Beau Biden, son of vice president, dies of brain cancer

Former Delaware Attorney General Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, who grew up in the political spotlight because of his father's career, died Saturday night after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 46.

"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," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement.

"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 Biden was the oldest of Joe Biden's three children. He had a younger brother, Hunter, who is an attorney, and a younger sister, Ashley, who is now the executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice. He lived with his wife in Greenville with their two young children.

During his two terms as attorney general, Biden was beset by health problems. He suffered a minor stroke in 2010 that kept him out of office for several weeks. In 2013 he was treated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Center Center in Houston after becoming weak and disoriented on a family vacation, undergoing what a member of his medical team later described as surgery to remove a "small lesion" in his brain.

On Sunday after Biden's death, the vice president's office confirmed Beau Biden was diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2013 and underwent the surgery at MD Anderson, which was followed by a normal course of treatment of radiation and chemotherapy. His doctor gave him a clean bill of health in November 2013.

After completing two terms as attorney general in January 2015, Biden said he wanted to run for governor in 2016 and in recent weeks his law firm said he had expanded his role.

But according to the vice president's office, Beau Biden suffered a recurrence in the spring of this year and immediately sought aggressive treatment

In May, he was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he died Saturday surrounded by his entire family, including his wife, children and the vice president and Jill Biden.

President Barack Obama, political figures and former colleagues throughout Delaware mourned Biden's passing.

"Michelle and I humbly pray for the good Lord to watch over Beau Biden, and to protect and comfort his family here on Earth,'' the president said in a statement.

"Beau took after Joe," Obama said. "He studied the law, like his dad, even choosing the same law school. He chased a life of public service, like his dad, serving in Iraq and as Delaware's Attorney General. Like his dad, Beau was a good, big-hearted, devoutly Catholic and deeply faithful man, who made a difference in the lives of all he touched – and he lives on in their hearts."

In a statement, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell called Beau Biden a friend who was "unfailingly interested" in the well-being of the Markell family. In honor of Beau Biden, Markell has directed that the U.S. and Delaware flags be flown at half-staff until further notice.

"Carla and I are heartbroken for Hallie, his children, his parents, his siblings, and the entire Biden family. Beau spent his entire career in the service of his country and his state," Markell said. "He was an outstanding attorney general, lawyer, soldier, and father. I feel privileged to have served with him and Delaware is a better place thanks to him."

Beau's father, who was Delaware's senior senator for 36 years before becoming vice president in 2009, said his son led an exemplary life.

"Beau's life was defined by service to others," the vice president's statement said. "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."

Tragedy is all too familiar for the Biden family.

Beau Biden was just 3 years old when he was seriously injured in a December 1972 car crash that took the life of his mother, Neilia, and 13-month-old sister, Naomi. The family was on their way home from buying a Christmas tree. Beau's brother, Hunter, was seriously injured.

Joe Biden was sworn into the U.S. Senate at Beau and Hunter's hospital bedside.

"It's a family that's had some real tragedy," said Ted Kaufman, a longtime aide to Joe Biden who was shaken by the death of Beau, whom he had known since childhood.

"I would just say he was the very best of us. He was special, such a good person," Kaufman said, who was appointed by then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to fill Joe Biden's Senate seat when he became vice president in 2009.

"He was young and everybody I talked to who knew him in politics, which is such a tough business, commented on what a good person he was and what a great future he had. Everybody thinks it's such a tragedy."

The Biden family name helped further Beau Biden's own political ambitions, but the son quickly made a name for himself.

Biden served eight years as Delaware's top law enforcement official, winning the post at age 37 after working as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for five years, from 1997 to 2002, and later for a private firm.

In 2006 Biden beat longtime prosecutor Ferris Wharton, a Republican, by 5 percentage points. He won re-election without Republican opposition in 2010.

Biden also gained national attention for his roles in his father's national campaign.

In August 2008, he gave the speech nominating his father for vice president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, shortly before he deployed to Iraq as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard.

"My dad has always been there for me, my brother and my sister, every day," Beau Biden said in his speech. "But because of other duties, it won't be possible for me to be here this fall to stand by him the way he stood by me. So I have something to ask of you. Be there for my dad like he was for me."

New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon recalled watching Beau campaign for his father in Iowa in 2008 during the presidential race.

"In Iowa, he was a fantastic speaker and was just as popular as his dad,'' Gordon said. "He was really a brilliant young man."

Gordon said Beau fought his illness with bravery.

"I knew him since the day he was born," Gordon said. "I feel very sorry and my heart goes out to his family. He was a leader of the pack and a wonderful man. It is a shame."

Beau Biden increased his role during the 2012 re-election campaign that sent President Obama and his father back to the White House. Biden traveled the country advocating on behalf of the Obama campaign in front of veterans' groups.

He also gave a speech at the 2012 National Convention, again nominating his father for vice president.

During his eight years in office, he increased prosecutions related to child sexual abuse, securing 214 convictions through a Child Predator Task Force he created. He advocated for new anti-bullying laws, pushed for gun control measures including universal background checks and created a Family Division to prosecute cases involving children and families, and supported legislation allowing citizens greater access to information about state government.

But Biden's health was an overriding concern during his time in office.

In May 2010, he was admitted to Christiana Hospital after suffering what doctors described as a mild stroke. Biden was later treated at a Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

In August 2013, while vacationing with family in Indiana, Beau Biden sought treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after an episode of weakness and disorientation.

Biden traveled from Northwestern to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and on Aug. 19 flew to the MD Anderson center, where doctors operated on the small lesion on his brain.

Biden maintained distance from the public eye until his death, rejecting multiple requests to speak with media, and made few public appearances.

In April 2014, Biden told supporters and the media by email that he would forgo a third term in the Attorney General's Office to focus on a run for governor in 2016. But Biden's ambitions were overshadowed by speculation about his health.

Tim P. Mullaney Sr., former chief of staff for Biden in the Attorney General's Office, said that until he got the dreaded call Saturday night, he expected him to rebound.

"I thought he was going to be fine," Mullaney said. "I just felt that Beau was going to be there. He just had this spirit."

Mullaney said that until Biden finished his second term in early January, "he was making the decisions and calling the shots. He still had that same passion. He was having some difficulties, but he was still there. We all expected him to be running for governor."

Former Supreme Court Justice William T. Quillen called Biden "a very decent person. He just did the right thing. That was the governing principle of everything he did. I mean, he didn't have to serve in the National Guard."

Quillen said it was especially sad that Beau died before he had a chance to come into his own.

"Joe was a big shadow,'' Quillen said. "Beau was never fully appreciated for what he was."

Before seeking a second term as attorney general in 2010, Beau Biden had considered a run to represent Delaware in Washington.

Delaware's congressional delegation on Saturday praised Biden's service to Delaware and America.

U.S. Rep. John Carney, said he and his wife, Tracey, "are heartbroken. It's one of those times when you imagine if you try hard enough, the news somehow won't be true. There are no words deep enough to express our sense of loss, and there are certainly no words meaningful enough to express our sympathy" to the Bidens.

Carney said Beau Biden "had a warm and generous spirit. He was a truly giving person, and he appreciated the good in others in the way we all should. He leaves a legacy of service, and also a great personal legacy that calls on each of us to be more gentle in our judgments and more gracious with our thanks. He was one of the best of the good guys."

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper said Beau Biden "represented all that is good about Delaware and our country. He was the complete package – bright; hardworking; incredibly loyal to his family; a loving son, brother, husband and father; principled; handsome; well-spoken; unassuming. He had the heart of a servant, too. His future seemed to know no bounds."

Carper said he met Biden when he was 6 years old, and watched him "grow up and become a leader in our state and in the Delaware National Guard." Carper's last memory was seeing Biden during the Return Day Parade in Georgetown, two days after the November election.

"I was walking along the parade route, shaking hands with people just as Beau passed by, standing in a National Guard vehicle, waving at the crowd. For a moment, our eyes met, he waved to me and I to him. Then, he mouthed these words to me, 'I love you.' I smiled and returned them to him. And, he was gone."

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, who holds Joe Biden's old seat that Beau had considered seeking in 2010, called him not only an inspiring leader but "a good and decent man. His passing is a great loss for his family and friends and for Delaware. "Throughout his life, Beau never shied away from doing the right thing, even when it meant doing the hard thing."

Praise and a sense of deep loss reverberated in the words of leaders from all corners of tiny Delaware.

"I'm absolutely devastated, devastated," said Maj. Gen. Francis D. Vavala, adjutant general of the Delaware National Guard, under whom Biden served.

"I can't express in words how bad I feel and how devastated I am by his loss," said Vavala, who called Biden "just a wonderful, stand-up young man."

"Here's a kid who gave his life in the service of others," Vavala said, as attorney general and in the Delaware National Guard. "He didn't have to come into the military, but ... he saw his duty after 9/11 and came into the service. He willingly deployed."

State Prosecutor Kathleen M. Jennings, a friend who joined Biden's staff midway through his tenure, called him "a friend and kind and gentle man. He will be missed by everybody who knew him."

Added veteran homicide prosecutor Steven P. Wood: "This isn't about politics. Beau was a husband and a father. A public servant and a patriot. He stood in the arena, and he tried to change the world."

Biden's successor as attorney general, Matt Denn, said he and Biden's children are "about the same age, and more than anyone else I knew in politics, Beau appreciated the importance of taking care of his family before worrying about work or elections. It is a great loss to the state, but more importantly a crushing loss for his family."

Fellow Democrat Pete Schwartzkopf, Delaware's House speaker and a Biden ally, said he often put the needs of others in front of his own.

"He was a remarkable young guy," Schwartzkopf said. "He gave his life and service to the state and country."

Robert Gilligan, former House speaker, called Biden "a great man of conviction. He lived his life as he should, serving his family, his faith and his county. What more could you ask of someone?"

Even while battling medical maladies while in office, Gilligan lauded Biden for "the courage and the way he conducted himself with the illness and putting that aside to serve. Beau was a man of the highest integrity that walked the walk and talked the talk.

"There was nothing phony about him. What you saw is what you got. I was so proud of him. I just wanted him to be my friend."

John Fluharty, state Republican Party chairman, called Biden's death "truly tragic news,'' adding that members of Biden's rival party "send their thoughts and prayers to the entire Biden family during this difficult time. Beau served his country and the citizens of Delaware with honor and dignity. He leaves behind a lasting impact on the world around him. He will be missed."

John Brady, the Democratic clerk of the peace in Sussex County, called Biden "a patriot, a father, an attorney, and a loving parent, the son of the vice president and someone whose life has ended much too early."

Lisa Goodman, president of Equality Delaware, said she got to know Biden through his "unflagging support for equality in all forms."

"He was gentleman, a man of deep seated belief that above all, the highest calling was as a public servant."

Goodman said Beau Biden had his father's way of capturing people's attention and admiration.

"Beau was first and last a Biden. He was warm and engaging. He remembered everybody's name. He looked at people in the eye and you felt when you talked to Beau Biden, nobody else was in the room."

Esteban Parra, James Fisher, Maureen Milford and Jon Offredo contributed to this story. Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com. Contact senior investigative reporter Cris Barrish at (302) 324-2785 or cbarrish@delawareonline.com. Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com.

Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III

Born: Feb. 3, 1969

Died: May 30, 2015

Family: Wife, Hallie; son Hunter; daughter Natalie

Parents: Vice President Joe Biden, late mother Neilia Hunter Biden and stepmother Jill Biden

Political Party: Democrat

Public office: Delaware attorney general, 2007-2015

Military service: Major in the Delaware Army National Guard