'They Are My Heart'—A Look at Who's Who in President Joe Biden's Family

He's been the President of the United States since January 2021, and is the former Vice President, but how much do you know about Joe Biden's strong bond with his family? Pres. Biden has a reputation for being a man whose family has always been central to his very being. He's a parent and a grandparent. Pres. Biden is also a man whose family has suffered profound loss and heartbreak.

Now that Pres. Biden is running for re-election in 2024, it's time to get to know the President's family. That includes his wife Dr. Jill Biden, as well as their children Hunter, Beau, Ashley, and his late daughter Naomi. Between them, they have seven grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, Robert, and Beau, born the year the President was elected, 2020. Hunter Biden also has another child, born in 2018.

Who is Dr. Jill Biden?

In 1975, then Jill Jacobs met Joe Biden on a blind date arranged by Biden's brother Frank. At the time, Biden was a U.S. Senator from Delaware and a widower. He sadly lost his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, in a tragic car accident in 1972. The tragedy left him a single dad to their two sons Beau and Hunter who were just about to turn 4 and 3 at the time.

Meeting Jill was a game-changer for the grieving senator. In his 2007 memoir Promises to Keep, Biden wrote, "She gave me back my life. She made me start to think my family might be whole again."

His sons ended up loving Jill, a teacher and University of Delaware graduate, just as much as their father, famously telling Joe at one point, "Dad, we think it's time we married Jill." The senator proposed five times before Jill agreed. The doctor of education explained in her speech at the Democratic National Convention why she held off on saying yes: "I loved the boys so much. I had to be sure that it had to be forever."

She realized it was forever, and the two tied the knot on June 17, 1977. In 1981, their daughter Ashley Biden was born.

In addition to being a wife and mom, Dr. Jill Biden is a dedicated, lifelong educator. She began her career as an English teacher in local public schools, earned two Master's degrees in reading and English, and went on to get her Doctorate in Education in 2007. She taught English and worked as a reading specialist in Delaware public schools, and later taught English Composition at Delaware Technical and Community College, a position she held for 15 years. She proudly continued teaching at Northern Virginia Community College while serving as Second Lady.

Joe Biden's Children

Naomi Biden

In 1972, at just 1 year old, Joe's first daughter tragically died in a car accident alongside her mother Neilia.

Joseph "Beau" Biden

Joe Biden's eldest son Beau tragically lost his battle with brain cancer in 2015. From 2007 to 2015, he served as the attorney general of Delaware, a position in which he met and became friends with the woman who would later become Vice President—Kamala Harris. Harris was the attorney general of California at the time. Before that, Beau was in the Army National Guard as a major. He had planned to run for governor of Delaware before his passing.

"After our son, Beau, died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again. It was summer, but there was no warmth left for me," Jill said during her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech. "Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back, and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That's just who he is."

Beau is survived by his wife, Hallie Olivere, and their children, Natalie Biden and Robert Hunter Biden II.

Robert "Hunter" Biden

Beau's younger brother Hunter is an attorney and founder of the venture capital firm Eudora Global. He has made tabloid headlines for his struggles with substance abuse and for tying the knot just days after meeting his now-second wife Melissa Cohen. He was previously married to Kathleen Buhle, with whom he shares three children: Naomi (named after her late aunt), Finnegan, and Maisy Biden.

When he was younger, he would often accompany his brother Beau and father to Washington, D.C. when Congress was in session. Hunter told The New Yorker of his experience standing by his dad's side, “Beau and I have been there since we were carried in baskets during his first campaign. We went everywhere with him. At every single major event and every small event that had to do with his political career, I was there."

Ashley Blazer Biden

Biden's youngest child graduated from Tulane University. She has dedicated her career to public service, serving as a social worker in Delaware for 15 years. Ashley is the executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice, a criminal justice reform-oriented nonprofit. "The passion started at a very young age," she told Glamour in 2017. "My dad is a lifelong public servant; my mom was a public school teacher—it’s in my DNA."

While she has generally kept a low profile, more recently, Ashley has become more outspoken as her father looks toward a second term as President. In a recent interview with Elle, Ashley said she "never wanted to be in the public eye." She's also seeking to earn a doctorate in clinical social work at the University of Pennsylvania. Ashley is already doing work in Philadelphia. In the interview with Elle, she says she wants to open a "wellness space for women impacted by trauma." She has also been helping a group of 15 formerly incarcerated women.

She is currently married to Howard Krein, a physician at Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is double board-certified in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

Joe Biden's Grandchildren

Naomi Biden

Naomi is named for her late aunt and is the eldest child born to Hunter and his first wife Kathleen. She graduated from Columbia Law School, and Joe gave a socially-distant keynote speech at her commencement. She notably accompanied her grandpa on trips to New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, and Mongolia while he served as VP. Naomi and her husband Peter Neal were married at the White House in November 2022.

Finnegan Biden

Born in 2000, Naomi's younger sister, Finnegan, was named for her great-grandmother, Joe's late mother, Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Finnegan Biden. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021.

Maisy Biden

Naomi and Finnegan's little sister, Maisy, is famously best friends with Sasha Obama. They graduated together from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. In a DNC video interview, alongside her sisters and cousin, Maisy said of her grandpa, "He always calls with the same energy even after he's just done 15 interviews in a row."

Natalie Biden

Natalie is the eldest child of Beau and his widow Hallie, born in 2004. She was just 10 years old when her father died. She said of her grandma Dr. Jill Biden at the DNC, "I would say she’s not your average grandmother. She's a prankster, she's very mischievous. When she goes on a run, sometimes she'll find like a dead snake and she'll pick it up and put it in a bag and she'll use it to scare someone." Natalie was able to vote for the first time in 2022, joining her grandfather to cast her vote early in Wilmington, Delaware.

Robert "Hunter" Biden II

Beau and Hallie's second child goes by Hunter like his uncle. He is Pres. Biden's first grandson and was born in 2006.

Beau Biden

Hunter and his second wife Melissa Cohen welcomed a baby boy together in March 2020. They named him Beau after Hunter's late brother. Baby Beau made his first appearance at the President's inauguration.

Hunter Biden's Child with Lunden Roberts

In 2018, a child was born to an Arkansas woman named Lunden Roberts. She claimed Hunter Biden was the father. Hunter Biden initially denied the claim, but a DNA test proved otherwise. According to a report in The Miami Herald, the little girl and her mother are estranged from the Biden family.