Vice President Joe Biden has been a positive factor in the new Obama Administration, using his experience and knowledge to be a non-obtrusive adviser to the President, according to the NY Times.
Biden has adjusted well to his role, controlling his verbose nature, but also being readily available for the President’s ear and attending and participating actively in many meetings, stating his viewpoints clearly, but also recognizing that the President has the final decision in all matters.
Biden has developed a role of support and openness, and has been close to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, therefore using his well known foreign policy expertise in a positive way through her and the President.
The key point is that Biden is NOT acting in the dominant role that Dick Cheney had under George W. Bush, and that is all to the good. The Vice President understands his place in the administration, and he is seen as re-establishing the Vice Presidency in the kind of image it had under Walter Mondale and Al Gore.