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Obamas and Clintons pay their respects at Beau Biden funeral Barack Obama delivers eulogy at Beau Biden funeral in Delaware
(35 minutes later)
Related: Beau Biden, son of US vice-president Joe Biden, dies of brain cancer at 46Related: Beau Biden, son of US vice-president Joe Biden, dies of brain cancer at 46
President Barack Obama, accompanied by his family, was due on Saturday to deliver remarks during the full Catholic Mass honoring Beau Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, where political luminaries like Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton were also gathering to pay their respects. President Barack Obama on Saturday spoke during a full Catholic Mass honoring Beau Biden in Wilmington, Delaware.
Vice-president Joe Biden’s two surviving children – Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden – were also to remember their brother, as was General Ray Odierno, the former top US commander in Iraq, where Beau Biden was once deployed. Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, one of Beau Biden’s favourite bands, was scheduled to sing. Vice-president Joe Biden’s two surviving children – Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden – were also to remember their brother, who died of brain cancer last week. Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, one of Beau Biden’s favourite bands, was scheduled to sing.
St Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church typically seats less than 1,000 people, but portable seats were added to accommodate a massive showing by politicians and Delaware residents alike. Beau Biden, who was 46 when he died, was a former attorney general of Delaware and a military veteran who served a year-long term in Iraq.
The funeral for Beau Biden, who died at age 46 last Saturday, capped three days of public mourning in which the vice-president and his family have been both the consolers and the consoled. The first non-church speaker was General Ray Odierno, the former top US commander in Iraq.
Beau Biden’s casket lay in honor in the state Senate chamber on Thursday ahead of a public viewing at St Anthony on Friday. On each day, long lines of people streamed through to greet the vice-president, whose solemnity at times gave way to his characteristic humanity as he greeted familiar faces with a broad smile, a lingering hug or a fond memory of his son. “I was able to witness first-hand Beau’s character,” Odierno said. “He understood the importance of maintaining trust with his fellow soldiers and with everyone he came into contact with and he did it just by smiling and listening.
Joe Biden, whose wife and daughter were killed in a car crash four decades ago, has developed a reputation over the years for possessing a deep ability to comfort those in grief, and is often called upon to eulogise fellow American leaders. Saturday’s Mass honoring his own son was a reversal of roles of sorts for Biden, who in 2012 spoke of his son’s service in Iraq as he comforted a group of grieving military families. “He cared deeply for his fellow human beings and always treated everyone with respect. He had a natural charisma that few people possess. People naturally wanted to follow him and he was selfless to a fault.”
“When he came home – it’s going to sound strange to you – we felt almost a little guilty because he came home,” Biden said then. “Because there’s so many funerals I’ve attended, so many bases I’ve visited. And you know, not all losses are equal. Not all losses are equal.” Odierno said Biden would tell him over and over again “I’m just another soldier”, but the general said he thought the brave soldier might one day lead his country.
Beau Biden served two terms as Delaware’s attorney general before setting his sights on the governor’s mansion. Many imagined his career would mirror that of his father, who represented Delaware for decades in the US Senate. Odierno concluded by awarding Beau Biden the legion of merit. The citation was read to the congregation, praising his “exceptionally meritorious service and his extraordinary integrity and leadership throughout his 11 years as an officer” in the Delaware National Guard.
But in 2010, at age 41, Beau Biden suffered a mild stroke, then was diagnosed with brain cancer three years later. He returned to work after what doctors said was a successful operation to remove a small lesion but his illness returned and he died less than two weeks after being admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for aggressive treatment. The Biden family had arrived outside the Roman Catholic church of St Anthony of Padua, in Wilmington, Delaware, at around 10.40am. A pipe and drum band and mounted members of law enforcement in dress uniform advanced before the hearse.
His death drew passionate expressions of sympathy from across the American political spectrum, the sense of sadness heightened by the sheer enormity of tragedy that the Biden family has endured. It was just weeks after Joe Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972 that Beau, then three years old, and his younger brother, Hunter Biden, were injured in the car crash that killed their mother and infant sister. Vice-President Biden, who lost his wife and daughter in a car crash four decades ago, wore dark glasses and put a protective hand around the shoulder of his daughter-in-law Hallie Biden. His other hand held the hand of Beau and Hallie’s elder child, Natalie, 10, who stood next to Joe Biden’s wife, Jill. Hallie Biden held the hand of the couple’s younger child, Hunter, nine.
White House officials said the choice of Obama to deliver remarks reflected the tight personal relationship that Joe Biden and the president have developed after more than six years in the White House. Joe Biden bowed his head as his son’s coffin, draped in the Stars and Stripes, was lifted from the hearse. Then he placed his right hand over his heart.
The family, with Beau’s surviving siblings Hunter and Ashley, slowly and solemnly followed the casket into the packed church as the congregation sang the entrance hymn, Bring Him Home.
Seating for more than 1,000 was all occupied, with other mourners standing to the sides and back of the church.
Attendees began lining up outside the church at 4.30am. The line stretched for five blocks. The previous day, dignitaries and members of the public had waited for five hours for the viewing of Beau Biden, 46, and to offer condolences to Joe Biden, who personally greeted every mourner.
Beau Biden died on 30 May, almost two years after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
On Saturday, the Reverend Leo O’Donovan, president emeritus of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, paused for several moments before his opening remarks.
“Dearest Hallie,” he began, quietly, before addressing thanks to the long list of religious and political dignitaries in attendance. The couple married in 2002.
“How sad. How very, very sad. It’s heartbreaking. When I heard the news, I wept,” said O’Donovan. “This great young man, this splendid son, this devoted, deeply loving father, this patriotic public servant, gone, gone, gone.”
President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, their daughters Malia and Sasha and Michelle Obama’s mother, Mary Robinson, traveled to the funeral on Air Force One from the White House on Saturday morning.
After the funeral, President Obama was due to fly to Germany to attend the G7 summit.