Joe Biden Gives Tearful Goodbye to Delaware While Honoring Late Son Beau: ‘Thank You for Everything’

Joe Biden Gives Tearful Goodbye to Delaware While Honoring Late Son Beau

Joe Biden gave a farewell speech to Delaware as he heads to Washington D.C. for the inauguration

President-elect Joe Biden wiped away tears as he bid farewell to his home state of Delaware on Tuesday, one day before he will be sworn in as the 46th commander-in-chief.

Biden, 78, gave an emotional departure speech at the Major Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, III National Guard Reserve Center in New Castle, Delaware — named for his late son Beau, a former Delaware attorney general and National Guardsman who died in 2015 from brain cancer.

"I only have one regret, he's not here" Biden said. "Because we should be introducing him as president."

Throughout the seven-minute speech, the president-elect's voice occasionally cracked and he paused to gather himself.

"Look," Biden said at one point, wiping his left eye. "It's kind of emotional for me."

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty President-elect Joe Biden becomes emotional during a speech on Tuesday in Delaware.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty From left: incoming First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and President-elect Joe Biden

Chip Somodevilla/Getty President-elect Joe Biden speaks on Tuesday from Delaware.

Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

In his speech Tuesday, Biden paused to recognize the history Harris, 56, is set to make as the first Black person, first person of South Asian descent and first woman to hold the country's second-highest office.

"Where 12 years ago, I was waiting at the train station in Wilmington for a Black man to pick me up on our way to Washington, where we were sworn in as president and vice president of the United States," Biden said, alluding to his first swearing-in alongside former President Barack Obama, now 59, back in 2009.

"And here we are today," Biden continued, "My family and I, about to return again to Washington (D.C.), to meet a Black woman of South Asian descent, to be sworn in as president and vice president of the United States."

"That's America," Biden said. "That's Delaware."

Before he spent eight years in the White House with Obama, the former vice president had spent more than three decades in the Senate representing the state.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty President-elect Joe Biden speaks on Tuesday in Delaware.

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"You've been with me my whole career through the good times and the bad," Biden said. "I want to thank you for everything."

In one choked-up moment, referencing the author James Joyce, Biden declared: "When I die, Delaware will be written on my heart."

Delaware's Gov. John Carney introduced Biden on Tuesday and Biden spoke before his wife, incoming First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, joined him on stage for a blessing from Wilmington-based Rabbi Michael Beals.

"In our family, the values we share, the character we strive for, the way we view the world, it all comes from home," Biden said. "It all comes from Delaware."