An intriguing passage from an upcoming book about the trials facing America’s vice presidents details an explosive falling-out between then-Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.
At the height of the 2016 campaign, Clinton made the false claim that she fully supported the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Failure would have marked the beginning of the end for President Obama. Any hope of a second-term would have died alongside the loss of American special forces in the unforgiving Pakistani night.
Moreover, intel reports couldn’t confirm bin Laden’s whereabouts.
The admittedly high stakes and relative uncertainty made Biden skittish – and Hillary too, though she would later lie about it.
Per The Hill:
Every modern vice president, with the exception of Dick Cheney, has wanted to be president. But it is complicated. “In order to be a really successful vice president, you have to subvert your own interests,” Biden’s former communications director Shailagh Murray said. “The most important thing was being the best vice president you could possibly be and sometimes that was going to require eating shit.” Biden became known as a dissenting voice against the successful May 2, 2011, Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the 9/11 terror attacks, who was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. “He knew his presidency was on the line with bin Laden,” Biden told me. “Think about if that had failed. His presidency would have come to practically a screeching end.” At a Situation Room meeting with top officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Biden came down against going in — without being absolutely sure that bin Laden was in the compound, Biden argued, more time was needed to get a positive identification. Later, when Clinton made the false claim during the campaign that she was completely in support of it, Biden was furious. Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, said, “My sense is that she was not sold on the idea either.” Biden clearly resents the way Clinton mischaracterized her position. One aide said: “The ass-covering, opportunistic version really rattled him.” Biden advised against the raid, he said, “to give room, because then I walked out with him [Obama], which I always did, and walked to the office. I said, ‘Follow your instinct. I think you should go, follow your instinct.’ I could tell that was his instinct.” Biden said he fell on his sword so that Obama would look like he made the call on his own. “I wanted people to know what a chance this guy took. If I had said that I said to go [at the time] then it would make me look like I was ratting out everybody else.” Press reports made it seem like Biden was one of the lone voices against what ended up being a successful raid that won Obama widespread praise. “That’s the job of the vice president,” Biden said. “You’re supposed to throw yourself in front of the train. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to do it [become vice president] in the beginning.”
AAN Staff
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