After Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States in 2021, making the White House feel like home was at the top of the First Family's to-do list.
They decorated the private residence with "family pictures all around, our books, some furniture we brought from home," First Lady Dr. Jill Biden told People at the time.
The Bidens have always said that their family is their first priority. Biden is the father of four children, Naomi, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley. His three eldest children (Hunter, Beau, and Naomi) were born to his late wife, Neilia Hunter. After she died, he eventually married his second wife, Jill Jacobs, in 1977. They share Biden's youngest daughter, Ashley.
Biden also has seven grandkids, who call him "Pop" and share his well-known love for ice cream. His eldest granddaughter even got married at the White House in November of 2022. So, here’s everything you need to know about Joe Biden's children—and grandchildren.
Naomi Biden
Biden's daughter, Naomi, was born on November 8, 1971. She was only 1 years old when she and Neilia both died in a car accident in 1972. Naomi was the youngest of Biden's children with his first wife, Neilia. The oldest Biden grandchild was named in Naomi's honor.
After the horrific school shooting in Uvalde in 2022 that killed 19 elementary students and two teachers, Biden spoke to the crowd saying, "To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There's a hollowness in your chest, you feel like you're being sucked into it...And it's never quite the same," per People.
Joseph 'Beau' Biden
Biden named his eldest son after himself, though he was better known by his nickname: Beau.
Beau had an impressive military career: He joined the Army National Guard as a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2003.
Like his father, Beau also delved into politics and became the 44th attorney general of Delaware from 2007 until 2015. He worked closely with Kamala Harris, whose term as attorney general for California overlapped.
Biden believed his son’s political prospects were bright, saying, "I was pretty sure Beau could run for president someday, and, with his brother’s help, he could win," according to The Hill.
Beau married his wife, Hallie Olivere, in 2002, and they had two children: daughter Natalie Biden and son Robert Hunter Biden II. Beau announced his intention to run for governor of Delaware in the 2016 election, but he passed away in 2015 at age 46 after a battle with brain cancer.
The death impacted Biden and Jill immensely. "After our son, Beau, died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again," Dr. Biden said in her DNC speech on Tuesday night, per The New York Times. "It was summer, but there was no warmth left for me."
And she also talked about how inspiring Biden was as he walked through the grief of losing his son. "There are times when I couldn’t imagine how he did it—how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going," Jill said. "But I’ve always understood why he did it."
Ashley opened up about her big brother's lasting impact on their family in an interview with TODAY: "He was such a fine man, and he was such a man of integrity, but he also had a fun, goofy side and a great sense of humor. I just miss being with him, being in the same room, saying nothing. He was 46 when he passed, Dad will be the 46th president."
She also shared a sweet memory of her and her dad feeling a spiritual connection to Beau while on the campaign trail. "I remember when we were in South Carolina, things weren’t looking so great, and [my father and I] went and found a small community church, we didn’t tell anybody, we just went in by ourselves, and sat in the very back," she said. "And the song that reminds Dad [of Beau] is 'He Will Raise You Up on Eagle’s Wings,' and all of the sudden in this small little church, it is the song. Dad and I looked at each other, started bawling, hugged, and were like, 'This is Beau.'"
Robert Hunter Biden
Biden’s second son, Hunter (he goes by his middle name) is now 53, and has counseled for a New York-based law firm. He’s also the founder of the venture capital firm Eudora Global and served as chairman of the World Food Program USA board from 2011 to 2015.
In 2014, Hunter took a role on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Since 2018, there has been an ongoing investigation into Hunter's foreign dealings, drug use, and finances. "I'm absolutely certain—100 percent certain—that at the end of the investigation, I will be cleared of any wrongdoing," he told CBS Sunday Morning in April of 2021. "All I can do is cooperate and trust in the process."
Most recently, Hunter was arraigned and pleaded "not guilty" in federal court to three charges involving a federal form he filled out to purchase a gun in 2018, where he indicated he was not a drug user. (Hunter has previously said he struggled with an addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol.) Possession of a firearm by a person who is a drug user is a felony.
The Justice Department charges against Hunter include "falsifying a federal firearms application, lying to a federally licensed gun dealer and possessing an illegally obtained gun for 11 days," per The New York Times.
In June, Hunter agreed to enter a plea deal agreement where he would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and avoid prosecution on the gun charge, but the deal fell through after miscommunications between the opposing legal teams.
Hunter was then indicted by federal prosecutors on the gun charges in mid-September. There is no trial date yet. If he is found guilty, Hunter could be looking at up to 25 years in prison and a hefty, $750,000 fine, the outlet reported.
Hunter faced further controversy after the New York Post reported that the FBI had obtained a laptop reportedly belonging to him before the 2020 election.
The laptop had been left at a computer repair shop in 2019, and the owner contacted the FBI about it, The New York Times reported. The FBI then got a subpoena to seize the laptop and its external hard drive. Its contents were included in a federal investigation into Hunter’s taxes and overseas business dealings, and were also reviewed by the Times and other outlets.
In September of 2023, Hunter sued Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani's former lawyer for "their roles in disseminating personal information about Mr. Biden said to have been taken from a laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop," per the Times.
Hunter’s personal life has also made headlines, due to his struggles with drugs and alcohol, per ABC News, as well as his divorce from ex-wife Kathleen Buhle in 2017. The co-parents share three children: Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisey Biden. Naomi got married at the White House on Nov. 19, 2022.
Hunter has another child, daughter Navy Joan, with a woman in Arkansas, Lunden Alexis Roberts. Navy's paternity was the subject of a now-resolved 2018 court case determining Hunter was the father, according to the Texarkana Gazette. In Feb. 2021, Roberts also testified before a federal grand jury in the case surrounding Hunter's finances, according to the Daily Mail.
Soon after Hunter separated from Kathleen, he began dating his brother's widow, Hallie Biden. "We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness," Joe Biden told Page Six in 2017. "They have mine and Jill’s full and complete support and we are happy for them."
The couple broke up in April 2019, Page Six exclusively reported. A source close to the family told the publication it was a private matter. It’s still unclear why the couple broke up, but sources added that the split was "amicable."
Kathleen published a memoir in the summer of 2022 that goes into great detail about their marriage and breakup, titled, If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing.
In May of 2019, Hunter married Melissa Cohen, a South African filmmaker, the Washington Post reported. When asked to comment on his family life for a January 2019 article in Vanity Fair, Hunter wrote in a statement, "The important aspect of my complicated divorce (like all divorces) and an equally complicated life, marked by the tragic loss of my mother, sister and brother is this: My father has been a constant source of love and strength in my life."
Since then, Hunter Biden has released a new memoir titled Beautiful Things, which comes from his brother’s last words. In the book, President Biden’s son reckons with the addiction issues that have followed him for years.
Hunter told CBS Sunday Morning in a television interview that he believes his addiction issues stem from the car crash that killed his mother, Neilia, and his baby sister, Naomi. "I am more convinced now that trauma is at the center of it," he said.
Hunter also said he "never" believed his father would "give up" on him. Following his brother Beau’s death in 2015, Hunter started binge-drinking vodka, and when Biden (who was Vice President at the time) found out, he "ditched his Secret Service" and visited Hunter’s apartment.
"Honey, what are you doing?" he said the President asked him, before urging him to check into rehab. Soon after, Hunter fell off the wagon and became addicted to crack cocaine. "I went 13 days one time without sleeping," he said.
Lately, Hunter is pursuing a new path as an artist. His paintings were first shown at a gallery in late 2021. “I wanted to have a show because I just wanted people to see that not only was I okay, I was great. I am doing great. Because I think that there’s an enormous message of hope in that," Hunter told Vanity Fair.
"Through all of this meanness, through all of it, and through all of my own failings, and through all of what everybody’s gone through, and through everything that seems so ugly and depressing, and just the weight of it, to be able to walk into that room and see that. My art is so deeply infused with the message and meaning.”
Watch Hunter Biden's interview with CBS Sunday Morning below:
Ashley Blazer Biden
Ashley, 42, is the youngest of the Biden kids. She comes to her role as First Daughter with decades of experience as a social worker and public advocate.
"I will not have a job with the Administration," she told TODAY. "I will, however, hopefully, use this platform to advocate for social justice, for mental health, to be involved in community development and revitalization. I do hope to bring awareness and education to some subjects that are important."
Ashley graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans and got a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. She was the former executive director of the Delaware Center for Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group, and also a social worker for the state’s Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, according to DelawareOnline.com.
Now, she’s devoted to her charitable clothing line, Livelihood, per Newsweek. Ashley describes her brand as "all-inclusive, non-partisan, and empowering" on the website. Livelihood pledged 10% of the proceeds from every Livelihoodie purchase will go to Community Development Funds in identified communities in need. She is married to Dr. Howard Krein, a plastic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
"Dad is so empathetic and has the ability to recognize pain, to feel others' pain, and to comfort," Ashley told TODAY. "It's also made family his number one. We have a rule still today that no matter where Dad is, no matter what meeting he's in, if one of the kids call, you have to get him out."
And, she revealed the tight bond that Jill and Joe have: "Mom really keeps Dad grounded," Ashley explained. "She will always remind him to take out the trash. Even this morning, you know, make sure to wash your bowl. Dad loves his Raisin Bran in the morning, and she's like, 'Joe, wash that bowl, don't put it in the sink.'"
Ashley's diary was recently the subject of a big case surrounding Project Veritas, a conservative nonprofit organization that investigates politicians. During Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, members of Project Veritas attempted to use pages from Ashley's diary to extort an interview with Joe, according to Biden’s lawyers, as reported by the Daily Mail. Project Veritas denied the claim.
In August of 2022, two people pleaded guilty to stealing Ashley’s diary and selling it to Project Veritas, per The New York Times. In court papers, prosecutors linked the group to the theft and said that a Project Veritas employee told the two defendants, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander, to steal more items to authenticate the diary, and paid them to do so.
Project Veritas said “tipsters” provided the diary after it was abandoned in a room, per the Associated Press. Project Veritas also said it gave the diary to law enforcement and didn’t do anything illegal. The group said its "news gathering was ethical and legal” with regards to the diary, per the Associated Press.
Ashley left the diary at a friend’s home in Delray Beach, Florida, in 2020, and planned to go back to get it later that year, the Times reported.
Joe Biden has two pets: Willow and Commander Biden.
Let's not forget the family pets! When they first arrived at the White House, the Bidens had two German shepherds named Champ and Major.
Champ passed away in June 2021 at the age of 13, while Major was sent to Delaware for training after a few biting incidents, NBC News reported, and was eventually given away to family friends. Previously, 5-year-old Major was the first shelter dog in the White House after making a miraculous recovery with the Biden family.
Now, their latest dog, two-year-old German shepherd Commander, has captured headlines after biting secret service members 11 times now.
Since then, the Bidens have also adopted a tabby cat named Willow from Pennsylvania. Jill shared the news on Twitter back in January of 2022:
Seems like Willow is settling in nicely.
Emily Shiffer has worked as a writer for over 10 years, covering everything from health and wellness to entertainment and celebrities. She previously was on staff at SUCCESS, Men's Health, and Prevention magazines. Her freelance writing has been featured in Women's Health, Runner's World, PEOPLE, and more. Emily is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in magazine journalism at the Medill School of Journalism and minored in musicology. Currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina, Emily enjoys instructing barre, surfing, and long walks on the beach with her miniature Dachshund, Gertrude.
