Beau Biden, the 46-year-old son of Vice President Joe Biden, and a former attorney general of Delaware, has died of brain cancer. In a statement released Saturday night, his father called him "quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known."

Here's Vice President Joe Biden's full statement:

It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life.



The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau's spirit will live on in all of us—especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter.



Beau's life was defined by service to others. As a young lawyer, he worked to establish the rule of law in war-torn Kosovo. A major in the Delaware National Guard, he was an Iraq War veteran and was awarded the Bronze Star. As Delaware's Attorney General, he fought for the powerless and made it his mission to protect children from abuse.



More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brother. His absolute honor made him a role model for our family. Beau embodied my father's saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.



In the words of the Biden family: Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.

Biden, a major in Delaware's National Guard, deployed to Iraq for a year in 2008 — coming home only, the Washington Post notes, to see his father sworn in to the vice presidency. Prior to his deployment, Biden served as Delaware attorney general, and as his father's term in the vice presidency winded to a close, he was seen as likely to continue his family's political legacy, perhaps by entering Delaware's 2016 gubernatorial race.

President Obama also released a remembrance of Beau Biden on Saturday: