Attorney General Beau Biden and Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) gesture on stage at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 27, 2008. (Photo : REUTERS/CHRIS WATTIE)
Joseph "Beau" Biden III, United States Vice President Joe Biden's son, has died of brain cancer, the White House confirmed in a statement on May 30. The Iraq war veteran who served as Delaware's attorney general was 46.
In 2010, Beau he had a stroke that affected neither his speech nor his motor skills. According to the statement released by the vice president's office on May 26, he had been receiving treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
In 2013, Beau became weak and disoriented while on vacation so he was brought to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, according to Time. After his treatment in the hospital, which specializes in cancer care, he had a brain lesion removed through surgery.
Like his father, Beau was a Democrat. He was first elected as the attorney general in Delaware in 2006. In 2014, he announced that he was preparing a run for governor so he would not seek another four years in office as attorney general.
Beau is not the first of the vice president's children to precede their father in death. In 1972, his sister Naomi, who was then only 1 year old, and their mother Neilia were killed in a car accident during Christmastime.
Aside from his father, his brother Hunter and step-sister Ashley, Beau was survived by his wife Hallie and their daughter Natalie and son also named Hunter.
In a statement from the White House Office of the Vice President obtained by CNN, the Biden family said, "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."
U.S. President Barack Obama also released a statement on Beau's death saying. "Michelle and I are grieving tonight. Beau Biden was a friend of ours. His beloved family- Hallie, Natalie, and Hunter- are friends of ours. And Joe and Jill Biden are as good as friends get."
