Why Joe Biden's decision to step out of the presidential race had to happen in Delaware

The letter was posted to social media at 1:46 p.m. Sunday.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Joe Biden wrote. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down."

The news was a shock.

For weeks, the president had been steadfast. Despite increasingly losing support from his own party, as recently as Friday, he had said publicly he was staying in the race.

Privately, the messaging was no different.

Biden had been resolute, according to a campaign staffer with direct knowledge of the decision-making process who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Until the minute that message was posted Sunday afternoon, campaign and White House staff – save for a group “you can count on two hands” – were proceeding with the Biden-Harris ticket full-steam ahead.

They learned of Biden's decision exactly the same way the general public did. And even Biden's Chief of Staff was only notified of the decision one minute before it went live, the staffer said.

Within moments of the announcement, the text and Signal messages began flying. Some staffers were incredulous. Others were uncertain about the future. Many had questions − including what had changed while the president holed up in Rehoboth Beach.

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Was it being home in Delaware, a state that has defined Biden unlike any other president in recent memory? Was it a brief moment away from the public eye as he recovered from “mild” COVID-19 symptoms?

Or was it a little bit of both – a chance to quietly reflect in a place where his mark is everywhere?

Those who know Biden well say it was the latter.

“President Biden has always found strength and grounding here at home,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a longtime friend and national co-chair of Biden's reelection campaign.

“When he has come through some of the hardest moments in his life,” Coons continued, “it was the encouragement and the support of Delawareans, the strength he gained from going to his parish and from the encouragement of folks who've known him for decades that allowed him to get back up and to continue serving.”

'He is stepping aside'

Coons was speaking on a panel in Aspen, Colorado when his phone began buzzing.

He ignored the device and continued his talk. But soon, “gasps” and “exclamations” began to sound from reporters.

“Senator, you should stop,” Coons recalled one reporter interrupting. “President Biden has just announced he is stepping aside.”

Coons picked up his phone, which had been lying face-down. As he turned it over, he saw the missed call. The president had tried to give him a heads-up just minutes before the announcement was made.

Soon, Coons had stepped outside, where he dialed Biden.

The news was a surprise, he acknowledged to reporters on Monday.

“It wasn’t where I thought we were headed,” he said.

But the president, Coons said, had heeded the increasingly-loud calls to end his pursuit of a second term.

“He listened to Delawareans. He listened to colleagues. He listened to folks from around the country from all different backgrounds and ultimately made the decision to step aside,” Coons said.

“This is one of the more selfless decisions, in the best interest of the country, I've seen by a national leader in my life,” he added as he spoke at a veterans’ resource fair held at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center on Monday.

Coons noted that the facility, named after the president’s late son, showed just how entwined Delaware and the Biden family are. And it was not lost on the senator that it was in Rehoboth Beach – away from all the noise of Washington D.C. – that the announcement was made.

'Sort of poetic'

Though Biden was not born in Delaware, he’s called the First State home for more than 70 years.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware. He began his political career in New Castle County. The first defining tragedy of his life occurred in the state, though he was in Washington, D.C., at the time.

That December day in 1972, his first wife Neilia was driving the family’s Chevrolet station wagon when it collided with a tractor-trailer loaded with corn cobs at the intersection of Limestone and Valley roads in Hockessin. Neilia and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed, while toddlers Beau and Hunter were severely injured.

Several decades later, another Biden tragedy would occur in the Diamond State: Beau’s death from brain cancer.

And just six weeks ago, the family was put through another painful ordeal – the trial and conviction of Hunter, whose struggles with addiction were dredged up for the world to see.

Yet Delaware is also where Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s worlds collided and where their daughter Ashley was born. It’s where he received the call, in August 2008, from former President Barack Obama that he’d been tapped as the vice presidential pick.

It’s where he announced his campaign for president on April 25, 2019, and then learned more than 18 months later that he and Harris had won. It's where he has repeatedly promised: "When I die, Delaware will be written on my heart."

Ultimately, Delaware is where he made the decision not to run.

“It’s sort of poetic,” the campaign staffer told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “And it’s hard to conceive of it having been made anywhere else.”

Delaware to become important to Harris, too

Though Biden has passed the torch to Harris, the president’s Delaware has − and will remain − relevant in this presidential race.

Long before the vice president made her first appearance as a 2024 presidential candidate in Wilmington, Biden ensured she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, would have their own fond memories of the First State.

It was 2020 and Biden had just asked the former California senator to be his running mate. A day later, she and Emhoff arrived in Wilmington.

The Bidens had prepped for their welcome as any good host would: By baking cookies. As they ushered Harris and Emhoff into their home, they told the couple: "'Welcome to the family. You’re now Bidens,'” Emhoff recalled.

Four years later, on Monday afternoon, Harris held her first rally in the president's home state. His former headquarters have now become hers.

Blasting Beyoncé's "Freedom," Harris walked onto a stage inside the Nemours Building – a structure originally built for another Delaware institution: the DuPont Co.

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But just before being greeted by cheers, Biden's voice sounded from a speaker his campaign had set up to conference him in.

“Let me be very clear: We’re still fighting in this fight together,” Biden said through the phone from Rehoboth Beach.

“I’m not going anywhere. And I want you to know, you’ve always had my back and I promise you, I will always have your back.”

Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on X at @izzihughes_

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Why Joe Biden's reelection decision had to happen at home, in Delaware