Not a single dry eye in the room as President Obama gave a speech thanking Vice President Joe Biden for his service in the White House and for a lifetime of civic duty. After saying it was his belief that Joe Biden was the finest vice president in American history, Obama took the extraordinary step of awarding Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Watch the incredibly heart-touching moment:
He's as good a man as god ever created. So Joe, for your faith in your fellow American, for your love of count, for your lifetime of service that will endure through the generation, I'd like to ask the military aides to join us on stag. For the final time as president, I am pleased to award our nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. [Applause]
And for the first and only time in my presidency I will bestow this metal with an additional level of veneration, and honor of my three most recent successors but the first of only three others, pope John Paul II, president Ronald Reagan and general Colin Powell. Please and gentlemen I am a proud to for the presidential medal of freedom to do with distinction to my brother Joe Biden junior. May you please read the citation.
Vice president Joseph R Biden junior, a career of public service spanning nearly half a century, vice president Joseph R Biden junior has left a mark on every part of our nation, fighting for a strong middle-class, a fair judicial system and a smarter foreign policy. Biting unyielding support for our troops, combating crime and violence against women, leading a quest to cure cancer and safeguarding the landmarks of American recovery and reinvestment act of corruption.
We thank him for his lifetime of service on behalf of the united States of America.