Condolences poured in from across the political spectrum as Vice President Joseph R. Biden dealt with another crushing family tragedy with the death of his 46-year-old son Beau Biden, who passed away Saturday night after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.
A former attorney general of Delaware, the younger Mr. Biden was an Iraq war veteran and a likely candidate to run for governor of his home state. Beau Biden and his brother survived the crash that took Vice President Biden’s first wife and a daughter in a 1971 road accident.
“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,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words.”
On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Obama and the first lady visited the Bidens at the vice president’s home at the Naval Observatory in Washington to express their condolences, with the president spending more than a half-hour with the family. The Obamas also canceled a White House reception Sunday that was to have benefited Ford’s Theatre. A White House official said they did so “out of respect” for the Biden family.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened a rare Sunday Senate session by expressing his own sadness at the news.
“I’ve known the vice president for many years, and it’s hard to think of anything more important to him than his faith and his family,” Mr. McConnell said. “I hope he will find comfort in the former as he grieves such a terrible loss.”
Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid praised Mr. Biden’s military service and record as Delaware’s attorney general.
“I’m sure his family will take solace knowing he lived a selfless noble life,” Mr. Reid said.
As Beau Biden’s illness worsened, the vice president’s office said last week that he was receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda.
In 2013, he was admitted to a Houston hospital after reportedly feeling disoriented and weak. He underwent surgery for a brain lesion.
The younger Mr. Biden was elected as Delaware’s attorney general in 2006. As a captain in the Delaware National Guard, he served in Iraq for one year, and also worked as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia from 1997 to 2002.
The vice president said his son’s spirit “will live on in all of us — especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter.”
“His absolute honor made him a role model for our family,” the vice president said. “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.”
Said the president: “For all that Beau Biden achieved in his life, nothing made him prouder; nothing made him happier; nothing claimed a fuller focus of his love and devotion than his family. Just like his dad.”
“Joe is one of the strongest men we’ve ever known,” Mr. Obama said. “He’s as strong as they come, and nothing matters to him more than family.”
Beau Biden was seen to have a bright political future in Delaware and the news left members of both parties stunned and saddened.
“He was extraordinarily in tune with people,” said Democratic Gov. Jack Markell. “He was passionate about serving. … I think it’s important that people know what a real, genuine, decent guy he was.”
Charlie Copeland, chairman of the Delaware Republican Party, called it “truly tragic news.”
“Beau served his country and the citizens of Delaware with honor and dignity,” Mr. Copeland said in a statement. “He leaves behind a lasting impact on the world around him. He will be missed.”
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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