English subtitles for clip: File:The President Delivers a Eulogy in Honor of Beau Biden.webm

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The President: "A man,"
wrote an Irish poet, "is

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original when he speaks the
truth that has always been

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known to all good men."

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Beau Biden was an original.

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He was a good man.

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A man of character.

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A man who loved deeply,
and was loved in return.

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Your Eminences, your
Excellencies, General Odierno,

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distinguished
guests; to Hallie, Natalie

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and Hunter; to Hunter,
Kathleen, Ashley, Howard;

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the rest of Beau's beautiful
family, friends, colleagues;

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to Jill and to Joe -- we are
here to grieve with you, but

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more importantly, we are
here because we love you.

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Without love, life can be
cold and it can be cruel.

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Sometimes cruelty is
deliberate -- the action of

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bullies or bigots, or
the inaction of those

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indifferent to
another's pain.

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But often, cruelty is simply
born of life, a matter of

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fate or God's will, beyond
our mortal powers to comprehend.

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To suffer such faceless,
seemingly random cruelty can

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harden the softest hearts,
or shrink the sturdiest.

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It can make one mean,
or bitter, or full

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of self-pity.

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Or, to paraphrase an old
proverb, it can make you beg

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for a lighter burden.

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But if you're strong enough,
it can also make you ask God

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for broader shoulders;
shoulders broad enough to

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bear not only your own
burdens, but the burdens of

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others; shoulders broad
enough to shield those who

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need shelter the most.

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To know Beau Biden is to
know which choice he made in

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his life.

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To know Joe and the rest
of the Biden family is to

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understand why Beau
lived the life he did.

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For Beau, a cruel twist of
fate came early -- the car

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accident that took his mom
and his sister, and confined

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Beau and Hunter, then still
toddlers, to hospital beds

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at Christmastime.

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But Beau was a Biden.

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And he learned early the
Biden family rule: If you

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have to ask for
help, it's too late.

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It meant you were never
alone; you don't even have

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to ask, because someone is
always there for you when

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you need them.

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And so, after the accident,
Aunt Valerie rushed in to

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care for the boys, and
remained to help raise them.

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Joe continued public
service, but shunned the

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parlor games of Washington,
choosing instead the daily

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commute home, maintained for
decades, that would let him

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meet his most cherished duty
-- to see his kids off to

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school, to kiss them at
night, to let them know that

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the world was stable and
that there was firm ground

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under their feet.

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As Joe himself confessed to
me, he did not just do this

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because the kids needed him.

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He did it because he
needed those kids.

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And somehow, Beau sensed
that -- how understandably

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and deeply hurt his family
and his father was.

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And so, rather than use
his childhood trauma as

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justification for a
life of self-pity or

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self-centeredness, that
very young boy made a very

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grown-up decision: He would
live a life of meaning.

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He would live a
life for others.

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He would ask God for
broader shoulders.

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Beau would guide and look
out for his younger brother.

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He would embrace his new mom
-- apparently, the two boys

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sheepishly asking their
father when they could all

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marry Jill -- and throughout
his life, no one would make

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Jill laugh harder.

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He would look after their
baby sister, Ashley.

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He would forever be the
one to do the right thing,

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careful not to give his
family or his friends cause

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for concern.

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It's no secret that a lot of
what made Beau the way he

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was was just how much he
loved and admired his dad.

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He studied law, like his
dad, even choosing the same

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law school.

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He chased public service,
like his dad, believing it

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to be a noble and
important pursuit.

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From his dad, he learned how
to get back up when life

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knocked him down.

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He learned that he was no
higher than anybody else,

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and no lower than anybody
else -- something Joe got

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from his mom, by the way.

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And he learned how to make
everybody else feel like we

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matter, because his dad
taught him that

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everybody matters.

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He even looked and sounded
like Joe, although I think

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Joe would be first to
acknowledge that Beau was an

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upgrade -- Joe 2.0.

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(laughter)

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But as much as
Beau reminded folks of Joe,

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he was very much
his own man.

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He was an original.

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Here was a scion of an
incredible family who

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brushed away the possibility
of privilege for the harder,

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better reward of
earning his own way.

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Here was a soldier who
dodged glory, and exuded

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true humility.

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A prosecutor who defended
the defenseless.

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The rare politician who
collected more fans than

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foes, and the rarer public
figure who prioritized his

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private life above all else.

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Beau didn't cut corners.

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He turned down an
appointment to be Delaware's

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attorney general so he could
win it fair and square.

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When the field was clear for
him to run for the Senate,

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he chose to finish
his job as A.G. instead.

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He didn't do these things to
gain favor with a cynical

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public -- it's
just who he was.

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In his twenties, he and a
friend were stopped for

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speeding outside Scranton.

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And the officer recognized
the name on the license, and

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because he was a fan
of Joe's work with law

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enforcement he wanted to let
Beau off with a warning.

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But Beau made him
write that ticket.

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Beau didn't trade
on his name.

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After 9/11, he joined
the National Guard.

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He felt it was his
obligation -- part of what

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those broader
shoulders are for.

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He did his duty to his
country and deployed to

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Iraq, and General Odierno
eloquently spoke to Major

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Biden's service.

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What I can tell you is when
he was loading up to ship

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out at Dover, there was a
lot of press that wanted to

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interview him.

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Beau refused.

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He was just another soldier.

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I saw him when I visited
Iraq; he conducted himself

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the same way.

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His deployment was hard on
Hallie and the kids, like it

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was for so many families
over the last 14 years.

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It was hard on
Joe, hard on Jill.

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That's partly why Jill threw
herself into her work with

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military families with
so much intensity.

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That's how you know when Joe
thunders "may God protect

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our troops" in every speech
he does, he means it so deeply.

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Like his father, Beau did
not have a mean bone in

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his body.

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The cruelty he'd endured in
his life didn't make him

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hard, it made him
compassionate, empathetic.

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But it did make
him abhor bullies.

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Beau's grandfather, Joe's
father, believed that the

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most egregious sin was to
abuse your power to inflict

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pain on another.

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So Beau squared his broad
shoulders to protect people

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from that kind of abuse.

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He fought for homeowners who
were cheated, seniors who

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were scammed.

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He even went after
bullying itself.

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He set up a Child Protector
-- Predator Task Force,

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convicted more than 200
of those who targeted

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vulnerable children.

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And in all this, he did it
in a way that was alive to

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the suffering of others,
bringing in experts to help

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spare both the children
and their parents

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further trauma.

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That's who Beau was.

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Someone who cared.

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Someone who charmed you, and
disarmed you, and put you

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at ease.

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When he'd have to attend a
fancy fundraiser with people

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who took themselves way too
seriously, he'd walk over to

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you and whisper something
wildly inappropriate in

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your ear.

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(laughter)

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The son of a
senator, a Major in the

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Army, the most popular
elected official in Delaware

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-- I'm sorry, Joe --

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(laughter)

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-- but he was not

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above dancing in nothing but
a sombrero and shorts at

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Thanksgiving if it would
shake loose a laugh from the

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people he loved.

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And through it all, he
was the consummate public

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servant, a notebook in his
back pocket at all times so

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he could write down the
problems of everyone he met

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and go back to the
office to get them fixed.

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Because he was a Biden, the
titles that come with family

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-- husband, father, son,
brother, uncle -- those were

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the ones Beau valued
above any other.

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This was a man who, at
the Democratic National

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Convention, didn't spend all
his time in backrooms with

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donors or glad-handing.

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Instead, he rode the
escalators in the arena with

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his son, up and down, up
and down, again and again,

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knowing, just like Joe had
learned, what ultimately

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mattered in life.

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You know, anyone can make a
name for themselves in this

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reality TV age, especially
in today's politics.

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If you're loud enough or
controversial enough, you

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can get some attention.

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But to make that name mean
something, to have it

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associated with dignity and
integrity -- that is rare.

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There's no
shortcut to get it.

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It's not something
you can buy.

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But if you do right by your
children, maybe you can pass

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it on.

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And what greater
inheritance is there?

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What greater inheritance
than to be part of a family

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that passes on the values of
what it means to be a great

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parent; that passes on the
values of what it means to

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be a true citizen; that
passes on the values of what

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it means to give back,
fully and freely, without

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expecting anything
in return?

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That's what our country was
built on -- men like Beau.

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That's who built it --
families like this.

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We don't have kings
or queens or lords.

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We don't have to be born
into money to have an impact.

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We don't have to step on one
another to be successful.

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We have this remarkable
privilege of being able to

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earn what we get out of
life, with the knowledge

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that we are no higher than
anybody else, or lower than

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anybody else.

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We know this not just
because it is in our

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founding documents, but
because families like the

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Bidens have made it so,
because people like Beau

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have made it so.

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He did in 46 years what most
of us couldn't do in 146.

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He left nothing in the tank.

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He was a man who led a life
where the means were as

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important as the ends.

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And the example he set made
you want to be a better dad,

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or a better son, or a better
brother or sister, better at

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your job, the
better soldier.

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He made you want to
be a better person.

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Isn't that finally the
measure of a man -- the way

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he lives, how he treats
others, no matter what life

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may throw at him?

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We do not know how
long we've got here.

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We don't know when
fate will intervene.

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We cannot discern
God's plan.

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What we do know is that with
every minute that we've got,

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we can live our lives in a
way that takes nothing

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for granted.

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We can love deeply.

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We can help people
who need help.

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We can teach our children
what matters, and pass on

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empathy and compassion
and selflessness.

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We can teach them to
have broad shoulders.

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To the Biden family, this
sprawling, intimate clan --

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I know that Beau's passing
has left a gaping void in

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the world.

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Hallie, I can only imagine
the burdens that you've been

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carrying on your shoulders
these past couple of years.

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And it's because you gave
him everything that he could

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give everything to us.

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And just as you were there
for him, we'll be there for you.

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To Natalie and Hunter --
there aren't words big

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enough to describe how much
your dad loved you, how much

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he loved your mom.

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But I will tell you what,
Michelle and I and Sasha and

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Malia, we've become
part of the Biden clan.

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We're honorary members now.

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And the Biden
family rule applies.

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We're always here for you,
we always will be -- my word

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as a Biden.

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(laughter)

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To Joe and Jill -- just
like everybody else here,

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Michelle and I thank God
you are in our lives.

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Taking this ride with you is
one of the great pleasures

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of our lives.

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Joe, you are my brother.

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And I'm grateful every day
that you've got such a big

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heart, and a big soul, and
those broad shoulders.

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I couldn't admire you more.

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I got to know Joe's mom,
Catherine Eugenia Finnegan

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Biden, before
she passed away.

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She was on stage with us
when we were first elected.

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And I know she told Joe once
that out of everything bad

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that happens to you,
something good will come if

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you look hard enough.

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And I suppose she was
channeling that same Irish

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poet with whom I began
today, Patrick Kavanagh,

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when he wrote, "And I said,
let grief be a fallen leaf

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at the dawning of the day."

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As hard as it is right now,
through all the heartache

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and through all the tears,
it is our obligation to Beau

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to think not about what was
and what might have been,

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but instead to think about
what is, because of him.

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Think about the day that
dawns for children who are

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safer because of Beau, whose
lives are fuller, because

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of him.

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Think about the day that
dawns for parents who rest

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easier, and families who
are freer, because of him.

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Some folks may never know
that their lives are better

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because of Beau Biden.

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But that's okay.

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00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:41,310
Certainly for Beau, acclaim
was never the point of

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public service.

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But the lines of
well-wishers who've been

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00:20:47,412 --> 00:20:48,412
here all week -- they know.

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00:20:48,413 --> 00:20:55,023
The White House mailroom
that's been overflowing with

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00:20:55,020 --> 00:21:00,030
letters from people
-- those folks know.

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00:21:00,025 --> 00:21:03,195
The soldiers who served
with Beau, who joined the

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00:21:03,195 --> 00:21:05,165
National Guard
because of him.

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00:21:06,965 --> 00:21:09,335
The workers at Verdi's
who still have their home

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00:21:09,334 --> 00:21:12,834
because of him, and who
thanked him for helping them

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00:21:12,838 --> 00:21:14,838
bus tables one busy night.

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00:21:16,575 --> 00:21:20,275
The students in Newark who
remember the time he talked

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00:21:20,278 --> 00:21:23,518
with them for hours,
inexhaustible, even after

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00:21:23,515 --> 00:21:25,985
giving a speech, even after
taking his National Guard

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00:21:25,984 --> 00:21:27,954
fitness test.

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00:21:29,554 --> 00:21:32,754
The Rehoboth woman who's
saved a kind voicemail from

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00:21:32,758 --> 00:21:35,858
him for five years, and
wrote to say "I loved the

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00:21:35,861 --> 00:21:37,161
way he loved his family."

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And the stranger who wrote
from halfway across this

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00:21:43,669 --> 00:21:47,509
great country just to say,
"The only thing we can hope

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00:21:47,506 --> 00:21:51,646
for is that our children
make us proud by making a

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00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:54,513
difference in the world.

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00:21:54,513 --> 00:21:57,983
Beau has done that
and then some.

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00:21:57,983 --> 00:22:04,223
The world noticed."

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00:22:04,222 --> 00:22:12,462
Jill, Joe, Hallie, Hunter
and Natalie -- the

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00:22:12,464 --> 00:22:14,134
world noticed.

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00:22:17,536 --> 00:22:18,436
They noticed.

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00:22:18,437 --> 00:22:21,907
They felt it, his presence.

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00:22:21,907 --> 00:22:27,147
And Beau lives on in
the lives of others.

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00:22:27,145 --> 00:22:32,485
And isn't that the whole
point of our time here?

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00:22:32,484 --> 00:22:38,024
To make this country we love
fairer and more just, not

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00:22:38,023 --> 00:22:41,623
just for Natalie and Hunter,
or Naomi, or Finnegan, or

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00:22:41,626 --> 00:22:45,496
Maisy, or Malia, or Sasha,
but for every child?

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Isn't that what this amazing
journey we've been on is all

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about -- to make life better
for the next generation?

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Beau figured that
out so early in life.

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What an inheritance
Beau left us.

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00:23:06,384 --> 00:23:08,384
What an example he set.

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00:23:12,824 --> 00:23:15,864
"Through our great good
fortune, in our youth our

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00:23:15,861 --> 00:23:19,231
hearts were touched with
fire," said Oliver Wendell

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00:23:19,231 --> 00:23:24,101
Holmes, Jr. "But, above all,
we have learned that whether

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00:23:24,102 --> 00:23:29,072
a man accepts from Fortune
her spade, and will look

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00:23:29,074 --> 00:23:34,284
downward and dig, or from
Aspiration her axe and cord,

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00:23:34,279 --> 00:23:41,619
and will scale the ice, the
one and only success which

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00:23:41,620 --> 00:23:46,630
it is his to command is to
bring to his work a

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00:23:46,625 --> 00:23:48,625
mighty heart."

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00:23:50,929 --> 00:23:54,169
Beau Biden brought to
his work a mighty heart.

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00:23:57,135 --> 00:23:59,775
He brought to his
family a mighty heart.

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00:24:03,074 --> 00:24:05,074
What a good man.

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00:24:07,045 --> 00:24:09,045
What an original.

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May God bless his memory,
and the lives of all he touched.