President Obama Delivers Beau Biden Eulogy, Obama: "Beau Biden Was An Original"

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• published: 06 Jun 2015
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President Obama Delivers Beau Biden Eulogy, president Obama speaks At Beau Biden Funeral. President barack Obama to Biden family: "The world noticed. They noticed. They felt it. Beau lives on. President Obama: Beau Biden "did in 46 years what most of us couldn’t do in 146 ; he left nothing in the tank." "Beau Biden was an original. He was a good man. A man of character. A man who loved deeply and was loved in return." —President Obama, Obama: "It's no secret that a lot of what made Beau the way he was is how much he loved and admired his dad."(CNN) President Barack Obama is leading hundreds of mourners paying solemn tribute to Beau Biden, a beloved son of Delaware and the eldest child of grief-stricken Vice President Joe Biden, who died last week of brain cancer at only 46. Obama, delivered a eulogy, at a Roman Catholic funeral mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church, in the "Little Italy" section of Wilmington, where the Biden family has frequently worshiped. Beau Biden mourned. Beau Biden's funeral cortege arrived at the church heralded by a pipe band. The vice president, wearing dark glasses, and the rest of his family, all looking bereft, formed up behind the hearse. Biden occasionally whispered in the ear of Beau's widow Hallie, and comforted his son's two children, Natalie and Hunter. The casket, covered in an American flag, was removed and carried gently into the church with full military honors, reflecting Beau's service as a captain in the Army National Guard in Iraq. Earlier, Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia and his mother-in-law Marian Robinson, all dressed in black, left the White House, where the American flag stood at half-staff to honor Beau Biden. The first person in line for the service arrived at 4:30 a.m., and by breakfast time, the line of mourners stretched around the block of the St. Anthony of Padua Church, in the "Little Italy" section of Wilmington, where the Bidens have frequently worshipped. Obama's eulogy will be both a show of respect for Beau Biden, the former Delaware attorney general, with whom he had a personal relationship and a sign of the deep bond that has grown up between the president and his deputy. Friends & family gather to honor Beau Biden, V.P.'S son 02:09 "Over the last seven or eight years, the Obama family has grown very close to the Biden family and the President did have a personal relationship with Beau Biden," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Friday. Earnest said the President felt the death in a "very personal way," but was also "looking forward to spending some time tomorrow celebrating Beau's life." Joe Biden's role as a grieving father is not without irony in itself. The vice president has become one of the most sought after eulogists in Washington as his painful personal history -- he lost his first wife and an infant daughter in a car crash in 1972 -- has made him especially compassionate to the tragedies of others. Musicians performing at the event include Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin, who had heard through a family friend that Beau Biden liked his music and volunteered to attend the ceremony, a White House official said. Saturday's funeral follows two days of mourning and memorial events for Beau Biden, which has showcased the deep emotional anguish the vice president and his family are enduring following his death a week ago. Some people waited five hours just to get into see the casket on Friday. Beau Biden on his father's 2012 reelection Beau Biden on his father's 2012 reelection 01:15 PLAY VIDEO