Jill Biden made history by becoming the first “First Lady” of the United States to hold a paid job outside of her White House duties, working as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College.
Born in 1951 in New Jersey, Mrs. Biden grew up in Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia. She graduated from Upper Moreland High School in 1969, then briefly attended a community college to study fashion merchandising before changing her major. In 1975, she graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in English and met then-senator Joe Biden, who had recently lost his wife and young daughter in a tragic car accident and was raising two young sons alone. She and Joe married a few years later.
The next year, she began teaching English in local public schools and at a psychiatric hospital.
While working and raising her family, she also earned two master’s degrees, one in reading from West Chester University and one in English from Villanova University, as well as a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership from the University of Delaware.
When Joe Biden became Vice President, she continued her career, teaching throughout the eight years he served under Barack Obama. As Second Lady and now First Lady, she has advocated for community colleges, military families, and the education of women and girls around the world.
For instance, she launched “Joining Forces” with Michelle Obama, a nationwide campaign to support veterans returning from war and their families through wellness, education, and employment opportunities.
As an author, she released, among others, a children’s book for military families titled “Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops”, which is inspired by the experience of her own granddaughter while her father was deployed to Iraq.
She has also been a longtime advocate for cancer patients and their families, especially since four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, and her stepson Beau sadly succumbed to brain cancer in 2015. She founded the Biden Breast Health Initiative, which educates young women on the importance of early cancer detection. The Bidens also launched the Biden Cancer Initiative, an organization that brings together researchers, health care providers, and patients to develop clinical trials, detection, care, and treatment plans.
Biden did all this without ever taking a break from her job. She once explained: “One day I was teaching my class and then I had to go to the White House right after, so literally, I took my dress to school. After my classes I went into the ladies’ room, changed into my outfit, got into the car, went to the White House. So there are real, you know, Superman moments!”
With her years as Second Lady and in public life, she is without doubt one of the best-well prepared first ladies in history, her career clearly not impacting her ability to be a great political collaborator, and moreover adding to her compassion, tenacity, and spirit of advocacy.