U.S. Vice President Joe Biden‘s son Joseph “Beau” Biden died Saturday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 46.
Beau was an attorney and served as the Attorney General of Delaware from 2007 to 2015. He spoke at the 2008 Democratic National Convention to support Barack Obama‘s first presidential campaign.
Beau earned his law degree at the Syracuse University College of Law, just as his father. Beau joined the Delaware Army National Guard in 2003 and served as a Major in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008, where he served for a year.
In a statement, Joe said that his family is “saddened beyond words” at Beau’s death and that Beau’s “absolute honor made him a role model for our family.” Survivors include Beau’s wife, Hallie, and their two children, Natalie and Hunter.
“More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brother,” Joe’s statement continued. “Beau embodied my father’s saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.”
President Obama released a statement to express his family’s condolences: “Michelle and I are grieving tonight. Beau Biden was a friend of ours. His beloved family — Hallie, Natalie and Hunter — are friends of ours. And Joe and Jill Biden are as good as friends get.”
“Beau Biden believed the best of us all,” Obama continued. “For him, and for his family, we swing our lanterns higher.”
In a statement, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz wrote that “our country lost a committed public servant, someone who devoted his own life to making the lives of others better.”
Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.) issued a statement remembering Beau and praising him for his military service. “He put on the uniform and bravely served America as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard … and he never forgot his roots, following his father into public service as Delaware’s 44th Attorney General,” Bass wrote.
Beau’s mother was Joe’s first wife, Neilia Hunter. Neilia died in a car accident in November 1972, as did Neilia and Joe’s infant daughter, Naomi. Beau and brother Hunter survived the crash. Joe married current wife Jill in 1977.
Joe’s full statement can be read below.
It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life.
The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us—especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter.
Beau’s life was defined by service to others. As a young lawyer, he worked to establish the rule of law in war-torn Kosovo. A major in the Delaware National Guard, he was an Iraq War veteran and was awarded the Bronze Star. As Delaware’s Attorney General, he fought for the powerless and made it his mission to protect children from abuse.
More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brother. His absolute honor made him a role model for our family. Beau embodied my father’s saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.
In the words of the Biden family: Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.
