Joe Biden’s journey extends far beyond the world of politics. It’s a deeply personal story marked by love, loss, and the unwavering strength of fatherhood. Now, as he confronts a serious health battle, the stories of his children—filled with both joy and tragedy—highlight a remarkable tale of resilience and heartbreak.
Recently, former U.S. President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has unfortunately spread to his bones. After noticing troubling urinary symptoms, he sought medical help, leading doctors to discover a small but concerning nodule on his prostate.
Further tests revealed a Gleason score of 9, one of the highest indicators of cancer severity. Biden’s diagnosis is Stage 4, but the disease is reportedly “hormone-sensitive,” meaning it may still respond to treatment. His office confirmed, “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
At 82, as Biden carefully considers his next steps, the stories of his children reveal the incredible emotional strength that has carried him through decades of public service and personal tragedy. With his first wife, Neilia, Joe had three children: Beau, Hunter, and Naomi.
Tragically, Neilia and Naomi died in a car accident in 1972, leaving Joe to raise Beau and Hunter on his own. In 1977, he married Jill Jacobs, and together they welcomed their daughter, Ashley. Each child has profoundly shaped his life—some through public achievements, others through the depths of personal loss.
Ashley Biden
Born on June 8, 1981, Ashley Blazer Biden is Joe and Jill’s only child together. Unlike her half-siblings, Ashley has maintained a low profile, dedicating her life to social work and justice reform.
Ashley earned a degree in Cultural Anthropology from Tulane University and later completed a Master of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania. Early in her career, she focused on supporting marginalized youth. Between 2006 and 2007, she worked as an Employment and Education Specialist at Wilmington’s West End Neighborhood House.
She then served as an Education & Employment Liaison for Delaware’s Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families, developing job training programs inside juvenile detention centers.
In 2012, Ashley took on the role of Executive Director at the Delaware Center for Justice, a nonprofit advocating for individuals impacted by the criminal justice system. For seven years, she championed reform, support for formerly incarcerated women, and systemic change.
In a 2023 interview with Elle magazine, Ashley Biden opened up about her choice to stay out of the spotlight. She said, “I’ve never wanted to be in the public eye,” adding candidly, “Yeah, I still don’t.” Instead, Ashley’s passion lies in amplifying the voices of others and supporting organizations that are creating real, meaningful change.
Ashley’s social media bio echoes her commitment to service, describing her as a social worker, criminal justice reform advocate, voter, proud family member, and devoted dog mom. She is married to Philadelphia surgeon Howard Krein.
Though she usually shies away from the spotlight, Ashley took a more visible role in 2019 when she left her nonprofit to actively campaign for her father during his presidential bid. Her quiet yet passionate support spoke volumes about her loyalty and deep personal conviction.
While Ashley has embraced a quieter path of advocacy, her half-brother has spent much of his adult life navigating the relentless glare of public scrutiny.
Hunter Biden
Robert Hunter Biden, born in 1970, was only two years old when he survived the tragic car crash that took the lives of his mother, Neilia, and baby sister, Naomi. Though Hunter escaped with a fractured skull, his brother Beau wasn’t as lucky—he suffered a broken leg in the accident. This heartbreaking event occurred just as their father was preparing to be sworn into the U.S. Senate, forever changing the family’s path.
Hunter went on to attend Georgetown University before earning his law degree from Yale in 1996. Between his studies, he joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps—an experience that not only deepened his sense of service but also introduced him to his first wife, Kathleen Buhle. The couple married in 1993 and went on to have three daughters: Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy.
But behind the scenes, their marriage was unraveling. After 24 years together, they divorced in 2017 amid mounting personal and financial struggles. During the proceedings, Kathleen alleged that Hunter had squandered large amounts of money on drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs—claims that painted a stark picture of a family in turmoil, left struggling to cover even basic expenses.
Years after their painful split, Kathleen Buhle publicly reflected on the emotional cost of her marriage to Hunter. In interviews surrounding the release of her memoir, If We Break, she spoke candidly about the toll his addictions and infidelity had taken—but also about the healing that followed.
“I’ve forgiven Hunter,” she said. “Anger is such a heavy weight to carry, and I was in a lot of pain. When I made the decision to divorce, I wanted to let go of all of that.”
Her words captured a quiet strength—the kind that comes not just from surviving heartbreak, but from choosing peace over resentment.
Kathleen acknowledged that much of Hunter’s turmoil came during a time when he was already spiraling. His battle with addiction deepened after the devastating loss of his older brother, Beau, in 2015—a tragedy that sent shockwaves through the entire Biden family.
Hunter and Beau shared an extraordinary bond, one that went far beyond typical sibling closeness. Hunter’s daughter Naomi later reflected on their connection with heartbreaking clarity, saying the two brothers seemed to share “one heart, one soul, one mind.”
Beau’s death didn’t just leave a hole in the family—it fractured something inside Hunter, and the pain of that loss would fuel years of personal struggle.
Joe Biden walked proudly alongside his sons, Hunter and Beau, during the inaugural parade on January 20, 2009, as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. It was a moment of triumph and unity for the Biden family, captured in a poignant image: Hunter on his left, Beau on his right—symbols of strength and solidarity during a historic day in Washington, D.C.
(Source: Getty Images)
But in the years that followed, Hunter’s path grew more turbulent. He became entangled in a series of legal and personal battles, including a high-profile federal investigation into his taxes and foreign business dealings—controversies that drew intense media attention and further strained his already fragile personal life.
Around the same time that legal troubles mounted, Hunter faced another deeply personal revelation. In 2019, an Arkansas woman named Lunden Roberts filed a paternity suit, prompting headlines and public scrutiny. DNA testing later confirmed that Hunter was the father of a little girl named Navy Joan Roberts.
For a time, the situation remained largely unspoken in public. But eventually, Joe Biden acknowledged Navy Joan as part of the family—a quiet yet meaningful gesture that underscored his enduring belief in family, forgiveness, and responsibility, even in the face of complex and painful circumstances.
In a 2023 statement to People magazine, Joe Biden addressed the sensitive matter with compassion and care:
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward.”
It was a rare public acknowledgment that reflected Joe’s commitment to family, even amid complexity—an effort to honor the innocence of a child while navigating the often harsh glare of public life.
Joe Biden made it clear that the situation was deeply personal, not political. He and Jill, he said, simply wanted what any grandparents would want: the very best for all of their grandchildren—including Navy. It was a quiet but powerful statement about family, grace, and doing the right thing, even when it’s complicated.
Meanwhile, Hunter has since remarried and is now raising a young son. Despite efforts to move forward, he continues to live under the shadow of ongoing political and legal scrutiny—a reality that keeps his life, and by extension his family’s, in the public eye.
While Hunter’s struggles have often unfolded under the harsh spotlight of public scrutiny, Beau Biden’s life told a different story—one of quiet service, steady purpose, and a rising promise that inspired many. His path, filled with dedication and integrity, was tragically cut short by illness, leaving behind a legacy of what could have been.
