The Tragic Truth About Joe & Jill Biden's Daughter, Ashley

This article contains references to child abuse and addiction.

Joe Biden has been a household name for years, first thanks to his vice presidency under Barack Obama and then thanks to his own stint in the White House. As any president knows, getting to the top in America isn't easy, and it comes with its own drawbacks. The spotlight isn't just thrust upon you but your family, too. Ashley Biden is the only living daughter of Joe and Jill Biden, and she's faced her fair share of adversity over the years, just like her brothers.

Though Ashley was all grown up by the time her dad took on the presidency (unlike some other presidential kids) she has still weathered some storms that would break a lot of people. In fact, Ashley is a key part of the Biden family history, which is a largely tragic tale. 

From untimely deaths to drawn-out illnesses, struggles with addiction, tax problems, and more, no one can say the Biden family has had it easy. At the core of that, Ashley has had to try live out her life in the best way possible, all while attempting to steer clear of controversy and keep her nose clean. It hasn't always worked.

Tragedy began to weave its way into Ashley Biden's genetic makeup long before she was even born. Ashley is the only child of her father, Joe Biden, and his second wife, Jill Biden. Her dad was married before to Neilia Hunter, who was the mother of Ashley's two half-brothers, Hunter and Beau Biden. Nelia and Joe were also parents to a baby daughter, Naomi, but she would never live to see adulthood or even her teens. 

Both Neilia and Naomi died in a devastating car accident in 1972, just days before Christmas. Neilia had taken her three kids out shopping when a tractor hit their car. While Hunter and Beau were both injured, they miraculously survived. Joe would later go on to marry Jill and welcome Ashley in 1981. Though she has never publicly spoken about her father's first marriage, it must be a strange experience for Ashley, knowing that she wouldn't exist if her father's first wife and daughter hadn't perished in such tragic circumstances. What's more, her niece, Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi, is named after her late aunt. 

Living in the shadow of a half-sister you never got to meet can't be easy for anyone, especially when the heartbreaking effects of the accident impacted her direct family members so profoundly.

The public has often wondered about Joe Biden's daughter. Out of all of the president's children, she seems to try to keep her life relatively private. But you can't be the child of a prominent politician and not generate interest. Just like many college kids, Ashley Biden partied it up when she was a student at Tulane University in the '90s — though she may have partied a little too hard. A classmate of Ashley's named Nat Berman spilled the beans on Ashley's extracurricular activities to The New York Post in 2009, and didn't hold back on the details. Berman claimed that Ashley was widely known as a "hot freshman" and that when she was arrested for marijuana possession in 1999, he was the one to bail her out. 

"She was freaking out. She was like, 'I'm in this cell,'" Berman explained, saying Ashley called him for help when she got busted on her way to his place. "She was not happy." Thankfully for the young student, Berman coughed up the cash and picked Ashley up to take her home.

It's certainly not the wildest college story we've heard, but typically, the kids of politicians on their way to the White House are expected to be squeaky clean and wholesome. The Biden siblings have never adhered to this status quo.

Joe and Jill Biden's lovey-dovey relationship is incredible when you take into account everything the family has had to weather. Ashely Biden had to grow up in the shadow of a sister she never met, but at least her parents were a strong unit ... though even that unity couldn't prevent future heartache. In 2015, Joe lost another child, his son Beau Biden, and Ashley lost a treasured brother. Beau, a politician just like his dad and a family man with kids of his own, died at the age of 46 from brain cancer. Though there was initially some hope after Beau was diagnosed, thanks to chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, he suffered a relapse and his hopes of a full recovery were dashed.

Ashely was heartbroken at the loss of her older sibling and spoke highly of her brother at his funeral. "There are no words that could adequately describe my love, admiration, and adoration for my brother," Ashely said with a shaky voice via MSNBC. "Nothing I say will give justice to what he means to me, to us." 

Losing her brother to cancer undoubtedly left a profound mark on Ashley, who continues to talk about Beau years later. She told Jenna Bush Hager (via PopSugar) prior to her father's inauguration, "[Beau] was such a fine man ... I just miss being with him — being in the same room, saying nothing."

Losing a family member prematurely is one of the worst things any family can go through. Judging from Ashley Biden's speech at Beau Biden's funeral, the Biden siblings are a close-knit. Ashley has admitted that she began suffering from PTSD after the death of Beau in 2015. In a 2023 interview with Elle about a new trauma center she planned on setting up for women, Ashley candidly spoke about what she went through in the wake of losing Beau. She spoke about how much EMDR therapy helped her work through things, largely because of how it targets painful memories. 

"EMDR did wonders for me when it came to my brother's death," said the first daughter. "Brain cancer is horrendous, and watching someone you love go through that is horrendous." Her brother's illness and death left a mark on Ashley that won't be easily erased, but it's honorable that she's taking her own tragic experiences and trying to use them for the greater good.

As she pointed out in the interview, certain therapies like EMDR aren't available under insurance, even if the patient would benefit greatly from the treatment. Something tells us that Beau would be incredibly proud of his little sister if he could see her today.

The idea of having your diary stolen is absolutely mortifying for keen journalists who use it as a way to express their innermost thoughts and secrets. When you're someone in the spotlight, especially the political sphere, it goes beyond the realm of embarrassment. In 2020, there was drama surrounding Ashley Biden's stolen diary when it was taken from a home she stayed at in Florida by guests who moved in after her. Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander thought they had struck paydirt and tried to sell Ashley's diary to the Trump campaign so it could be weaponized against his opponent, Joe Biden, in the election. 

Though the diaries were never published, they were obtained by Project Veritas, who ended up having to turn them in to the police. The entire incident must have been painful for Ashley, who reportedly wrote about her struggles with addiction within the pages, according to the BBC.

Harris was taken to court over the theft but didn't show up at multiple hearings. Eventually, she was sentenced to one month behind bars, and when she did appear in court, apologized to Ashley for the crime. Whether Ashley accepted it or not is a different story, considering just how personal the whole debacle really was — but it didn't end there.

Though Donald Trump's campaign didn't purchase Ashley Biden's diary and Project Veritas didn't publish it either, word still got out about what was in the pages. A website called National File published some of the content claiming to be from Ashley's diary, in which she details in depth her experience with substance use and being "hyper-sexualized" from a young age. Of course, the deeply personal subject matter came under intense scrutiny and will be online for years to come. One of the biggest things mentioned in the diary is Ashley taking showers with her dad when she was a child, something she dubbed as "probably not appropriate" according to Snopes.

Of course, this then led many to wonder if Ashley had been abused by her dad, President Joe Biden. In a letter to the judge of the theft case, Ashley stated, "Because of the publicity it drew — exactly as Ms. Harris intended — I am constantly re-traumatized by it ... Repeatedly, I hear others grossly misinterpret my once-private writings and lob false accusations that defame my character and those of the people I love" (via CNBC).

Ashley Biden has been through a lot with her siblings, first losing Beau Biden in 2015 then dealing with her remaining brother's legal woes. Hunter Biden's gun trial has taken center stage in recent times, but his issues with the law go back much further. In 2021, Time's The DC Brief wrote a comprehensive piece on Hunter's memoir that detailed his crack addiction, praising the president's son for his candid approach. According to the article, the memoir, titled "Beautiful Things," lays bare just how deep Hunter's issues really went and how badly it impacted the Biden family. 

What's more, Hunter then began to date Beau's widow, Hallie Biden, after his death though the relationship wasn't built to last. It may have been endorsed by the family, but it can't have been easy for the Bidens, including Ashley, to accept. Ashley has largely stayed silent about her brother's struggles, perhaps out of respect for him, but during Hunter's gun trial in 2024, she let her emotions get the best of her.

According to CBS News, Ashley was present in court alongside her mother, Jill Biden, when excerpts from Hunter's memoir that focused on his drug use were played. The outlet reported that both Biden women "reacted emotionally" and that Melissa Cohen Biden, Hunter's wife, comforted them both. Ashley was so upset that she left the courtroom.

• If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
• If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).