Anchovy pizza and one-minute warning: how Biden passed torch to Harris

The end for US President Joe Biden's election hopes was quick and unfolded in almost total secrecy -- but Vice President Kamala Harris was ready.

Isolated in his Delaware beach house with Covid, the 81-year-old Biden made his historic announcement that he was dropping out of the White House race in a statement on social media at 1:46 pm on Sunday.

It was just one minute after he held a video call with stunned staff and two days after his team insisted he was looking forward to returning to the campaign trail.

An image of an angry, almost Shakespearean Biden emerged in US media. Hunkered down far from Washington, he wavered as his former allies came out one by one to say he must drop out following his disastrous debate performance less than a month earlier.

Biden reportedly discussed his decision only with his family and closest aides in a series of meetings on Saturday, which came after new polling data made it clear he had no path to beating Republican Donald Trump.

But when the call was made to pass the torch, he made sure his vice president was in the loop.

"On Sunday morning, Vice President Harris had multiple phone conversations with the President prior to his announcement that he would not be seeking reelection and would instead endorse her," a person familiar with events told AFP.

It was a momentous revelation, even in a job that revolves around being a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The 59-year-old former prosecutor, America's first Black, female and South Asian vice president, was being backed by Biden to be the country's president.

- Call to pastor -

Surrounded by family and staff at the vice president's residence on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Washington, the hard work was just beginning.

A Democratic nomination to secure and, if she succeeded, less than four months to retool an entire campaign and beat Trump.

Harris followed up with over 100 calls to senior Democrats, labor leaders and civil rights organizations in which she "made clear that she was extremely grateful for the President's endorsement, but plans to work hard to earn the Democratic nomination in her own right."

"One of the calls was to her pastor, Amos Brown III, who, along with his wife, prayed over her," the source said.

Symbolism is everything in politics, and the details that were released about one of the most extraordinary days in Harris's life told their own carefully cultivated story.

Harris apparently spent the day dressed in a hooded sweatshirt from Howard University, the historically black Washington college she attended, sweatpants and sneakers.

The vice president is famed for her love of Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, a fondness which once earned its own story in Vogue magazine.

Harris meanwhile "took time to arrange both lunch and dinner for the assembled aides," the source said.

The food choices offered a glimpse into what could be served for the next four years in the White House -- and perhaps not so different to the burgers favored by Biden's predecessor Trump.

"The menu was salad and sandwiches for lunch, and pizza and salad for dinner. The Vice President's pizza came with anchovies, her go-to topping."