Joe Biden Reports for Jury Duty, Gets Dismissed

Updated 1:58 p.m. Eastern Time

Vice President Joe Biden reported for jury duty at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware this morning. He was there to "participate in the standard jury selection process in his capacity as a private citizen," according to the White House.

Within hours, however, he and the other jurors had been dismissed, saving Biden from having to serve on a trial.

The vice president, who joined about 100 lesser-known Americans at the courthouse, told The News Journal of Wilmington when he arrived that he doesn't "consider myself different than any other person."

Biden called it "important" to participate and deemed it "an honor to be a part of the system."

"I hope the president serves in Chicago if he is called," he added in comments to the newspaper.

The president was in fact called to serve in a Chicago suburb one year ago - but he told the court he wouldn't be able to make it.

Biden, a longtime Delaware senator, was reportedly accompanied in the jury assembly room by several Secret Service agents -- though he sat and chatted with other members of the jury pool. During a break, the News Journal reports, the suit-clad vice president excused himself to make secure telephone calls to President Obama and others.