Piers Morgan shares the cartoon that helped Joe Biden survive two devastating family tragedies
PIERS Morgan has shared the simple cartoon that helped Joe Biden overcome two devastating family tragedies to become the 46th President of the United States.
TV presenter and columnist revealed he had a telephone conversation with the back in 2015 in which he explained the comic strip that reminds him bad things can happen "to anyone at any time".
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Biden has a frame on his desk containing the two panel cartoon of Hagar the Horrible, a Viking character created by American cartoonist Dik Browne.
In the cartoon, Hagar is stranded on a barren rock in a driving storm as his longboat sinks beneath the waves.
He cries up into the heavens "why me?!" to which a voice replies "why not?".
The 77-year-old credits this simple message as helping him overcome two major tragedies in his life.
He has suffered the death of his son Beau, 46, in 2015 of brain cancer and a car crash that killed his first wife Neilia and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi in 1972.
His son's death saw the loss of a man many tipped would one day run for president, and the loss of his wife and baby daughter left Joe a single parent just as he won his first seat on the US Senate.
To help him through both of those tragedies, Morgan said Biden told him he often looked to the cartoon - which was given to him by his dad Joseph.
"He could sense I was beginning to lose my faith for the first time in my life," Biden said, Morgan wrote in his column for .
"My dad was always saying to us when we were down about something, 'Where is it written that the world owes you a living, pal? Get up'.
"This cartoon was his way of saying there is no way to rationalise what has taken place. It can happen to anyone, at any time."
Biden added: "But if you don't get up, it will crush you. I didn't fully appreciate the cartoon's message at the time, but it's become such a valuable one to me, especially after Beau died."
The cartoon was even visible in a photo taken as Biden revealed to Kamala Harris she was his pick to be Vice President.
Photos from the video call show the little cartoon strip tucked away behind Joe's laptop as he chats with Kamala.
Writing in his column, Morgan said: "Joe Biden may now be the world's most powerful leader, the culmination of a 50-year ambition by this inherently decent and hugely empathetic man – and the purest definition of the 'purpose' his son Beau would have wished him to pursue.
"But I'm sure he would give it all up to be able to hug his son and daughter again."
He added: "It was a call that had a profound and lasting effect on me – and gave me a powerful insight into the character of the man who will now replace Donald Trump as the leader of the free world."
Beau was tipped by many to be a future presidential candidate for the Democrats, and Joe even heartbreakingly said earlier this year "Beau should be the one running for president, not me".
in a victory speech on Saturday night aimed at healing divisions after passing the key threshold of 270 electoral college votes.
He called for an end to "this grim era of demonization" and reached out to Donald Trump supporters, saying: "Let's give each other a chance."
"I pledge to be a president who does not seek to divide, but unify," Biden said.
"Who doesn't see red states and blue states, but United States."
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After the speech, Biden was joined on stage by his family, including his son Hunter, whose recent email scandal cast a shadow over the campaign.
Yet the Biden family looked happy, and the president-elect .
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as he claims without evidence there has been a massive voter fraud operation staged by the Democrats.
Biden however looks to be ahead by a wide margin, winning the biggest number of votes ever for a presidential ticket with more than 74million and claiming back states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.