Is grief Joe Biden’s ‘superpower’? More relatable than Donald Trump, the loss of Neilia, Naomi and Beau gave the president-elect emotional reserves to draw from

Dec 2 , 2020

President-elect Joe Biden hasn’t tried to hide his grief from public view. Photo: AP

The US president-elect discussed his grief in his book Promise Me, Dad, and publicly supported his only surviving son, Hunter, through his ongoing battle with drug addiction

US president-elect Joe Biden has risen from devastating loss to become perhaps the most powerful person on the planet. Biden, 77, won over many voters because of his ability to empathise with those who have lost loved ones, overcoming unimaginable grief and managing to continue living a purposeful life.

Was it a calculated strategy, or just the honest approach of a wounded man? Either way, here is how Biden turned grief into power, and won hearts around the world in the process.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Delaware on November 25, 2020. Photo: AP

The loss of his wife and daughter as a young man

At 29 years old, Biden made history as the sixth-youngest person to be elected to the US Senate, in November 1972. At the time, he was married to Neilia and had three children, two boys and a girl. A few days before Christmas, Neilia was driving back from doing some Christmas shopping when her car was hit by a truck. She and their one-year-old daughter, Naomi, died while the couple’s two sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured. The young politician faced immeasurable personal pain, becoming a widow and single dad just days before being sworn in to face the biggest professional challenge of his career.

In his book, Promise Me, Dad, Biden described how the pain seemed insurmountable and how he had to reconstruct his life while navigating loss and victory at the same time. He said he found redemption by being surrounded by the love and loyalty of those closest to him, and that the tragedy cemented a strong bond between himself and his two boys.

The death of his son

Biden was hit with another unimaginable loss after his son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015. The father-son relationship was a strong one, with Beau considering following in his dad’s footsteps and running in the Senate before the disease took his life. Biden described his son as “the finest man any of us have ever known”, later saying he gets up every morning wondering if his son is proud of him.