Humorists will forever call this black Wednesday.
Via CNN:
With barely 10 minutes warning, a press staffer yelled at shocked journalists and hustled them to the White House Rose Garden just before noon on Wednesday to witness an abrupt moment of history.
The ceremonial venue, the stolen glances at a teleprompter and word that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden would appear told the reporters all they needed to know.
Biden used the space reserved for the most ornate and somber presidential theater to announce he wasn’t running for President, suddenly ending the feverish speculation that increasingly consumed Washington.