Vice President Joe Biden's son Beau dies of brain cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) Beau Biden, who followed his father, Vice President Joe Biden, into
politics and was twice elected attorney general of Delaware, died Saturday of brain cancer less
than two years after he was diagnosed. Beau Biden was 46.
The younger Biden, who suffered a series of health problems in recent years, was hospitalized
this month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington for then-undisclosed
reasons. He suffered a mild stroke in 2010 and three years later underwent surgery at a Texas
cancer center to remove what was describe as a small lesion.
He announced last year that he would not seek a third term as attorney general and planned to
run for governor in 2016.
"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 vice president said late Saturday in
announcing the death of his second child. An infant daughter was killed in a car accident more
than four decades ago.
"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," he said.
President Barack Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, were grieving alongside the Biden
family.

FILE - In this Saturday, July 4, 2009. file photo, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, right, talks with

"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 separate statement.
The vice president said his son had dedicated his life to serving others during stints as a lawyer, a
major in the Delaware National Guard and as state attorney general. Beau Biden served a
yearlong deployment in Iraq and was awarded a Bronze Star.

He most recently was with the Wilmington, Delaware, law firm Grant & Eisenhofer, where he
focused on securities litigation and whistleblower cases.
"More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son
and brother," said Joe Biden, who was at his son's side at the time of his death, along with the
rest of the Biden family. "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," the vice president added.

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2013 file photo, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden pauses while
speaking a
Beau Biden was first diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2013. He underwent surgery at the
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to remove a lesion and was treated
with radiation and chemotherapy before doctors gave him a clean bill of health three months
later.
He suffered a recurrence of cancer this spring and was admitted to Walter Reed in May, officials
said.
Beau Biden gained national prominence after he introduced his father at the Democratic National
Convention in Denver on the night in 2008 when Joe Biden accepted the vice presidential
nomination. Months later, he returned home from Iraq to see his father sworn into office.
A University of Pennsylvania graduate, Biden earned a law degree from Syracuse University. He
was a law clerk for a federal judge in New Hampshire before joining the U.S. Justice Department
from 1995 until 2002, including five years as a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia.
In 2001, he volunteered for an interim assignment training judges and prosecutors in postwar
Kosovo.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 file photo, Capt. Beau Biden carries his son Hunter, 3,
on
With his father, then Delaware's senior U.S. senator, at his side in 2006, Joseph R. "Beau" Biden
III 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.
During the campaign, Biden sidestepped questions about his ultimate political ambitions.
"Sometimes, it's not good to look too far down the road," said Biden, who was critically injured
along with his brother in a 1972 car crash that killed their mother and infant sister. The accident
happened just weeks after his father was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Beau Biden remained cautious about discussing his long-range plans 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," he told The Associated Press. For Biden, that initial health scare was a
reminder to balance his job with family time advice he encouraged others to follow.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 file photo, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden
addresses th

Politically astute, photogenic and backed by his father's political machine, Biden was elected
attorney general in 2006 with 52.6 percent of the vote.
"He's supped at this table since he's been 3 years old," Biden's beaming father said in celebrating
the election of his son, who was a toddler when his father was elected to the Senate.
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, and put himself at odds with some fellow Democrats by defending the death
penalty.
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. Biden also faced
scrutiny over his office's handling of the case of Earl Bradley, a pediatrician who sexually
assaulted scores of patients over more than a decade before his arrest 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 his father vacated after being elected vice president in 2008.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008 file photo, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son
of Dem
The younger Biden's decision stunned political observers and 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 former
Republican governor and longtime congressman Mike Castle was upset by tea party-backed
Christine O'Donnell in the GOP primary.
"I have no regrets," Biden said afterward.

He coasted to re-election in 2010 after Republicans declined to field a candidate against him.
Beau Biden is survived by his wife, Hallie, and children Natalie, 11, and Hunter, 9, along with
his parents, a brother and sister, a sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and three nieces.

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 file photo, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, center,
stands
Funeral arrangements were not announced. Beau Biden is entitled to military funeral honors, said
Lt. Col. Len Gratteri, a spokesman for the Delaware National Guard.
___
Chase reported from Dover, Delaware. Associated Press reporter Jackie Quinn contributed to this
report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biden-announces-death-son-beau-brain-cancer015713117--politics.html