President Biden Commemorates 52nd Anniversary of Family Tragedy

Joe Biden reflects on the loss of his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash during a private memorial service in Delaware.

President Joe Biden attended a private memorial Mass with his family at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church in Delaware to honor his late first wife, Neilia, and infant daughter, Naomi.
Neilia and Naomi were killed in a car crash in December 1972 while Christmas tree shopping, with Biden’s sons Beau and Hunter surviving but sustaining serious injuries.
Biden has often shared how the tragedy nearly led him to abandon his political career, though he was later sworn into the Senate at his sons’ hospital bedside.
The president credits his ability to empathize with others' grief to his personal losses, which have also included the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.
This remembrance comes as Biden prepares to conclude a nearly 50-year career in public service, spanning roles as senator, vice president, and president.