George E. Condon Jr.: This Is How America Will Remember Barack Obama
Long after the last partisan battle has been fought over Obamacare, long after Barack Obama has settled into a comfortable post-presidency, and long after the last joke has been made about some Joe Biden verbal misstep, people will remember the moment when the always-in-control president struggled to control his emotions. They will remember the moment when president and vice president embraced in front of the altar and exchanged heartfelt kisses on the cheek. And they will remember how their hearts ached at this intimate glimpse of one family’s pain. In an age when so many political moments are scripted, this was real. In a country whose presidents and vice presidents have rarely been close, this was genuine closeness. In an administration that prides itself on being hip, this was decidedly old-fashioned love.
The funeral at St. Anthony’s was another highly personal moment for the president. White House aides have often tried to persuade reporters that this president and this vice president have a close bond. Just as often, reporters have voiced skepticism, aware of a two-century history of relationships ranging from open enmity to cool indifference between the men in the White House and their vice presidents. But more than six years into the presidency, it may be time to accept the claims as accurate. Even when Biden has misspoken or jumped the gun on positions, aides insist Obama harbored no anger at the vice president. “That’s just Joe being Joe,” they often say. “It’s part of who he is.” They always appreciated Biden’s loyalty and humanity. Saturday was a chance for the president to return that embrace. How he did it will be hard to forget.
Margaret Talev: Why Joe Biden Wanted Barack Obama to Deliver His Son’s Eulogy
Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama went through the fires together: two presidential campaigns, economic collapse, war, terrorism, destabilization of the Arab world and societal change that spawned the Tea Party and gay marriage waves simultaneously. But aides say it is the men’s shared experience with personal grief, and an unexpected bonding of their wives, daughters and grandchildren, more than their tests as officeholders, that have turned a political partnership between two men separated by race, age and temperament into a deep, if mostly unsung, friendship.
That’s a dynamic many Americans will see on Saturday, when Obama delivers the eulogy for Biden’s son Beau, a husband, father, veteran and rising political star who seemed destined to carry on his father’s legacy before his death from brain cancer on May 30 at age 46. Obama called Biden on the night Beau died. By the time the call ended, he had been tasked with a humbling assignment: To say the final words about Beau that the vice president and his wife Jill are too grief-stricken to utter. “The president . . . has this reputation for being cold or distant—but he isn’t,” Klain said. “For the people in his orbit, the people he has a chance to get to know, he has a real sense of family” and the Bidens “are part of that. I think it’s a loss that he feels personally.” Biden wanted Obama to deliver the eulogy because he felt that Obama would know instinctively what the family would want others to know about Beau.
Earlier this year, on St. Patrick’s Day, Biden addressed a group in Pennsylvania and recounted how he had felt when researchers discovered that his own great-great grandfather and Obama’s great-great-great grandfather each had been shoemakers in Ireland who emigrated within five weeks of one another. “I thought to myself, isn’t that the Irish of it,” Biden said. “All their dreams, could they ever [have] dreamed 160 years later, two shoemakers’ great, great grandsons would be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States of America.”
Dr. Jill Biden comforts Vice President Joe Biden during a viewing for their son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden at Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware. Standing with Dr. Biden are Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie, and granddaughter Natalie
An honor guard carries the casket containing the remains of former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden
Vice President Joe Biden comforts Beau Biden’s wife, Hallie Biden
Vice President Joe Biden comforts his granddaughter Natalie
Vice President Joe Biden lays his hand on his son’s casket
A beautiful remembrance of Beau Biden from @sfpelosi huffingtonpost.com/christine-pelo…
— meta (@metaquest) June 01, 2025
Heartbreaking @pkcapitol piece on Biden, stoic in grief and generous in its aftermath washingtonpost.com/politics/beau-…
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 01, 2025
****
Per VP's office: Beau Biden died Sat night surrounded by his entire family (wife, children, parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins).
— jennifer bendery (@jbendery) May 31, 2025
I want to hear no Joe Biden criticism forevermore. No person should have to endure the tragedy he has. There are no words...
— TC (@tchopstl) May 31, 2025
****
"It’s our job...to feed hope & not just feed fear" —@POTUS to Israeli journalist Ilana Dayan: bit.ly/1FSm2JG
amp.twimg.com/v/a0f62aa2-9fc…
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 02, 2025
"We have work to do, as a nation, to make sure that all of our heroes’ stories are told." —@POTUS #MedalOfHonor snpy.tv/1I9sxZv
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 02, 2025
****
MUST READ: Black Americans killed by police twice as likely to be unarmed as white people theguardian.com/us-news/2015/j… http://t.co/zUKpSRyTkW
— deray mckesson (@deray) June 01, 2025
23 Wellston, MO officers turn in badges as department disbands fox2now.com/2015/06/01/23-… http://t.co/pT3tz7QL4t
— deray mckesson (@deray) June 02, 2025
****
Wear orange to fight guns and honor Hadiya Pendleton: sun-tim.es/1JmwrQf #WearingOrange http://t.co/Bi1iEdm9j0
— KHARY PENEBAKER (@kharyp) June 02, 2025
Huge thanks to musician Michael Stipe for #WearingOrange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2nd! http://t.co/ovlDp1g5iu
— Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) May 30, 2025
****
In the U.S., you’re 20x more likely to lose your life from a gun than in any other 1st world nation. mtv.com/news/2173941/1… #wearingorange
— Jaymie Shook (@jaymielynnie) June 02, 2025
Outrageous that we don't track Americans killed by police. Thank you Guardian for counting. theguardian.com/us-news/ng-int… theguardian.com/us-news/ng-int…
— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) June 02, 2025
****
Thank you, President Obama
F.C.C. Chief Seeks Broadband Plan to Aid the Poor, via @nytimes nytimes.com/2015/05/28/bus…
— stans (@kestans) June 02, 2025
Tribal school gains "historic" waiver from No Child Left Behind rules huff.to/1FQaTcp http://t.co/1Fau3yp4Eg
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) June 02, 2025
****
Facts
When you insult a man on the Internet http://t.co/TY3BTwXFCX
— Emily ReyNOlds (@rey_z) June 01, 2025
this is a real conversation I just had with someone who I go to school with. Lord please help me http://t.co/mz9ygHZvpN
— Ally (@AllyHopkins_) May 29, 2025
****
Ellen Pao will appeal her Silicon Valley gender discrimination suit: bit.ly/1JmP5r8 http://t.co/SwTogRO9Y2
— (@SpeedReads) June 02, 2025
“I believe in your ability to
Prove the doubters wrong.” ~President Obama
President grants her clemency. Will You?
yhoo.it/1AyrVNc
— Wisdom Rocks (@GetWisdomDude) May 29, 2025
****
Developing: Bomb blast hits a busy market in Nigeria's Maiduguri killing as many as 50 people aje.io/pg5m http://t.co/PnHUre25az
— AJE News (@AJENews) June 02, 2025
Russian planes and a U.S. warship have a close encounter near Crimea, (via @barbarastarrcnn) cnn.it/1Fpy3Um vine.co/v/eh6FOiq2pDi
And when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
****
****
Statement from Vice President Joe Biden
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.
If tears could build a stairway
and thoughts a memory lane
VP Joe would walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again
You were gone before they knew it
And only God knows why.
You were the best of all of them
And the twinkle in your families eye
With heart’s still active in sadness
And secret tears still flow
What it meant to lose you
No one can ever know.
And now they know you’d want them
To mourn for you no more
To remember all the happy times
Life still has so much in store.
Since you’ll never be forgotten
Your family pledges today
A hallowed place within their hearts
Is where you’ll always stay.
Author Unknown
****
If you would like to leave some words of condolences for the Biden family, the White House has graciously provided a way to do so here
****
by Meta
I went back and found some notes I wrote to a friend when I saw Beau Biden and Kamala Harris give a talk on gun reform in July 2013. I want to share them with you because the overwhelming feeling I got from him was that he was such a great human being:
###
The first thing that comes to your mind when you see Beau Biden is how much he looks like his father. I mean, really, really looks like his father, and with some of the same mannerisms. Then you listen to him speak and what comes across is just how smart, compassionate and dedicated he is when he talks about his work and his family. He talked about his Dad a lot.
He and Kamala are long-time friends and they spoke about the challenge of working on common sense gun reform. Beau talked about his experience with this issue in particular as AG for Delaware. He spoke for about 20 minutes or so and then took questions for at least another hour. He was very, very generous with his time and did his best to address questions that were very challenging. Kamala Harris is also gorgeous and crazy smart. She projects strength and courage in so many, many ways, I’m just thrilled that she is my AG. SO, these are two very distinguished rising stars in our party and we should be very proud of them. I want to encourage all of us to keep track and support them both in any way we can.
After the event I walked up to him just to thank him. I waited patiently as he was mobbed with people wanting to give him their card and introduce themselves and have a photo taken. Then Christine Pelosi walked up next to me and when Beau was free, I told her to go ahead and get in there and meet him. He was very glad to meet her and they talked for a few minutes about the work she’s doing now and some of the stuff that’s happening now with PBO and VPB on gun reform. They both talked about how much they loved PBO’s remarks on Trayvon in the WH briefing room and Beau said he thought PBO should do more of that because he’s so good at it. Then when the moment came, he turned toward me and I shook his hand and thanked him for his service and just said I want to wish him the best in this very tough fight. He was soooooo sweet and thanked me. I told him I love his father very much and he seemed very touched by that. He looked at me and said, you know, my father is really, in real life, really a very nice man, a very good man. I said, I know! That is why I love him! And your mother, too. He said, yes, my mother, too. I thanked all three of them for their service to our nation. He seemed very sincerely touched by that. He said he’s going to need a lot of help when the legislature looks at his gun reform bill again in Delaware in January and I said if I can help, I will. He smiled and thanked me and said, please stay in touch with me. Please join my Facebook page. I smiled and said, OK.
Honestly, Beau is just a very warm, honest man and one of the most sincere guys you’ll ever meet. Just a wonderful man. And again, OMG, just very, very handsome in person, incredibly fit. Anyway, I so wish you could have been there with me. It was very, very special. My admiration for them both for taking on this incredibly important issue is truly boundless.
###
I’m know that VP Joe must be inconsolable. I cannot imagine losing a son, losing such a bright star. I hope in the days to come he will find a measure of comfort from the outpouring of love and respect the world over. He and Jill are so beloved.
****
The world remembers a beautiful soul
****
Robert Burns
An honest man here lies at rest,
The friend of man, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d;
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
****
Beau Biden made every life he touched better. Please hold his family in your hearts.
— Jay Carney (@JayCarney) May 31, 2025
It breaks my heart knowing Beau Biden has passed.
I can honestly say, from experience, that Beau was a nice, kind man.
God bless
— HillarMeme Clinton (@bxanden) May 31, 2025
****
****
This reads like glossy, phony political legend, but it is actually true. And I've learned so in private from others: http://t.co/0X5gvuxHys
— Jeff B@AoSHQDD (@EsotericCD) May 31, 2025
Incidentally, excerpt here is from @JohnAvlon's article in @thedailybeast: thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/…
— Jeff B@AoSHQDD (@EsotericCD) May 31, 2025
****
Beau Biden was a throughly admirable man. Great husband, father, son, veteran and public servant. My heart aches for the Biden family.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 31, 2025
It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts that we share the news of the loss of a great leader, Maj. Beau Biden. fb.me/3OVjkJbzs
— Del National Guard (@DelawareNG) May 31, 2025
****
****
So crushed to hear of the loss of Beau Biden. What a great man. Iraq vet, AG, father and son. Example of American hero.
— Jim Messina (@Messina2012) May 31, 2025
When you think of what Joe Biden's endured and what he's like, he seems to get something right about life that most of us don't.
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) May 31, 2025
****
****
An immeasurably devoted father has lost an intensely devoted son. Our nation has lost one of its brightest stars & most honorable men.
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) May 31, 2025
President Obama on Beau Biden's Death: He "Believed the Best of Us All" thr.cm/BxbCD1 http://t.co/T7ITdYklAR
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 31, 2025
****
Robert Louis Stevenson
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me;
“Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.”
****
Biden family: "Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.” nyti.ms/1PVIzNq http://t.co/0jhODDocB8
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 31, 2025
Those who knew Beau Biden did not know a finer person. Our hearts w/his parents, family
— Antony Blinken (@ABlinken) May 31, 2025
****
****
Stephen O’Brien
I will wait for you…
Though we never had a chance to say goodbye,
Remember me…
When winter snows are falling through a quiet sky
I’ll remember you
When, in our darkest hour,
You held my hand and prayed I wouldn’t go,
But a silent voice called out to me;
My time had come, and I had to travel Home…
Since then, I know your life has never been the same,
For I visit you each day:
So many times I’ve felt your pain:
I’ve watched you cry:
And I’ve heard you call my name…
But now, further along life’s road I stand
In a timeless world, just beyond your sight,
Waiting for the day when I can take your hand and bring you across
to this land of Golden Light…
Till then, remember me, you understand-and try not to cry.
But if you do:
Let your tears fall
For the happiness and joy we knew,
And for the special love we shared,
For love can never die.
****
Beau Biden was 46 years old, a husband, and the father of two children buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii… http://t.co/fvmPdeT9uq
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 31, 2025
Tributes pour in for passing of Beau Biden: abcn.ws/1RAh35s
— ABC News (@ABC) May 31, 2025
****
****
Joe Biden's 2012 advice to grieving families is all the more poignant today vox.com/e/8457366?utm_… http://t.co/EI2vHD5QRy
— Vox (@voxdotcom) May 31, 2025
Joe Biden: "The real reason I went home every night was that I needed my children more than they needed me." whitehouse.gov/the-press-offi…
— jennifer bendery (@jbendery) May 31, 2025
****
****
President Obama: "Beau Biden believed the best of us all." trib.al/xHZTPnL http://t.co/zbJ1U3YlGX
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 31, 2025
Beau spent his entire career in the service of his country & his state. He was an outstanding Attorney General, lawyer, soldier, and father.
— Gov. Jack Markell (@GovernorMarkell) May 31, 2025
****
Author Unknown
Don’t cry for me now I have died, for I’m still here I’m by your side,
My body’s gone but my soul’s is here, please don’t shed another tear,
I am still here I’m all around, only my body lies in the ground.
I am the snowflake that kisses your nose,
I am the frost, that nips your toes.
I am the sun ,bringing you light,
I am the star, shining so bright.
I am the rain, refreshing the earth,
I am the laughter, I am the mirth.
I am the bird, up in the sky,
I am the cloud, that’s drifting by.
I am the thoughts, inside your head,
While I’m still there, I can’t be dead.
****
Heartbroken at Beau Biden's passing. Every time I saw him he was gracious, kind, & true. In short: He was a Biden. http://t.co/K3U44yQrn0
— chris dilts (@chrisdilts) May 31, 2025
Few more eloquent in grief than @VP over the years. As he'd say: http://t.co/0QPlh8LqHh
President Barack Obama meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House. President Obama said the United States is working closely with NATO in the fight against ISIL
****
****
Text of President Obama and Secretary General Stoltenberg’s remarks
****
Vice President Joe Biden listens to remarks to the media during a meeting between President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Well, we now have two declared candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. (If we’re being charitable, three, but who’s counting Lincoln Chafee?)
Hillary Clinton is on her “listening tour” (didn’t she do that in 2008?), and seems to be listening somewhat. She gave a speech calling for the end of mass incarceration; a mass incarceration she called for back when her husband was president. But, people change, that was 20 years ago, and being the good rationalist I am I will keep an open mind. I’m certainly not going to dismiss her out of hand if she wins the nomination, because the thought of someone more conservative and unhinged than Antonin Scalia taking his seat on the Supreme Court should give even the most side-eyed Democratic Clinton-hater a bucket-full of pauses.
And then we have Bernie Sanders. I really don’t know why he’s running. He might have made an impact as an independent; but, props to him, he didn’t want to split the left vote, so he’s giving it the old college try. But an old guy with unkempt hair who looks like he should be feeding the pigeons probably won’t have the financial wherewithal to take on the Koch/Adelson money machine (something Hillary will have no problem doing should she win). Bernie running is part vanity, and part to get his issues out beyond his acolytes. (This is assuming that the media give him any attention, even if he is running as a Democrat. The media is good at ignoring those who are inconvenient.)
Some are rooting for Deval Patrick to enter. Many are pinning their hopes on Martin O’Malley. And, of course, there’s always Jim Webb. (I jest.)
White House.gov
Robert Louis Stevenson
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me;
“Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.”
****