I am sure we all join the Clintons with our thoughts and prayers for
the family at this difficult time of tragic loss. Our deepest
condolences to the family and friends of one gone way too soon.
Because
it is simply so loving and touching, I am also sharing Secretary of
State John Kerry's statement, and sending him wishes for a speedy
recovery.
Teresa
and I are heartbroken for Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill, and Joe, and
particularly for Beau and Hallie’s two remarkable children, Hunter and
Natalie. Beau’s loss is crushing for everyone lucky enough to have known
him and the whole Biden family, because you can’t know them without
feeling their overwhelming love for each other – for family.
For
the Bidens, being there for each other was and is everything. Any real
conversation with Joe was about family and how much he and Jill loved
their children and grandchildren.
Life for them is family.
I’ll
never forget what Joe Biden said to me about Beau while he was serving
his country in Iraq. Beau had just turned down what some considered the
opportunity of a lifetime, to be appointed to the Senate seat his Dad
had held for almost 40 years.
"Beau is just so good," Joe said. "He's so good."
What an all-encompassing statement about how much Joe loved his eldest son and how much Beau loved his Dad.
Beau
Biden was a son any father might hope to raise, and Joe Biden is the
kind of father any boy would want. It made their relationship special.
Beau also was special.
I got to know him just listening to Joe
talk in the Senate cloakroom about his boys. Then I was fortunate to
spend time with Beau when he first ran for Attorney General in 2006. He
went off to war two years later. He didn't have to go. He didn't have to
do any of it. But he was filled with a sense of honor, duty, and
humility – to the core. He was a class act, period, ingrained with
integrity, compassion, a sense of moral obligation to help others, and
especially people who were hurting.
All that and more has long
been ingrained in the Biden family, which has experienced pain before
and come out stronger at the broken places, as Hemingway wrote so
poignantly.
As we know, there are some things only God can
explain. The tragic loss of the good, the young and the brave has
haunted me for a long, long time now – and again today, with Beau's
passing.
A few years ago, Joe, who, tragically, was already
speaking from experience, described the period after losing a loved one
as akin to "that black hole you feel in your chest, like you're being
sucked back into it." But Joe has also said there comes a day "when the
thought of your son or daughter, or your husband or wife, brings a smile
to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes."
As usual, Joe
said it better than anyone else could. And while I know it may not come
soon, Teresa and I wish that same peace for the Biden family, and all
those who love them.
That's the solace we all rely on as we mourn Beau Biden and extend our profound shared sorrow to all the Biden family.
Biden family statement
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 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's life was defined by service
to others. 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.
Rest in heavenly peace, Beau.
Hillary Clinton 
Bill Clinton
