Biden visits church in Delaware to mark anniversary of death of his first wife ... trends now
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President Joe Biden took a break from politics on Monday to mark the anniversary of the death of his first wife and daughter.
The president, along with first lady Jill Biden, attended mass at Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Del.
Biden's first wife Neilia Hunter Biden and their one-year old daughter Naomi were killed in car crash on this date in 1972. The two are buried in the cemetery at the church.
Neilia and Naomi were killed when their car was struck by a tractor-trailer as she took the kids to pick out a Christmas tree. Biden's sons Hunter and Beau also were in the vehicle and seriously injured. They were a year and a day apart in age, at 3 and 4.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrive at Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church
Joe Biden in 1972 with his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi and sons Hunter and Beau
Hunter later died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. He is also buried at Joseph on the Brandywine.
The death of his first wife and young daughter haunted Biden's early political career. He had just been elected to the Senate - winning his first election in November 1972 - when the accident occurred.
Biden often tells the story of their passing - praising the first responders who helped aid his family - and admitting he thought about resigning from the Senate even before he took the oath of office.
On the advice of other senators he stayed in office. He was sworn into the Senate in the Wilmington hospital where Beau and Hunter Biden were being treated after the accident.
As senator, Biden began a daily commute between Wilmington and Washington D.C.
