In May, at the twilights of their long careers, Mr. Biden, 81, awarded Ms. Pelosi, 84, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, anointing her the “greatest speaker of the House of Representatives in history."

That was then. In July, Ms. Pelosi began pushing for Mr. Biden to exit the presidential race, and the two have not spoken since he made the difficult decision to step aside. There are multiple reports that Mr. Biden is angry with her. (On Wednesday, a person close to him said he was “unhappy” with the way things went.) ...

It is not clear when they will speak again, a painful reality that Ms. Pelosi admits keeps her up at night.