A family affair, as ever, as Biden bids farewell

For better or worse, politics has always been a family affair for President Joe Biden, and his emotional farewell at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is no exception.

First, his wife and fierce defender Jill Biden, the 73-year-old first lady, will take to the stage on Monday to speak about a presidency she reportedly believes was unfairly cut short.

Then their daughter Ashley, 43, will ascend the podium to give an introduction to the speech by her 81-year-old father in front of thousands of delegates from the party that just pushed him out.

Only after that will the US president himself deliver the speech that less than a month ago he still thought he would not have to give -- the one passing the torch to his vice president.

"The first lady and the family are going to be joining him tonight. It's a big night," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters flying with Biden on Air Force One.

The presidential jet was itself loaded up with family members traveling to Chicago, including Jill Biden, Ashley Biden's husband Howard Krein, and Peter Neal, the husband of Biden's granddaughter Naomi.

But then Biden has always surrounded himself with family throughout a long political career.

- Folksy stories -

He has consulted with them, leaned on them and often used stories about them to give a folksy tone and middle-class credentials to his political speeches.

He has kept them by his side even when -- as in the case of Hunter Biden with his series of personal and legal woes -- he has drawn flak from Republicans.

Biden has made a show of appearing with Hunter even in his eldest surviving son's toughest moments -- such as Hunter's recent conviction on gun charges, which stemmed from a period of crack addiction.

And he has taken all the toughest decisions of his political career with family -- including the momentous decision in July to drop out of the White House race.

Biden hailed from an already tight-knit Irish Catholic clan, but his close family was forged in tragedy. His wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi died in a car crash in 1972 that also badly injured his young sons Beau and Hunter.

He credits Jill Biden, whom he married in 1977 and shares daughter Ashley with, for rebuilding the family and making it even stronger.

While he has always relied on her advice, over the course of his five-decade political career, he increasingly relied on the counsel of his sons too.

- Family holiday -

When Biden accepted the nomination as Barack Obama's running mate in 2008, his son Beau Biden, then the attorney general of Delaware, introduced him at the convention.

Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 aged 46, but before he passed away he made his father promise that he would carry on pursuing the dream of becoming president.

Then in 2020 Ashley and Hunter Biden introduced him for his 2020 nomination speech, with video clips of the late Beau, before he went on to beat Republican Donald Trump.

The family were there for Biden too when he decided to drop out of the 2024 race.

While he took the decision on his own, suffering from Covid and virtually isolated at his beach house, he consulted with the first lady and spoke with Hunter Biden by telephone.

Sitting in the background, they were there too when Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office in July -- Jill and Ashley Biden holding hands while Hunter and a number of Biden's grandchildren sat watching him.

And when the hoopla of the convention speech is over, Biden will follow the same pattern.

He will leave for California on Monday night to "spend time with his family," spokeswoman Jean-Pierre said.