Beau Biden’s Wife, Hallie, Anchored Family Through Husband’s Political Career, Battle With Brain Cancer

Beau Biden’s wife, Hallie, stood by her husband for the last 10 years, supporting him through his rising political career and ultimately his battle with brain cancer.

Now, the normally quiet Hallie has stepped into the spotlight as the nation remembers the son of Vice President Joe Biden, who died after a battle with brain cancer.

Though Beau Biden played an important role in the political world as Delaware’s Attorney General, being a husband and father was most important. Beau’s father, Joe Biden, said as much in a public statement after Beau’s death.

“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,” Joe Biden said in a statement issued on behalf of his family. “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.”

As Beau Biden took on greater stature — moving up from an assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, prosecuting federal crimes, up to Delaware’s top attorney post — wife Hallie kept a less public stature. She worked as a guidance counselor at the exclusive Archmere Academy and played a large role in raising the couple’s two children, Natalie and Hunter. But she still appeared often beside her husband, and said the characteristics that made him a good politician were the same ones that drew her to him. She said as follows (via Heavy).

” ‘It was startling how personable he was,’ Hallie says. ‘The real him came across.’ She looked around at the audience and saw how intently everyone was listening. ‘As a girlfriend, I was so proud and impressed.’

Hallie says Beau’s energy is contagious. He’ll drop whatever he’s doing to help out a friend or family member. He runs out the door just as he’s about to sit down to dinner if his grandmother calls and needs him. If one of Hunter’s three daughters forgets her lunch, Beau happily drops it off at school.”

Beau Biden’s wife, Hallie, was by her husband’s side as he battled brain cancer. The last photo the family posted to Twitter showed Hallie and her husband smiling proudly next to daughter Natalie.

[Image via Getty Images / Mark Wilson]