 It's the job he'd spent a lifetime working toward, more than a half a century in Washington, earning a reputation as a lawmaker with friends on both sides of the aisle. A man who led with empathy after enduring so many personal tragedies, including the loss of his first wife and their young daughter, and later his beloved son, Beau. In 2020, Biden felt an obligation to run, spurred by Trump's response to white supremacists marching through Charlottesville, Virginia.