U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden has made it official.

He’s not running for the White House in 2016 – putting Hillary Clinton in a stronger position to capture the Democratic nomination.

With his wife, Jill, and President Barack Obama at his side in the White House Rose Garden, the 72-year old Biden said the window for a successful campaign ”has closed,” pointing to his family’s grief after his 46-year-old son Beau died of brain cancer in May.

Biden’s decision means his long career, which includes almost 40 years in the Senate and two terms as vice-president, will end along with the Obama administration in January 2017.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says Biden would have been a good candidate, ”but he made the right decision.”