Kathleen Anne Buhle was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a middle-class Catholic family.[1][2] Her mother, Roberta Buhle,[3] was a schoolteacher and her father James F. Buhle was a salesman for the Chicago White Sox.[4][5] She was educated in Catholic schools and graduated from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, with a degree in psychology.[2][6][7]
Buhle worked as a lobbyist and investment manager.[8] In July 1992, (at age 23) she met Hunter Biden, son of then-senator Joe Biden and Neilia Hunter Biden, while the two were working as Jesuit volunteers at a Catholic church in Portland, Oregon.[9][5][7] Buhle and Biden began a relationship a few months after meeting, and she became pregnant three months into their relationship. They married in July 1993, and she gave birth to their first daughter, Naomi King Biden, on December 21, 1993. Biden and Buhle moved to Washington, D.C., where her husband was a law student at Georgetown University. The family later settled in Wilmington, Delaware, and, in 1997, bought an estate dating back before the American Revolution. Buhle's brother-in-law, Beau Biden, moved in with them while he worked as a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia. On September 9, 2000, she gave birth to their second daughter, Finnegan James Biden, and in 2001 she gave birth to their third daughter, Roberta Mabel "Maisy" Biden.[10] The family moved back to Washington, D.C., and rented a house in Tenleytown. When her father-in-law and step-mother-in-law Jill Biden were respectively serving as vice president and second lady of the United States, Buhle became close friends with First Lady Michelle Obama.[5]
In 2015, Buhle and Biden formally separated due to Biden's infidelity,[8][7] alcoholism and drug addictions. Buhle requested that Hunter Biden leave their family home on July 5, 2015.[11] On December 9, 2016, Buhle filed for a divorce, and on February 23, 2017, she filed a motion in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, seeking to freeze Biden's assets.[5][12] After initially being "messy" the divorce was finalized amicably later that year.[13] In 2019, she formally changed her surname from Biden back to her maiden name, Buhle.[14] The same year, Buhle received a colon cancer diagnosis. By 2022, she was free of cancer.[15]
She authored her memoir titled If We Break about her marriage to Biden and his drug addiction.[7][16] The book came out in June 2022.[17]
Buhle lives in Washington, D.C., where she founded the non-profit organization The House at 1229, a women's club to assist people in need.[18][19] Buhle works as the CEO of the organization.[20]
