities, and those who identify as LGBTQ. He also spoke about an issue incredibly close to his heart–increasing funding for cancer and other medical research–a very understandable sentiment given the recent death of his son, Beau Biden, due to brain cancer.

Overall, the announcement focused more on Biden’s hopes and attempts to provide inspiration, rather than his choice not to join the race. He spoke of the central American belief of “possibilities,” and reaffirmed his focuses for the next 15 months he will remain in office.

This announcement comes as a huge surprise after political gossip earlier this week indicated that Biden was going to throw his hat into the ring. Top political reporters and news outlets, including Fox News’ Ed Henry who broke that story, reported that he’d be announcing his candidacy in the next couple days. Others, including freshman Congressman Brendan Boyle, echoed that sentiment. However, Biden’s decision not to run appears to be absolute.

The Democratic field will remain decidedly un-crowded, with the race appearing to boil down to frontrunner Hillary Clinton and her top challenger Bernie Sanders. While Biden may have a voice moving forward, he has spoken, and that word is final: he will not be running for President of the United States.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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