Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on February 3, 1969. He was the first son of Joe Biden (who would become a U.S. senator, vice president, and president), and his first wife Neilia. On December 18, 1972, Beau's mother and infant sister Naomi were killed in an automobile accident while Christmas shopping. Beau was just under four years old, and his brother, Hunter, was just under three years old. Beau and Hunter were in the car when the crash took place and were critically injured but survived. Beau sustained multiple broken bones, while Hunter sustained injuries to his skull and severe traumatic brain damage.[2] They spent several months in the hospital, where their father was sworn into the Senate two weeks after the accident.[3][4][5]
According to some accounts, Beau and Hunter encouraged their father to marry again, even going so far as to ask him "when were 'we' going to get married".[6] In June 1977, his father married Jill Jacobs, whom Beau welcomed as a stepmother. His half-sister, Ashley, was born in 1981.[7]
Beau Biden married Hallie Olivere in 2002. They had two children: daughter Natalie Naomi (b. 2004), and son Robert Hunter II (b. 2006).[8][9]
Biden was in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, working on behalf of the OSCE to train judges and prosecutors for the local judicial system.[15][16] In 2004 he became a partner in the law firm of Bifferato, Gentilotti, Biden & Balick, where he worked for two years before being elected Attorney General of Delaware.[17]
When Joe Biden was nominated for vice president at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Beau introduced him. Many delegates wept at his speech, which recounted the auto accident that killed his mother and sister and the subsequent commitment his father made to his sons.[18][19]
Biden's unit was activated to deploy to Iraq on October 3, 2008, and sent to Fort Bliss, Texas for pre-deployment training.[23] This was the day after his father participated in the 2008 presidential campaign's only vice presidential debate. His father was on the record as saying, "I don't want him going. But I tell you what, I don't want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years, and so how we leave makes a big difference."[24]
Biden returned from Iraq in September 2009 after completing his yearlong stint on active duty which included a 7-month deployment in the combat zone with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.[28] During his deployment he announced that he would continue to actively serve as Delaware's attorney general by working in conjunction with his office's senior staff in Delaware,[29] although a member of his unit related that Biden said he had turned over most of his attorney general work to his chief deputy in order to focus on his duties in Iraq.[30]
Biden was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq.[31]Army Chief of StaffRaymond Odierno delivered the eulogy at Biden's funeral and presented a posthumous Legion of Merit for his service in the Delaware National Guard, stating "Beau Biden possessed the traits I have witnessed in only the greatest leaders."[32] He was also posthumously presented with the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross, which is "awarded for heroism, meritorious service and outstanding achievement".[33]
Political career
Biden giving his victory speech after being elected Attorney General of Delaware in 2006, as his father and step-mother look onBiden and Holly Petraeus in 2012
In his first bid for political office, Biden ran for attorney general of Delaware in 2006. Biden's opponent was a veteran state prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney, Ferris Wharton. Major issues in the campaign included the candidates' experience and proposed efforts to address sex offenders, Internet predators, senior abuse and domestic abuse. Biden won the election by approximately five percentage points.[34]
After being elected, he appointed former Delaware Attorney General and International Judge Richard S. Gebelein as Chief Deputy Attorney General, and former assistant U.S. AttorneyRichard G. Andrews was appointed as State Prosecutor. As Attorney General, Biden supported and enforced stronger registration requirements for sex offenders.[35][36]
Joe Biden resigned from the Senate following his 2008 election to the vice presidency. Governor Ruth Ann Minner named former Joe Biden aide Ted Kaufman to fill the vacant seat, but Kaufman made it clear that he would not be a candidate in the 2010 special election. It fueled speculation Beau would run at that time.[37] Biden's father stated after the announcement of Kaufman's appointment, "It is no secret that I believe my son, Attorney General, would make a great United States Senator just as I believe he has been a great attorney general. But Beau has made it clear from the moment he entered public life that any office he sought he would earn on his own.... [I]f he chooses to run for the Senate in the future, he will have to run and win on his own. He wouldn't have it any other way."[38]
Delaware's Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee and Biden in 2013
In October 2009, Biden stated that he was considering a run for the Senate and that he would make a final decision in January. On January 25, Biden confirmed that he would forgo a Senate run so as to better focus on the prosecution of Earl Bradley, a convicted serial child rapist.[39]
On November 2, 2010, he was easily re-elected to a second term as Delaware Attorney General, beating Independent Party of Delaware candidate Doug Campbell by a large margin.[40]
Biden was criticized for his handling of the prosecution of Robert H. Richards IV, an heir of the powerful Delaware-based Du Pont family accused of sexually assaulting his young daughter.[41] In 2008, Biden's office charged Richards with two counts of second-degree rape, charges punishable by a minimum of 20 years in prison, but later that year, his office entered a plea bargain with Richards in which Richards pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree rape and was sentenced by Judge Jan Jurden to eight years' probation.[42][41] Defending the plea bargain and Jurden's sentencing in a letter to The News Journal, Biden wrote "This was not a strong case, and a loss at trial was a distinct possibility" and said the judge "exercised sound discretion".[43]
Biden did not seek election to a third term as attorney general in 2014.[44] In the spring of that year, he announced his intention to run for governor of Delaware in the 2016 election to succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Jack Markell.[45][46] At the time of this announcement, the cancer that would kill Biden in 2015 had been diagnosed (in 2013), but was in remission.[47]
Biden's funeral Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, Wilmington
According to his father, Beau was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2001 after returning from service in Kosovo.[48] He was later diagnosed with brain cancer, which his father believes was possibly a consequence of exposure to military burn pits in Iraq.[49]
For the final few years of his life, Biden suffered from a brain tumor.[50][51] In May 2010, he was admitted to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, after complaining of a headache, numbness, and paralysis. Officials stated that he had suffered a mild stroke.[51][52] Later that month, Biden was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and kept for observation for several days.[52]
Biden's funeral was attended by then President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, their daughters Malia and Sasha, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former US Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno, and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. At his funeral, he was awarded the Legion of Merit Award by General Odierno, for his services in the Iraq War. President Obama described Biden as "an original. He was a good man. He did in 46 years what most of us couldn't do in 146." At his funeral service, a solo rendition of the song "Til Kingdom Come" was performed by Chris Martin, the lead singer of the band Coldplay, of whom Beau had been a fan.[56][57]
In August 2016, Joe Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens and son Hunter attended a ceremony that renamed a southeastern Kosovar highway "Joseph R. 'Beau' Biden, III" to honor Beau's contribution to Kosovo for training its judges and prosecutors.[15][16][64] That year the Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center in New Castle, Delaware was named in his honor.[65] On November 14, 2017, Joe Biden published a memoir titled Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, where he reflects on Beau Biden's illness and death.[66]
I don't think I've ever done this before, but [Buttigieg] reminds me of my son, Beau, and I know that may not mean much to most people, but to me, it's the highest compliment I can give any man or woman.[67][68]
The Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center, named for Biden, is in New Castle, Delaware; it was the site of a speech by Joe Biden the day before his inauguration where he stated "we should be introducing him (Beau) as president".[70][71]
In 2020, his brother, Robert Hunter Biden, named his newborn son – Joseph Robinette Biden IV – after his brother, with the son also using "Beau" as his nickname.[72]
On January 20, 2021, the day his father was sworn in as president, the band New Radicals reunited for the first time in 22 years to perform their 1998 hit song "You Get What You Give" during an inauguration performance. The song was a favorite of Beau's and at his 2015 funeral his sister Ashley recited the lyrics in her eulogy. The band had rejected offers to perform over the past 22 years but wanted to honor this day and honor Beau. "We pledged if Joe [Biden] won, we’d get together and play our little song both in memory and in honor of our new president’s patriot son Beau and also with the prayer of Joe being able to bring our country together again with compassion, honesty and justice for a change,” singer Gregg Alexander said prior to their performance.[73]
^Syracuse University: Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (February 7, 2010). "Joseph "Beau" Biden III - OVMA". veterans.syr.edu. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
^State of Delaware 2006 Election Results(PDF). Delaware Department of Elections (Report). State of Delaware. November 7, 2006. p. 2. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
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