President Joe Biden was emotional Monday when Bill Clinton surprised him with an award for his public service.
Biden wiped away a few tears as Bill Clinton praised his “uncommon decency, kindness and grace.” The former president awarded him the Clinton Global Citizen Award.
The president also got personal when he thanked the Clintons, especially Hillary Clinton, for their support: “I want to thank you personally for the way you’ve helped me.”
“I love you,” he told the former first lady.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pose for a photo after being presented with the Global Citizen Award by former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative
Biden made an unscheduled stop at the Clinton Global Initiative on Monday night as Jill Biden was participating in a session on women’s health with Chelsea Clinton.
At the session, Jill Biden unveiled a new set of actions to address health inequalities facing women in the United States, plans that include spending at least $500 million annually on women’s health research.
After Jill and Chelsea finished their talk, the song “Hail to the Chief” played. Hillary Clinton walked out, followed by Bill Clinton, who accompanied President Joe Biden. The room erupted into a standing ovation.
The president gave the first lady a long hug and then did the same with Chelsea Clinton.
Bill Clinton, who publicly supported Biden’s bid to stay in the presidential race after many Democrats called for him to drop out, praised the president’s service.
“It is now my honor to welcome back a friend of 40 years and an extraordinary leader who spent his entire life fighting to make America a better, fairer and stronger country,” he said of Biden, who endorsed him.
She presented the crystal trophy. The Clinton Global Citizen Award recognizes world leaders who take action to improve the state of the world, according to the Clinton Foundation.
In 2013, then-Vice President Biden was the guest presenter to present Mayor Michael Bloomberg with the Clinton Global Citizen Award. Other winners included Olena Zelenska, Jon Bon Jovi, Malala Yousafzai and Leonardo DiCaprio.
President Joe Biden wipes away a tear as Bill Clinton praises him
Joe Biden and Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative
President Joe Biden gives First Lady Jill Biden a hug
Biden, standing alongside first lady Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, joked: “This is what you call being trapped.”
He also poked some fun at the former president in his comments.
“You and I have something very much in common. We married someone of a much higher social standing than us. I am Jill Biden’s husband. He is Hillary Clinton’s husband,” he said, recycling one of his all-time favorite jokes.
He then called Jill Biden’s announcement one of the most important of his administration.
“As a point of personal pride, I think Jill’s work on women’s health research, and this is Jill’s, and this was Jill’s move, was going to go down in history as one of our most important programs in our administration,” she said.
The additional government spending will come primarily from the Department of Defense, which provides health care to more than 230,000 active-duty military women and nearly 2 million retired military personnel, as well as their family members.
The research will focus on why these women experience endocrine, hematological and other immune-related disorders twice as often as men.
“Women are really hungry for this kind of information,” Jill Biden said. “We don’t have the answers.”
President Biden hugs Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton and Jill Biden lead a talk on women’s health
The Clintons have set the theme for this year’s meeting as “What’s Working,” a way to look for possible solutions and effective programs in tumultuous times.
After exchanging compliments, the Clintons and Bidens posed for a group photo.