Featured image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, Guy DeLort/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images
US President Joe Biden has revealed he once contemplated suicide after losing his first wife and baby daughter.
Biden made an appearance on the Howard Stern podcastsat down with the host for an hour to discuss personal issues life as well as his time spent in desk.
In 1972, Biden’s first ladyteacher Neilia Hunter Biden was killed in car accident with her and that of Joe Biden 13 month old girlNaomi.
Beau and Hunter Biden, the couple’s other children, both survived.
The accident happened very shortly after Biden’s. first election in the senate.
Biden took the Senate oath of office for the first time at the bedside of his surviving children as they recovered.
Speaking to the families of fallen soldiers in 2012, Biden recalled the horrific moment, saying: “I was in Washington hiring my staff and I got a phone call saying my family had been in an accident.
“And as you know, from the tone of the phone call, you knew that, right? I don’t know how I knew that.
Joe and Neilia Biden in 1972, just weeks before his death. (Guy DeLort/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
“But the call said my wife and daughter were dead, and I didn’t know how my sons were going to cope.”
Biden has since opened up more, revealing that the tragedy affected him so deeply that he even considered suicide.
He is known to be a teetotaler, having previously stated that he never drank because “there are too many alcoholics in my family”.
Speaking during his appearance on Howard Stern’s podcast, Biden revealed that after the crushing loss of his wife and child, he considered turning to alcohol despite never having drunk before.
He said: “I used to sit there and I just thought I’m going to get out a bottle of scotch. I’m just going to drink it and get drunk.
Biden explained how the loss affected him. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The US president went on to explain how the loss affected him so deeply that he began having suicidal thoughts.
Biden revealed: “I just thought about it, you don’t have to be crazy to kill yourself. If you’ve been to the top of the mountain, you think you’ll never go back there again.
“I was like, ‘Let me just go to the Delaware Memorial (bridge) and jump.'”
Of course, that’s not what happened: Biden married his second wife, Jill, in 1977, five years after Neilia’s death, and the couple now have a daughter together, Ashley.
The subjects: News, US News, Joe Biden, Mental Health, Health
