Standing in an empty classroom where he taught English in the decade of 1990, Jill Biden gave an emotional speech at the Democratic Party convention in August last year, after her husband was officially named the presidential candidate for the US elections.
At the end of his message, the now president, Joe Biden , appeared on the scene, hugged her and praised her qualities as the future first lady of the United States. .UU.
“To all of you across the country, think of your favorite teacher, the one who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself. That is the type of first lady that Jill Biden will be, “said the then candidate.
Months later, Jill Biden is the new first lady, a position that does not It will seem so unfamiliar to you.
Biden was vice president during the Barack Obama administration, between 2009 and 2017, so she was the “second lady” of the US
From that position he promoted educational causes and had privileged access to Michelle Obama , the then first lady. He worked with her on initiatives like “Joining Forces” to help US veterans
What else do we know Jill Biden and what can we expect from her job at the White House?
Personal life
Jill Jacobs was born in June 1972 in the state of New Jersey. The oldest of five sisters, she grew up in Willow Grove, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Remarried to her current husband, she was previously married for five years to former college football player Bill Stevenson.
She met Joe Biden after he lost his first wife and daughter from 15 months in a car accident in 1972. Her sons Beau and Hunter survived the accident.
Jill says that Joe’s brother introduced them to 1975. At that time, he was already a senator for the state of Delaware and she was still in college.
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“I was a senior , and she had been dating guys who wore jeans and a T-shirt. But he came knocking on the door dressed in a sports coat and loafers, and I thought, ‘God, this is never going to work, not in a million years.’ He was nine years older than me! ”Jill said in an interview with the magazine Vogue in 2016.
“But we went to see ‘A man and a woman’ at cinema in Philadelphia, and we really get along, ”she added about the first date.
Jill also said that Joe proposed to her five times before she agreed.
“I couldn’t allow them lost another mother. So it had to be 100% secure ”, he explained.
The couple got married in New York in 1977 . Their daughter, Ashley, was born in 1981.
“I think he knows me better than I know myself,” said Joe Biden about his wife in an August interview with CBS journalist Rita Braver, a partner of the BBC in the US
When he offered his message to support her husband’s candidacy, Jill Biden spoke about the family and the struggles they have faced.
“I know that if we entrust this country to Joe, he will for your family what he did for ours: unite and move forward in times of need, fulfill the promise of the United States for all of us, “he emphasized during his speech.
Her message not only sought to promote her husband. Speaking it from a classroom was a nod to her long career in education and a symbolic gesture of the concerns she will have as the first lady of the United States.
The teacher
Jill Biden, from 78 years old, holds a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees, and earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Delaware in 2007.
The new first lady has spent decades working as a teacher. In the years 80, taught English in a psychiatric hospital for adolescents.
Between 1991 and 1993, taught English at Brandywine Public High School in Delaware. The speech at the Democratic Convention was given precisely in what had been his old classroom at this school.
The following 69 years, Jill Biden was a teacher at Delaware Technical & Community College.
After the triumph of Obama and Biden in 2009, she moved to Washington DC, but continued teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College
“Teaching is not what I do. It is what I am “, he maintains.
His activities during the Obama administration extended far beyond the classroom, Well, at the same time that she taught, she fulfilled her duties as second lady.
Politics
In this role, was dedicated to promoting community colleges (U.S. higher education centers), to which he always referred to as “one of America’s best kept secrets,” according to the Obama White House page.
He also dedicated himself to the defense of military families and, together with Michelle Obama, launched the Joining Forces initiative to help veterans and their families access educational programs and job resources.
Also, in 2012, published a children’s book called Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops based on the experience of his granddaughter Natalie, daughter of Beau Biden, from being in a military family.
Beau, who died of cancer in 2015, was deployed with the National Guard in Iraq in 2008, for a year.
Another of Jill Biden’s lines of action has been the fight against breast cancer , even since before being second lady.
In 1993, founded the Biden Initiative for Breast Health, to raise awareness of early detection, after four friends were diagnosed with this cancer.
What will she do now that she will be in the center of the spotlight as First Lady?
What is expected
Jill Biden will be an “active” first lady, believes Mark Johnson, professor of Political Science at Rice University, USA.
Although it will not be “ politics ”in the partisan sense, as was Hillary Clinton, since that would make her a target of attacks, the expert clarifies.
“I would hope that the pattern of Michelle Obama, who got involved in political activities, but those that were more unifying than divisive, like focusing on veterans, child welfare, but not trying to get health insurance passed for all or something that was more political, “says Johnson.
“And if we want to get something out of her speech about the Convention, it is that education is an important issue for her, so we would expect her to focus on this during her management, ”she also says.
Karen Kedrowski, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, also believes that Jill Biden is will dedicate to educational issues.
“She has a Ph.D. in Education and has taught a lot of time in community colleges so is especially an advocate for these schools and how they serve students who otherwise would not have access to higher education ”, the expert told BBC Mundo.
In the August interview with CBS, journalist Rita Braver asked Jill Biden if she believed she would continue teaching if she became first lady.
“I hope so”, he replied.
“Really?”, Replied Braver.
“I would love to. If we make it to the White House, I will continue teaching. It’s important, and I want people to value teachers and know their contributions and elevate the profession, ”said Jill Biden.
But Professor Johnson believes that if he continued teaching, it would only be symbolic .
“If he really does, it will be purely symbolic because it can have a more positive effect from her platform as first lady, “said the analyst.
Kedrowski sees difficult the logistics of Jill Biden continuing to teach , because of the time demands of his position in the White House and because if he taught in person, “secret service agents” would have to be at the school where he worked.
Also, no U.S. First Lady has held another job while in the White House.
As she demonstrated during her “second lady” years, Jill Biden also has other areas of interest besides education.
“It is also very active in the prevention of breast cancer. I think he is also likely to continue Michelle Obama’s initiative to promote physical activity. She is a runner, so she is interested in those topics. I imagine that he will also continue to work to provide services to the relatives of veterans, ”Kedrowski said.
In an interview with CNN in September of 2017, Jill Biden said she would “relaunch ‘Joining Forces ‘”.
“ [Cuando era segunda dama] I asked Beau what Michelle and I should be working on and he said,’ In mental health. So we need to expand mental health services for members of the military, ”he told CNN, adding that schools also need the same.
In the opinion of the Professor Johnson, Jill Biden would do well to continue promoting these causes as “they are issues that bring people together.”
Previous experience
In addition to Jill Biden’s areas of concern, Johnson highlights the advantage of having been second lady for eight years os.
“After seeing Michelle Obama for eight years, she has a clear idea of the responsibilities and challenges of a first lady,” says the expert.
“Obama was a very successful first lady and Jill Biden has the luxury of seeing her up close, so one would expect her to emulate many of the successful practices of her predecessor,” she adds.
Unlike Melania Trump, who chose a more reserved style than other first ladies, Jill Biden is more used to being in the public eye , says Kedrowski.
“Understand the power of a first lady to promote causes,” says the expert.
Johnson believes that Biden “is better prepared than perhaps any other first lady apart from Barbara Bush [esposa de George W.H. Bush y segunda dama durante el gobierno de Ronald Reagan] “.
” And I think Jill Biden had a better relationship, closer with Obama, than Barbara Bush with Nancy Reagan “He indicates.
” Along with Barbara Bush, Jill Biden will be the most experienced first lady we have ever had, “concludes Johnson.
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