In a speech about honest leadership and the importance of sticking by principles, former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden told a crowd at the Metro Convention Centre that running for U.S. president in 2020 was not completely out of the question.

“I will sit down with my family in the next calendar year and see,” he said on Tuesday. “"No man or woman has the right to run for president of the United States unless they can look you in the eye and say, ‘I guarantee you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul and all my attention.’”

The American politician was the headline speaker for a conference called The Art of Leadership that took place on Tuesday afternoon, which brought together leaders and motivational speakers such as journalist Amanda Lang and creative director Welby Altidor.

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Biden, 75, served as the 47th vice-president during the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. Biden, who ran for presidential leadership twice, is considered by many to be one of America’s most well-known and influential vice-presidents.

On Tuesday, he described his relationship with former president Barack Obama as one founded in loyalty. He highlighted the administrations achievements, hinting at his own role in each.

Trusted by former president Barack Obama, Biden was often involved in significant assignments, such as implementing the economic stimulus plan and leading several international missions.

“We trust each other completely, absolutely, totally,” he said on Tuesday. “I trust him with my life.”

On Dec. 6, Vice President Joe Biden jokes about his own talk on seeking the presidency in 2020. On his way into a meeting with House Democrats Tuesday, Biden said, I'm going to announce right now in response to questions about whether he'll run. (The Associated Press)

Biden, who represented Delaware as a senator from 1973 until his term in the White House, also spoke about his new memoir, Promise Me, Dad, which details the illness and death of his elder son, Beau, who died of brain cancer at 46 in 2015.

He said Tuesday that his difficult decision not to pursue the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 rested in the difficulties of dealing with the death.

“I didn’t write this book to dwell on grief but to let people know that I understand it, but there is hope and purpose and a way to get through,” he said. “I know people have suffered much more than I have.”

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Biden, who introduced the Violence Against Women Act in the 1990s, told the audience violence against women is deeply rooted in American culture and that leaders need to stand up against such issues regardless of the cost to one’s position or career.

He listed several qualities important to leadership, which included empathy, being engaged and principled and not confusing academic credentials with good judgment.

“Everyone in my constituency who wanted to run for office in the future came to me and said ‘what’s the secret?’” he told the audience. “I said, ‘have you figured what’s worth losing for. If you haven’t don’t do it, go do something else.’”

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