beau after he battled brain cancer. president obama also released a statement. he wrote michelle and i are grieving tonight. beau biden was a friend of ours. the president wrote i have believed the best of every man and find that to believe it is enough to make a bad man show him at his best or even a good man swing his lantern higher. he was diagnosed nearly two years ago but was give an clean bill of health. he suffered a relapse and readmitted about a week and a half ago. he served as delaware's 44th attorney general and he was widely expected to run for governor in 2016.