Beau Biden – son of Vice President Joe Biden – died of brain cancer at 46, the White House confirmed in a statement Saturday.
"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 statement from Vice President
Biden's office said.
"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," the
statement said.
President Obama said he and the first lady were grieving alongside the Biden family.
"Michelle and I humbly pray for the good Lord to watch over Beau
Biden, and to protect and comfort his family here on Earth," Obama said
in a statement released late Saturday.
Beau Biden was a lawyer and member of the Delaware National Guard and
former Delaware attorney general. However, he never would follow in his
father’s footsteps as a U.S. senator and perhaps even become governor.
Biden, although was planning to run for governor of Delaware in 2016,
was plagued with health troubles throughout his political career.
In 2010, Biden suffered a mild stroke at only 41 years old. Three
years later, he found himself in a Texas hospital for cancer treatment.
In August 2013, he would undergo surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center
at the University of Texas in Houston to remove a lesion. That was
followed by radiation treatment and chemotherapy. Three months after the
procedure, doctors gave him a clean bill of health.
However, Biden suffered a recurrence and was admitted to Walter Reed
Hospital in May, officials said. At that time though, it was unaware why
he was being treated.
Support for the Biden family poured in from both sides of the aisle Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley both expressed their sympathies to the Bidens.
“My heart is broken for the family of Beau Biden—a wonderful man who
served his country with devotion and lived his life with courage,”
Hillary tweeted.
“Katie and I are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Beau
Biden. He served his country and the people of Delaware with great
honor,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out
to the entire Biden family in this moment of great loss.”
Senator James Langford (R-OK) also released a statement expressing his remorse.
"I'm incredibly saddened to hear of the death of Vice President Joe
Biden's son, Beau Biden,” the statement said. “Our entire nation mourns
with the Biden family and the White House during this difficult time.
Vice President Biden has endured incredible tragedies during his
lifetime. Cindy and I pray for the Biden family, Beau's widow, Natalie,
and their two children."
The news of Beau Biden’s death also caught the Delaware political
establishment off guard and also renewed questions about his health.
Beau Biden kept a low profile and declined any interviews abou his
health.
"I think he would have run. I think he would have won," said Delaware
Gov. Jack Markell, a fellow Democrat. Markell said he last spoke to
Biden in February, when he invited him to a meeting of Democratic
governors in Washington, D.C.
"He was serious" about running for governor, added New Castle County
Executive Tom Gordon, a longtime friend and political ally of Joe Biden
who described Beau Biden as the most popular politician in Delaware. "He
thought he was going to win this battle."
Gordon said he last spoke to Beau several weeks ago, when Biden participated in a conference call on crime issues in Wilmington.
"He was a rock star," Gordon said. "He had a great image, great character."
Beau Biden left office earlier this year and joined a Delaware law
firm run by Stuart Grant, a prominent Democratic campaign donor and
plaintiffs lawyer specializing in corporate litigation. The first
announced in late April that Biden was expanding his work on behalf of
whistleblower clients, but was not available to clients.
Biden, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, earned a law degree
from Syracuse University in 1994. He served as a law clerk for a federal
judge in New Hampshire before working for the U.S. Department of
Justice from 1995 until 2002, including five years as a federal
prosecutor in Philadelphia. In 2001, he volunteered for an interim
assignment helping to train judges and prosecutors in postwar Kosovo.
With his father, then Delaware's senior U.S. senator, at his side in
2006, Biden launched his campaign for attorney general. He promised to
reorganize the state Department of Justice to better combat identity
theft, Internet stalking by pedophiles, street crime and abuse of the
elderly.
Biden won with 52.6 percent of the vote.
"He's supped at this table since he's been 3 years old," a beaming
Joe Biden said after the victory. Beau Biden was a toddler when his
father was first elected to the Senate.
"I'm just proud of him," the elder Biden added. "I think he will make the state proud."
The young Biden sidestepped questions about his own political ambitions during the campaign.
"Sometimes, it's not good to look too far down the road," said Biden,
who remained similarly cautious about discussing his long-range plans
in an interview with The Associated Press after suffering the stroke in
2010.
"Having long-term dreams is a good thing ... but having a plan has
never worked for me, because life always intervenes," Biden told the AP
at the time. For Biden, his initial health scare was also a reminder to
balance his job with family time — advice he encouraged others to
follow.
"It's kind of reinforced how I've operated my life," he said.
As attorney general, Biden established a child predator unit, joined
other attorneys general in taking on mortgage lenders over foreclosure
abuses, proposed tougher bail restrictions for criminal defendants,
putting him at odds with some fellow Dems.
But a spate of shootings in Biden's hometown of Wilmington went
largely unabated during his tenure, and his office stumbled in some
high-profile murder prosecutions, including two cases in which murder
charges were dropped. Biden also faced scrutiny over how his office
handled the case of Earl Bradley, a pediatrician who sexually assaulted
scores of young patients over more than a decade before being arrested
in December 2009.
Biden cited his focus on the Bradley case in announcing in January
2010 that he would not run for the Senate seat that his father vacated
in 2008 when he was elected vice president.
The younger Biden's decision stunned political observers, including
many fellow Democrats who thought Joe Biden's former chief of staff, Ted
Kaufman, had been appointed to the Senate on an interim basis to keep
the seat warm for the son. A fellow Democrat, New Castle County
Executive Chris Coons, won the seat after Castle, who had been
considered the odds-on favorite, was upset by tea party-backed Christine
O'Donnell in the GOP primary.
"I have no regrets," Biden said after O'Donnell's stunning primary
victory scrambled the political calculus surrounding the Senate seat.
Biden coasted to re-election as attorney general in 2010 after Republicans declined to field a candidate against him.
In addition to his work as a lawyer and attorney general, Biden was a
major in an Army National Guard unit that deployed to Iraq in 2008.
He was married and the father of two children.
Markell ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Delaware in honor of Biden.
Funeral arrangements are pending.