Throughout the 90 minute discussion, Biden walked the room and kept Obama’s advisers focused on trying to set narrow goals for the American mission in Afghanistan, according to the Times. Out was former President George W. Bush’s vaguely worded “freedom agenda.” In was a strategy of “benchmarks” for fighting Al Qaeda.

Biden was the “voice of caution,” who reminded everyone that they “would have to sell their plans to a skeptical Congress,” the Times said, attributing the information to interviews with half a dozen White House advisers.