Former Vice President Joe Biden writes in his new book that Hillary Clinton was a "prisoner of history" when it came to her unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, adding that she lacked "joy."
In excerpts of his new book, Promise Me, Dad, printed in Vanity Fair, Biden reflects on his decision not to run for the Democratic nomination against Clinton as well as the death of his son, Beau, in 2015.
Biden addresses Clinton's position as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination early in the race and the fact that she was a woman in that position. Biden also writes he decided not to run because of the death of Beau and has since said he regrets the decision.
"Everyone thinks it was just raw ambition on her part," Biden writes. "I think she was sort of a prisoner of history; first woman who had a better-than-even chance of getting the nomination. First woman, relative to the Republican field, who had a better-than-even chance of being president."
Biden also says that he believed Clinton's campaign was joyless, as noted by Newsweek, while he enjoyed campaigns during his long political career.
"And so I never got the sense that there was any joy in her campaign," Biden writes. "Maybe it's me, but I find joy in doing this."