Vice President Joe Biden Returns to White House For First Time Since Son's Death
The vice president had been spending time with family in Delaware.
— -- Vice President Joe Biden returned to the White House for the first time today since the death of his son Beau two weekends ago.
On his first day back to work, Biden joined the president for a private lunch at the White House and held a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniv Yatsenyuk.
Biden has spent the majority of his time in Delaware after the death of his son Beau.
Thousands of condolences have poured in for the vice president and his family via the White House's virtual condolence book.
In total, the Biden family has received 72,000 condolences through the White House’s virtual system -- and condolences were submitted from every state, according to the Vice President’s Office.
One of the submissions came from Michelle Burgess, a probation and parole officer from Delaware who has experienced the loss of a child as well. The vice president actually wrote a condolence letter to Burgess following the death of her eight year old son in 2010.
“I was so grateful to have received that letter at a time that I needed it most. I was grateful that you took the time out of your very busy schedule to write it to me and I will be forever thankful,” Burgess wrote in the virtual condolence book. “Now my heart is broken to have to express my sympathy to you and to the rest of the Biden family for the loss of your amazing son Beau.”
“While I never had the opportunity to meet Beau personally, I witnessed first hand what an excellent job he did as Attorney General for Delaware. You raised an amazing man and you should be very proud for that,” she wrote. “Sir, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am and how broken my heart truly is for you and your family. Please accept my most sincere condolences."
The vice president has already started reading some of the condolence messages, his office said.
Despite working at the White House today, the vice president is scheduled to return to Wilmington overnight. There is currently no guidance on when the vice president will return to Washington on a more permanent basis.
The vice president’s son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer on May 30. Obama eulogized the 46-year-old Biden last weekend in the conclusion of three days of memorial services.
Beau Biden served two terms as the attorney general of Delaware, was an Iraq war veteran, and was married with two children.