Vice¹ President Joe Biden says he "would have been the best president" if he had mounted a successful campaign in the 2016 election, but that forgoing² the race was the right decision for his family.

 

美国副总统拜登说，如果他在2016年大选中组织一次成功的竞选活动，那么他“就会成为最好的总统”。但放弃竞选是为家庭做出的正确选择。

 

Speaking with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin³ Roberts in an exclusive interview that aired Wednesday, Biden said he had planned to run but changed course only after his eldest⁴ son Beau died last May.

 

"No one should ever seek the presidency⁵ unless they're able to devote their whole heart and soul and passion into just doing that," he said. "And, Beau was my soul. I just wasn't ready to be able to do that. But, so, my one regret is my Beau's not here. I don't have any other regrets."

 

For months last year the question of whether Biden would run loomed⁶ over the Democratic presidential contest. Then in October he announced that he and his family were still dealing⁷ with the grief over Beau's death and he would not seek the presidency.

 

Beau Biden died in May 2015 at the age of 46 after a battling brain cancer for years.

 

The vice president's comments came during an interview with Roberts about his "Cancer Moon Shot" initiative, which aims to accelerate the effort to improve treatments for cancer and to possibly find a cure.

 

"It's kind of bittersweet," Biden told Roberts of his role leading the administration's fight against the disease that took his son. "But this is -- this allows me to pour all my energies into -- doing somethin' that -- hopefully will -- five years from now if -- someone's diagnosed with what my Beau was diagnosed with, they -- they live."

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