Separate telephone conversations between President and former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush as Biden prepared to make the announcement underscore the longevity of the conflict, which has spanned four presidential administrations and nearly 20 years.
“He values his views and wanted them both to hear directly from him his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday about Biden’s calls for Obama and Bush.
While Bush, who announced the start of the war on October 7, 2001, declined to comment on his call with Biden, his spokesman, Freddy Ford, told CNN that former president and first lady Laura Bush “remains committed to honoring and supporting our post-9/11 veterans and women’s empowerment in Afghanistan through their work at the Bush Institute.”
In a gesture that played the role of Bush at the start of the nearly 20-year war, Biden made his remarks on the plan to withdraw from the same seat in the White House Treaty Room as the 43rd president. announced the start of the war on October 7, 2001.
The conversation between the nation’s 43rd and 46th presidents was brief, according to two officials familiar with the call, who also described it as warm and cordial.
“President Biden has made the right decision in completing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan,” Obama said in a statement moments after Biden made his first public statements about the decision.
While not referring to his call with Biden in the statement, Obama said, “I support President Biden’s courageous leadership in building our nation at home and restoring our position around the world. “.
This support has a symbolic weight, as Biden, who was then Obama’s vice president, had ardently defended Obama that troops should withdraw in 2009.
At one point, that year, he handwritten a note to Obama arguing for the withdrawal and faxed it to the White House from his Thanksgiving vacation in Nantucket. He made several attempts to argue his case with Obama, who chose to increase troops before removing many.
Biden said Wednesday that the withdrawal will begin on May 1, according to the deal that President Donald Trump’s administration made with the Taliban. He said the full withdrawal will take place on September 11th. Some U.S. troops will remain to protect U.S. diplomats, though officials declined to provide an accurate number.
After formally announcing the decision, the president visited the Arlington National Cemetery section, where many of the dead of the Afghanistan war in the United States are buried, where he greeted a wreath that was placed there. .
This story was updated with additional details on Wednesday.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.