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Naomi Biden: How did Joe's daughter die? Here's why Hunter and Kathleen's firstborn was named after late aunt

On the morning of election day, Joe Biden visited the graves of his first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden stepped foot into his hometown and a string of memories seem to have come flashing back to his mind. On the morning of election day, he first attended a church service and visited the graves of his son Beau — who died of brain cancer in 2015 — and his first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi — who died in a car crash in 1972. He stopped at his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he wrote a message on the wall that read: “From this house to the White House with the grace of God. Joe Biden 11-3-2020.” The former vice president then ended his campaign in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that is likely to play a key role in the election.

During his visit, Biden may have made a serious gaffe as he introduced his granddaughter saying, “This is my son, Beau Biden, who many of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.” After pausing for a second, he said, “This is my granddaughter, Natalie... No, wait, no wait. We got the wrong one...” Introducing his other granddaughter, he then said, “And this my granddaughter, Finnegan.” After he paid homage to Neilia, Beau, and Naomi, several people on the Internet wondered how his daughter Naomi Biden lost her life.

How did Naomi Biden die?

Born in 1971, the life of Biden and first wife Neilla's youngest daughter ended in a tragic accident. A year after she was born — on December 18, 1972 — her life was cut short barely two weeks after her father was elected as senator in Delaware. Nicknamed ‘Amy’, she was killed in a car accident – that involved her mother Neilia and her stepbrothers Beau and Hunter.

Narrating his tough times in the 2017 book ‘Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose’, the former vice president described the aftermath of the tragedy. “The pain… seemed unbearable in the beginning, and it took me a long time to heal, but I did survive the punishing ordeal. I made it through, with a lot of support, and reconstructed my life and my family.”

The Bidens relocated to Wilmington, Delaware, from Syracuse, New York and started a family. In 1969, Beau was born to the couple, followed by Hunter in 1970. Naomi was born a year later.

How the tragic death impacted Bidens

At the time of the tragic 1972 car accident, Beau was just four years old as his mother and younger sister Naomi were killed after Christmas shopping. His brother Hunter was just three years old and both were in the car but survived the crash. At the eulogy for his brother Beau, Hunter described his memory of the crash. “The first memory I have is of lying in a hospital bed next to my brother. I was almost 3 years old. I remember my brother who was 1 year and one day older than me, holding my hand, staring into my eyes, saying, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’ over and over and over again.”

Naomi and her mother’s death had a major impact on Biden's life. Instead of moving to the capital, he used to take the four-hour train commute from Delaware on a daily basis. His children lived a normal life. Narrating why he did so in those times, he said, “I did it because I wanted to be able to kiss them goodnight and kiss them in the morning the next day… But looking back on it, the truth be told, the real reason I went home every night was that I needed my children more than they needed me.”

Biden, soon, found love in the arms of Jill and “their lives quickly became intertwined.” The report quotes that his young sons asked him when Biden and Jill were going to get married and Beau soon welcomed her as a “second mother.”

How did Hunter name his daughter Naomi?

When Hunter's first daughter was born with his first wife Kathleen Buhle, Hunter named her Naomi Christina Biden after his late sister. A while back, she tweeted an adorable photo with her grandpa. “I am proud to be your granddaughter every single day @JoeBiden. But tonight, I am just as proud to be an American,” she wrote. 

At 26, she is a Columbia Law School graduate and has reportedly displayed a keen interest in politics. Recently, she replied to people on Twitter claiming Biden wasn't progressive enough. In a hard-hitting message, she wrote to the Trump supporters to “apologize to the children who have been separated from their parents, put in cages, and robbed of their future.” In fact, she has been seen on international trips to countries including Japan, New Zealand and China with Biden. If reports are to be believed, she is also friends with Tiffany Trump as the two attended the University of Pennsylvania at the same time.

As per Marie Claire, she has been dating fellow law student 23-year-old Peter Neal, for a couple of years now. The story further reads: “They both have a knack for helping people in this country, and recently created a website featuring a quiz that allows people to see if they qualify to receive aid on the CARES Act. It's currently helped more than 10,000 people and counting get assistance from the $2.2 trillion stimulus package.”