and so would joe biden. he survived that dangerous operation in 1988. he went on to spend another two decades in the senate where he became a pillar of the capitol. and on to the vice presidency where he left his mark as one of the president s closest and most trusted advisers. but we all know around this table that joe biden is proudest of the family he has built, of the grand children at his knee. and sadly that family all gathered again at a bedside in walter reed this weekend. this time to say good-bye to the son that guided joe biden through the night so many years ago to save his life. it s impossible to know the pain of losing one child. and this second time, this second drop of pain which cannot forget upon the heart for joe biden, it must be unimaginable. but joe is beau s dad.
we ll make news dumber we re going to make the news hole smaller. and that s going to get the demo in. bob schieffer was like 72 he did better than katie on cbs evening news. nobody ever thought he would. and then for a very long time, he took face the face the nation to first place in the demo. not all the time. but a hell of a lot more than people thought. and it should teach somebody a lesson that younger is not always better. joe, it also should teach a lesson that just good solid journalism. bob didn t worry about buzz. bob didn t worry about the passing fancy of the day. bob didn t worry about trying to be unnecessarily provocative. he was just good. he was tough as willie said a moment ago or i guess mika said with tom cot top but he was
dwight eisenhower s own son went to war in korea. beau could have run in the senate in 2010 and he would have won, beut he chose to continue as a local prosecutor and he said because he needed to keep fighting in his state on a case involved too many abused children. beau said i have a duty to fulfill as attorney general and the immediate need to focus on a case of great consequence. and that is what i must do. but above all, beau biden was a family man. that s that s where his duty was. he was a father he was a husband, he was a son. he is survived by his wife, their two children, natalie who is 11 and son hunter just nine years old. the total devotion to family is an example beau learned at the feet of his father. to know the story of joe jo bybiden
ignored on the campaign trail. police escort raced him from delaware down to walter reed army medical center in washington and the family piled into the cars and beau would ride up in front with the cops, jill would ride in the ambulance with joe. maryland cops were supposed to meet them but they never showed up. delaware cops turned to beau and said where are we going. beau had a wind breaker on and ball cap. he must have looked like a federal s.w.a.t. guy. and be oigau had just turned 19. surgeon told them they had no time to waste. they had to cut open the skull and operate and they said the chances are were no more than 50/50. a priest came into give him his last rights and joe asked to see the bidens one more time. he at any time have to tell the boys that he loved them after all, or ask them to take care of each other. they knew that stuff. but he wanted them to know what he d found out 15 years before. they would go on.
and his little brother hunter, had a concussion, possibly permanent damage. their dad, well, he had just been elected to the senate but the senate didn t mean a damn thing to him anymore. he wouldn t leave that hospital for weeks except at night. the hospital was in a tough neighborhood cramer wrote, bad streets and dark. if the boys could sleep, joe and his brother, jimmy, would walk those streets half the night, they would tell the nurses they were going out for pizza, but they wouldn t eat. they didn t even talk. the sound was share shoes on grit or broken glass. joe was hoping someone would jump out in front of the sally, come at him would he have killed the guy. he was looking for a fight. there was no place for his rage. sometimes he thought it would be easier if he were the only one left. then he could kill himself. but it was the boys that kept him alive. biden talked about these days at the wake for massachusetts senator ted kennedy in 2009.