Joe Biden and brother Jim Biden choose their flavor at Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream in Charleston, West Virginia, on Oct. 24, 2008.Photo:Christina Jamison/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Christina Jamison/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Joe Bidencomes from a large but tight-knit family.
The President of the United States hasfour children,seven grandchildrenand three siblings — including two younger brothers, James and Francis.
“It all comes from my mom and dad,” Valerie once told PEOPLE about their strong bond. “… They told us, honest to God, from the beginning, that we were a gift to one another. There was nothing closer than brothers and sisters.”
That closeness has helped the Bidens navigate difficult times — including thecar crash deaths of Joe’s first wife, Neilia, and infant daughter, Naomi, and thedeath of Joe’s son, Beau, to brain cancer — and celebrate successes, such as Joe’s presidential victory in 2020.
Although Joe currently holds one of the most powerful offices in the world, to his siblings, he is still just their big brother.
From their childhood beginnings to their careers, here is everything to know about Joe Biden’s younger brothers, Jim Biden and Frank Biden.
They grew up in Delaware
Joe Biden’s childhood house in Scranton, Pennsylvania.Robert Nickelsberg/Getty
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty
Though Joe often speaks ofhis childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Biden brothers spent the bulk of their youth in Delaware after their father — following a few failed business ventures — got a job as a used car salesman in Wilmington in 1953.
The family moved into an apartment in Claymont, Delaware, where they spent a few years before moving to a modest split-level home in Wilmington,The New York Timesreported. The Biden family stayed in that home until the four children were grown.
Joe, Jim and Frank also all attended the University of Delaware. Joe graduated from the university in 1965, while Frank was a student there in the 1970s at the same time as Joe’s future wife, Dr.Jill Biden.
They helped Joe launch his political career
James Biden, Jill Biden, Dick Cheney, and Joe Biden at the U.S. Capitol in 2009.KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty
KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty
In 1972, Joe ran for the U.S. Senate in Delaware. His chance at nabbing the Senate seat was considered a long shot: Joe was a 29-year-old attorney whose only political experience was serving one term on the New Castle, Delaware, city council. Meanwhile, his opponent, 63-year-old J. Caleb Boggs, was a popular Republican who had already served two terms as governor and two terms in the Senate. A poll three months before election day projected Joe to win less than 20% of the vote,according toThe New York Times.
But Joe enlisted the help of his family to take on the incumbent. Valerie was the campaign manager, Jim was in charge of fundraising and Frank coordinated student volunteers,The Washington Postreported.
“We knew Joey could win, so everyone in the family worked seventeen hours a day for eighteen months to make sure he did,” ValerietoldThe Washingtonianin 1974. “It was really a family operation.”
Professional campaign consultants advised against Joe having his family run his campaign,The Washingtonianreported, suggesting he would be more successful if he ditched his “family man” image. However, Joe was adamant.
“I am a family man, and I’d rather lose with my family than win without them,” he said, according toThe Washingtonian.
They helped Joe cope with the loss of his first wife and daughter
Joe Biden and Neilia Biden.Bettmann
Bettmann
Tragedy struck Joe’s family on Dec. 18, 1972, just weeks after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His first wife, Neilia, and their three children, Beau, Hunter and Naomi, were traveling in their family station wagon when it collided with a tractor-trailer. Neilia and Naomi, who was just 13 months old at the time, wereboth killed in the accident. Beau and Hunter, who were 4 and 3 at the time, also sustained injuries — but survived.
“By the tone of the phone call, you just knew,” Joe said in 2012 about the crash while addressing the families of fallen U.S. soldiers. “You just felt it in your bones:Something bad happened.”
Helping guide Joe through the devastating events, though, was his younger brother Jim. According toThe Washington Post, Jim identified Neilia and Naomi’s bodies following the crash and broke the news to his older brother and Neilia’s parents that they had died.
“I became basically a Senate wife for the first year,” Jim said, perTheWashington Post.
But, according to Joe, he would not have survived the loss of his wife and young daughter without the crucial support of Jim and the rest of the Biden family.
“I had an overwhelming advantage in the loss,” Joe said on a July 2023 episode of theOn Purpose With Jay Shettypodcast. “I had a really close family that was there … They were there for me.”
Frank introduced Joe to his now-wife, Jill Biden
Joe Biden and Jill Biden in 1987.Rick Maiman/Sygma/Getty
Rick Maiman/Sygma/Getty
Joe was not the first member of the Biden family to meet Jill, as she crossed paths with his younger brother, Frank, first when they were both students at the University of Delaware.
“I met a gregarious young guy from Wilmington, a student named Frank,” she wrote in her 2019 memoirWhere the Light Enters. “He and I would say hi to each other, occasionally stopping to chat. It wasn’t until much later that I took note of his last name: Biden. Frank Biden.”
“And Frank said, ‘Well, why don’t you, then? I know her,’ ” Jill recalled inWhere the Light Enters. “Frankie got my number from one of our mutual friends, and Joe called the next day.”
Frank has also worked in politics, like his big brother
Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg/Getty
At one point in his career, Frank followed in his big brother’s footsteps and attempted a political career. DuringBill Clinton’s first term as president, Frank served as the director of congressional, legislative and public affairs at the Government Printing Office (now known as the Government Publishing Office),according toThe Washington Post.
TheGovernment Publishing Officeis a government agency responsible for publishing and distributing “official government publications to Congress, federal agencies, federal depository libraries, and the public.” Frank defended his role there toThe Wilmington Newsin 1996,per theDaily Mail, insisting that it had no overlap with his older brother’s duties in the Senate.
Frank also stated that Joe had no involvement in him getting the job, theDaily Mailreported. Instead, he said a friend had alerted him to the position, which he held from 1993 to 1997.
“People have a natural tendency to be kind to someone who is related to someone they admire,” Frank toldThe Wilmington News.
Jim has a close relationship with Joe’s son, Hunter
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden at the World Food Program USA’s Annual McGovern-Dole Leadership Award Ceremony in 2016.Teresa Kroeger/Getty
Teresa Kroeger/Getty
Jim and his nephew, Joe’s younger son, Hunter, have had a close relationship since Hunter was a child. After Joe’s wife and young toddler died, Jim moved into Joe’s garage apartment to help with the boys — and has been helping ever since.
Joe recalled a particular incident when Jim came to help Hunter move into an apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, while he attended law school. When Jim realized the apartment needed a fresh coat of paint, he took action for his nephew.
“My brother Jimmy, who fixes everything — my brother Jimmy was with us, and we went down and bought about 28 gallons of paint,” the president said during a talk in Connecticut, according toTheWashington Post. “For real. It was hot as hell.”
Their tight bond has continued through adulthood, with the pair working professionally together. In 2006, Jim and Hunter purchased an international hedge fund called Paradigm Global Advisors. However, the uncle and nephew shut down the fund in 2010 after the global recession cut into their revenues,Politico reported.
The failed business venture didn’t impact their relationship. On several occasions, Hunter referred to his uncle as his best friend.
“Look, my uncle is the most amazing man, one of the most amazing people I know,” Hunter said on Marc Maron’sWTFpodcast, perThe Washington Post. “Yeah. He is literally there for everyone. He’s my, he’s my best friend in the world, my Uncle Jim. I mean, he’s an incredible human being in his own right.”
source: people.com
