Unless he is out of town, Biden always attends the intelligence briefing that is generally Obama’s first meeting of the day. The two are together in formal meetings “multiple times” on most days, and Biden often lingers behind, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the relationship.
It became clear just weeks into the Obama presidency that Biden’s influence would extend across domestic policy, as well, when the president tapped him to oversee the unfurling of stimulus money — a process fraught with political peril.
According to the new book “The New New Deal,” whose author, former Washington Post reporter Michael Grunwald, gained access to Biden’s office, the assignment came during a weekly Obama-Biden lunch in February 2009. Biden handed Obama a memo outlining the type of person he should appoint to oversee the stimulus effort — an official with clout, people skills and the heft to call out Cabinet secretaries. Obama read the note and told Biden to get started.
Biden presided over dozens of Cabinet meetings and West Wing strategy sessions, nagging agency chiefs and phoning nearly every governor to press for swift action on stimulus spending. “He cracked a very strong whip,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday in an interview.
Biden grew irritated with liberals who chastised the administration for not securing a bigger package. “I love the left saying, ‘Well, we could’ve gotten more.’ Okay, you go get it,” Biden told Grunwald.
Associates say Biden has gained admiration for Obama as the two have gotten to know each other better — particularly since 2008, when Biden was competing for the Democratic nomination and grew frustrated with the media’s celebrity treatment of the less-experienced Obama.
“It turns out the president is a hell of a lot smarter than I thought,” Biden told a reporter in 2010.
Different styles
Obama and Biden have vastly different styles, with Biden often eager to schmooze strangers and work a room and Obama more reserved. Yet two traits Obama values in his vice president, an official said, are his loyalty and his “unique role” in challenging assumptions. Biden’s presence has proved useful during tense times at the White House.
During the administration’s 2009 debates over Afghanistan, Biden led internal opposition to the troop surge, arguing that a small ground force and air power were sufficient to conduct counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda. Warned about what Biden intended to say, an official said, Obama welcomed the interventions to avoid being “boxed in” by the majority of his advisers who favored escalation.
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