This was a busy year for Vice President Joe Biden: He was President Obama's point man on gun control; he traveled widely, pushing for infrastructure spending; and he recently returned form a trip to Asia, where he met with the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea.
In 2014, Biden may face an even busier schedule, as he stumps for Democratic Congressional candidates in advance of November's mid-term elections and tries to decide whether to make another run for president himself.
From the start of his association with Obama, Biden made clear he didn't want a ceremonial role as vice president, but wanted to serve as a key adviser, using his wide-ranging experience as a 36-year veteran of the Senate.
Ted Kaufman was Biden's chief of staff for many years, and even his temporary successor in the Senate. He says Biden's role has worked well for both the vice president and Obama.
"I think the plan that he and the president came up with originally is really playing out, and that was, when the president asked him to run, that he would be the last person talking to the president," Kaufman says. "That's worked out very well. It's worked out well for the president, it's worked out for him."
But not everything worked out for Biden or the president this year. Biden's highest profile assignment was leading the administration's effort to win new restrictions on gun purchases in the wake of last December's shootings in Newtown, Conn.
The measure failed in the Senate, but Biden vowed to press on.
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