How the tragic deaths of Joe Biden’s first wife and daughter changed his politics

Joe Biden’s ongoing recovery from the traumtic deaths of his first wife and youngest child more than half a century ago has dramatically shaped his career, from the ways in which he speaks to crowds about grief and mourning to his views on healthcare.

Though not unique to his brand of politicking, the president has famously framed his ideas through the lens of his past and we can expect him to return to themes drawn from his own biography as he returns to the campaign trail in 2024, seeking a second term in the White House.

While out shopping just days before Christmas in December 1972, his 30-year-old first wife Neilia Hunter and 13-month-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident after a tractor-trailer carrying corn broadsided the family’s Chevrolet station wagon.

Campaign literature featuring the young senator-elect from Delaware littered the streets.

Their two sons, Joseph “Beau” Biden III and Robert Hunter Biden, survived. More than 40 years later, Beau died following a brain cancer diagnosis.

The daughter of successful diner operators in New York state, Neilia was born on 28 July 1942 in the affluent town of Skaneateles. She graduated from Penn Hall Preparatory School in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1960.

She participated in French club, hockey, swimming, student council, was the photography editor of The Penntonian, vice president and then president of the International Relations Club, according to her school’s yearbook.

In 1963, Neilia, then a college sophomore at Syracuse University, met Mr Biden, then a junior at the University of Delaware, on the beach in Nassau during spring break.

Asked about his career goals, Mr Biden told his future wife’s mother: “President.” After he earned his bachelor’s