Anderson Cooper Welcome back to the whole story. Im anderson cooper. President Bidens Decision to step aside from the race came as a shock to many americans, including some of his own campaign and White House staff. Even after the disastrous Cnn Debate against former President Donald Trump and the growing calls from democrats for him to pass the torch, biden seemed Dug In. So the question is, what finally changed his mind . Over the next hour, cnns Pamela Brown examines the Rise And Fall of candidate Joe Biden from his motivations for running against Donald Trump to the final days and hours before his historymaking decision. [music playing] Pamela Brown voiceover it was summer 2017, Joe Biden was out of the vice presidency, out of washington dc, and in his Home State of delaware. Evan osnos Joe Biden found himself in a place he hadnt been in his entire adult life, frankly. His politics had defined his identity, and now all of a sudden, he was a man without a purpose. Jeff zeleny it was always hanging over the question, would he get back in and run . Jill biden every single day, would come up to me at work or in the Grocery Store or the pharmacy, people on the street, strangers that i didnt even know would come up and say, you have to talk your husband into running. He has to run. He has to run. Pamela brown voiceover and then came the Unite The Right rally in charlottesville, virginia. Crowd jews will not replace us Pamela Brown voiceover then the president s reaction from Trump Tower in new york city. Donald trump you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Pamela brown Voiceover Biden was watching. Jill Biden Joe thought, we have to have change. We have to have change in this country. Kate bedingfield i remember him calling me and saying, are you watching whats happening in charlottesville . Are you seeing this . I remember he said to me that afternoon, i want to say something about this. Pamela brown voiceover what would follow, a chain of events that would propel Biden Closer and closer to the presidency. Van jones well, really, nobody thought biden was going to be a factor in 2020. Part of the Reason Obama picked him was because he was already in his 60s in 2008. So its like this guy is not going to be around to get in the way of the rest of The Party. And i think charlottesville was such a shock to people to see a president that was having a hard time forthrightly condemning something that most people just would automatically say no to. And i think it really bothered i think it bothered biden. Pamela brown voiceover so he did what he does with all big decisions. Evan Osnos Biden turned, as he always has, to his most trusted core advisors, an unchanging group in many respects. Kate bedingfield i mean, a lot of the discussions that we had in 2017 and 2018, as he was contemplating running, biden was really focused on if im going to get in this race, im going to be very clear about the fact that i believe the stakes are no less than a battle for the soul of our nation. Jill biden our grandchildren came to Joe and said, pop, weve all thought about it. You have to run. You have to run. You have to change things. Pamela brown voiceover but that change did not come quickly. It would take almost two years for biden to officially announce. Kate bedingfield it was pressure from outside. There was the expectation, the waiting, the anticipation. Whats he going to do. Jeff zeleny every Biden Decision takes a long time. Thats how hes made decisions in the senate. Its how he made decisions in the vice presidency, and certainly on his own political future. Pamela brown voiceover some believe he was still stung by the pressure back in 2016 to step aside and make room for hillary clinton. Evan osnos Joe Biden was also seething, frankly, about having not been able to run in 2016 against Donald Trump. He had been coaxed out of the race, nudged Out Of It by Barack Obama and other powerful figures in the democratic party. Van jones i think that bothered biden. I think biden felt that he had promised his son that he was going to run and he didnt do it. Joe biden thats why today im announcing my candidacy for president of the United States. Jeff zeleny when biden finally got into the race, there was excitement in some quarters of the democratic party, but there was also some apprehension. Evan osnos a lot of people thought that Joe Biden was a voice from The Partys past. He wasnt their idea of what the Partys Future could be. Bernie sanders thank you, New Hampshire. Subject 1 Joe Biden was on the side of the Credit Card companies. Its all a matter of public record. Van jones people were excited about other candidates. Subject 2 theres a lot of people who are concerned about Joe Bidens ability to carry the ball all the way across the End Line without fumbling. Van jones it just seemed like Yesterdays Guy clinging the glory. And so the circle around biden was pretty small. His campaign was pretty small. There werent big crowds. Pamela brown voiceover and there werent big wins either. Anderson cooper its the disappointment for biden currently running fourth. Pamela brown voiceover the first two democratic primaries, biden placed fourth in iowas caucuses, fifth in New Hampshire. Evan osnos he was really on the cusp of failing out of the race. In fact, he was so close to The End that one of his advisors said, you need to begin to prepare to have some money in the Bank Account in case we need to pay people for their severance and to close down the offices. Kate bedingfield that was a very tough week. We were in New Hampshire in that week. We were staying at a hotel in nashua, and the power went out in the hotel. We had candles in our rooms because there was no power in the hotel. There was some Gallows Humor around that. So it was tough moment, but there was a lot of faith in the strategy. Pamela brown voiceover that Strategy Win South Carolina. And critical to that, the support of representative Jim Clyburn the two had met decades earlier. Pamela brown did he talk to you about his dreams, ambitions, desires to be president one day . Jim clyburn well, it was very clear in that first meeting. Pamela brown voiceover they developed a close relationship and bonded. So in june of 2019, biden came calling for clyburn support, as did 21 other candidates at the representatives famous annual fish fry. After, clyburn rushed home to talk to his wife, emily, who was very sick. Jim clyburn and she said to me that night, she says, i dont care how many people are running. I dont care how many are close friends of ours. If we want to win this election, we better nominate Joe Biden. And this was in may 2019. She passed away in september. [music playing] Pamela Brown voiceover just over five months later Jim Clyburn im voting for Joe Biden. Van jones you got to give clyburn credit because its been easy to say, well, were just going to go for cory booker, hes black. Were going to go for Kamala Harris, shes black. Black voters said, who can stop bernie and who can stop trump . And in that calculation, it was Joe Biden. And nobody saw it coming. Jeff zeleny that really sealed Joe Bidens president ial candidacy. South carolina rescued him without a doubt. Anderson cooper sweeping Blowout Win for the former Vice President , Joe Biden. Joe biden My Buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back. Van Jones Biden goes from being a marginal joke to being a juggernaut in South Carolina because of Jim Clyburn. Joe biden this is a man of enormous integrity. Kate bedingfield having this moment where you just come roaring back in a way thats kind of bigger and stronger than people imagined was even possible. That feeling is so euphoric. Evan osnos it was amazing how quickly things came together. Candidates dropped out of the race and democrats were so focused on trying to make Donald Trump a one term president. David urban i expressed some concern to the folks in the campaign, different people, even the president himself, that Joe Biden was a much more formidable candidate than bernie sanders. Pamela brown voiceover Donald Trump went on the attack. Donald trump theyre going to put him into a home and other people are going to be running the country. Pamela brown voiceover he took on bidens age, despite being less than four years younger. Evan osnos one of the ways he addressed was that he came up with a kind of language of it. He would say, i want to be a bridge to a new generation. The implication was, the suggestion was that he probably wouldnt serve two terms, but he never came out and said that directly. Pamela brown voiceover on august 17, almost three years to the day after the Charlottesville Rally that brought biden into the 2020 race. Joe biden its a great honor and humility. I accept this nomination for president of the United States of america. Pamela brown voiceover he accepted the democratic nomination. Joe biden it was a Wakeup Call for us as a country. And for me, a call to action. I can never remain silent or complicit. I said, were in the battle for the soul of this nation. And we are. Pamela brown Voiceover Biden would go on. Polls would show to beat trump in crucial president ial debates. Joe biden the question is Donald Trump just as radical left. Joe biden will you shut up, man. Donald trump listen, who is on your list, Joe. . Who is on your list . Jake tapper gentlemen, i think we have ended up Donald Trump to pack the court. Pamela brown voiceover and then on Election Day 2020 at the ballot box. Anderson Cooper Biden is leading in nevada. But the math right now has biden leading in arizona. Cnn Projects Joseph R. Biden jr. Is elected. Pamela brown voiceover he wins the presidency a longtime dream fulfilled. But the opponent he defeated in this election refuses to go away. Donald trump this was a massive fraud. This should never take place in this country. [music playing] do solemnly swear. Joe biden i, joseph robinette Biden Jr. do solemnly swear. John roberts that i will faithfully execute. Joe biden that i will faithfully execute John Roberts the office of president of the United States. Joe Biden Office of president of the United States. David Chalian President Biden obviously inherited the presidency at a very trying time. Most americans did not yet have a vaccine, so the pandemic was still raging. The economy was still reeling because of the pandemic. [music playing] Joe Biden i said i intended to get 100 Million shots in peoples arms in my first 100 days in office. Tonight, i can say were not only going to meet that goal. Were going to beat that goal. David chalian americans were getting checks from the government to help them through the economic calamity that the pandemic had caused. So that was sort of a high Water Mark for Joe Biden. Joe biden today, i signed into law the american Rescue Plan, an historic piece of legislation that delivers immediate relief to millions of people, includes 1,400 in direct rescue checks, payments. Pamela brown and what about the Infrastructure Bill . Franklin Foer Infrastructure is perhaps the least sexy word in the english language, but it is so important to our ability to maintain our economic competitiveness and our national greatness. And the fact that was all crumbling and that we hadnt made these important investments for generations, was a big deal that he was able to reverse that and to do it in a way that was not just ramming it through congress. [applause] David Chalian Joe Biden was able to put together a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and successfully pushed through an overwhelming Infrastructure Bill that could transform roads, highways, airports, and all the other pieces of Americas Infrastructure in a pretty substantial way. Pamela brown voiceover like any presidency, bidens has also had its bad moments, especially the chaotic withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. Nicole malliotakis the 13 american service members are the first american troops to be killed in afghanistan, in fact, in 18 months. And its been such a tragic and sad week for the United States of america. But we cant say that this was unpreventable. I believe there were a lot of horrific decisions that were made one after another that have led to where we are today. And its extraordinarily unfortunate. Pamela brown voiceover a more lasting problem for President Biden, the effects of which still linger m is high inflation caused, at least in part by all the money that the american Rescue Plan put into the economy. Subject 3 Grocery Prices went up. Gallon of milk was 1. 99. Now its 2. 79. Van jones Joe Biden trying to respond to the real pain of people coming out of covid, and the built up demand in our party for more aggressive Government Action put that fuel on a fire that just turned into a wildfire of inflation. Pamela brown voiceover there would be one issue, one concern that biden could not solve with legislation or an executive order. And that was his age. Van jones he started looking different. He started walking different. And he started talking worse. And people started getting worried. Joe biden im sure that the Third World excuse me, the third World Van jones it was like this unspoken rule that you werent supposed to say it, that you could see it, but you couldnt say it. And Axelrod Kind of broke the seal on that. David axelrod he had strong support among democrats, but there were concerns about his age. And i was one of the people who expressed some of those, just as an electoral issue. Pamela brown voiceover two years ago, David Axelrod told The New York Times quote, the presidency is a monstrously taxing job, and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at The End of a second term, and that would be a major issue. David chalian and so those images of him tripping up the stairs of Air Force one or falling over a sandbag at that graduation at the Air Force academy, those were high profile public moments on camera, and his political opponents seized on him. Now, his aides also made adjustments because of them. So he started using the shorter steps to get up into Air Force one instead of the long steps to the top of the plane. He started wearing different shoes to try to stabilize his walks in public a bit more. Joe biden good. Almost morning. Pamela brown voiceover President Bidens team would schedule a few interviews or press conferences, fewer than any other recent president. Mj lee there is the chance that the president could misspeak or make a mistake, and thats clearly something that White House advisors had become really sensitive to. [applause] Pamela Brown voiceove