Mr. Vilsack counts Biden as one of his major political influences.
When the mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa was assassinated, Vilsack, then a lawyer, recalled what Sen. Joe Biden had once said that good men and women have a duty to serve because if they don't less qualified people will take the job. So Vilsack ran for mayor, won, and then went on to serve two successful terms as governor.
Vilsack's then 26-year-old son met Biden at the 2004 Democratic convention and mentioned to the Delaware senator that he would be vacationing on the Jersey Shore, just up the coast.
Biden gave Vilsack's son his home phone number and told him to call anytime if he needed anything -- after all, his parents would be far away, in Iowa.
"My son still has that number," he said.
I asked Vilsack whether Biden had been angry about his endorsement of Sen. Hillary Clinton.
No, Vilsack said.
"He knows that loyalty gets you very far in politics."
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