Joe and Jill Biden have been happily married since 1977. But while she has faithfully supported
him throughout the bulk of his political career, there's more to this couple than what we've
seen on the campaign trail. This is the truth about the Bidens' marriage.
Before Joe met Jill, his personal life had already been touched by tragedy. His first
wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972, according to Insider, leaving
him with two young sons to raise. The boys, Hunter and Beau, were also in the car at the
time of the crash, but would ultimately survive.
"The call said my wife was dead, my daughter was dead, and I wasn't sure how my sons were
gonna make it."
Jill had also faced her own challenges along the way. She was married prior to meeting
Joe, and had gotten divorced during her junior year of college.
As Harper's Bazaar noted, it was Joe's brother who initially gave him the nudge to reach
out to Jill. Joe gave his future wife a call while she was, in fact, getting ready to go
on a date with another guy. Joe must have been persuasive because Jill canceled her
date and gave Joe a chance. She said during the Democratic National Convention in 2020,
"I called and told the guy I had a friend in from out of town, and went out with Joe."
"I said I fell in love with the boys and boy, I really did."
If anyone was hoping that Joe would propose to Jill — even before he realized himself
— it was his two sons. According to The Washington Post, Joe recalled the day that
7-year-old Beau and 6-year-old Hunter told their dad that he needed to…well, put a
ring on it. Joe recalled in his 2008 memoir, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics,
"One morning […] Beau and Hunter walked into my bathroom while I was shaving, and
I could tell they had something serious they wanted to talk about. […] They were having
trouble getting started."
Finally, after collectively gathering their thoughts, the kids made their intentions known,
with Joe remembering,
"'Well,' Beau said, 'we think we should marry Jill. What do you think, Dad?' I'll never
forget how good I felt at that moment."
Persistence is key, and Joe was well aware of that when asking his future wife for her
hand in marriage. Vogue reported that Joe asked Jill to marry him a grand total of five
times before she said yes. But Jill had good reason for her hesitation. She told the outlet,
"I said, 'Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.' Because by that time, of course, I had fallen in love
with the boys, and I really felt that this marriage had to work."
She went on to explain that she took the decision to marry Joe and join his family that much
more seriously, in part, because Hunter and Beau had already lost their mom. She said,
"I couldn’t have them lose another mother. So I had to be 100 percent sure."
"I never imagined, at the age of 26, I would be asking myself, 'How do you make a broken
family whole?'"
Joe eventually gave Jill an ultimatum and said that he didn't care when they got married,
so long as there was commitment between them. That sealed the deal, and Jill finally said
yes.
Welcoming a step-parent into the family can be tough for young children. But that wasn't
the case for Joe and Jill. And it appears that Hunter and Beau stood right alongside
their father — quite literally — as he got married once again. According to The Washington
Post, the two young boys stood at the altar with Joe and Jill as they said, "I do." Joe
even wrote in his memoir,
"The way they thought of it, the four of us were getting married."
"This is corny sounding stuff, but we really are each other's best buddy."
The couple were wed at the United Nations chapel in New York City in 1977, following
up the friends and family-only ceremony with a lunch reception. And, along with including
Joe's sons in every step of the process, the Bidens opted to take the new family of four
on a vacation rather than spoil just themselves with a honeymoon, according to Vogue.
The transition from "Jill" to "Mom" was reportedly a seamless one for Joe's sons — so much
so, that Joe made a note of it in his memoir. He recalled how he and Jill never sat Hunter
and Beau down to talk about what they were going to call Jill once she was permanently
part of their lives. Instead they just transitioned to calling her "Mom" on their own. Joe wrote,
"[My first wife] Neilia would always be Mommy, but Jill was Mom. When she embraced me and
the boys, she embraced everything."
Later in their lives, Beau and Hunter even went as far as to tell the press that they
didn't have a stepmom at all. Instead, they had their mom. And that person was Jill. Years
later, Jill's devotion to her family would be put to the ultimate test when Beau Biden
tragically died of brain cancer in 2015, at the age of 46. In a statement released to
the press, via The New York Times, the family shared:
"Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known."
A few years after Joe and Jill got married, Jill found out she was pregnant with their
daughter. And she discovered the happy news at the same time Beau and Hunter did, considering
they were both in the car when she drove to the drugstore to buy a pregnancy test. According
to The Washington Post, the boys even knew about their baby sister well before their
dad did, and according to Jill, they were very excited about it.
"Then along came Ashley and…Our family was complete."
Jill sweetened the deal by telling the boys that they could pick the name for their sister.
Ashley Biden was born on June 8th, 1981, and Jill temporarily gave up her teaching career
to care for all three kids, full time. According to ABC News, Jill claimed that she did all
of the things that the '80s moms typically did, remembering,
"I did hot dog day at the school, worked at the library and all those sorts of things.
And it worked."
Of course, Jill would later go back to school both as a teacher and as a student, as Joe
furthered his political career.
When Joe took the oath of office as vice-president of the United States in 2009, Jill was by
his side holding the Biden family Bible, which Joe used to swear-in. As noted by TIME, the
strikingly ancient-looking tome had belonged to the family since the 1890s.
For those who are familiar with the Bidens, the choice to use the cherished heirloom for
the occasion did not come as a surprise. Joe was sworn in on the very same Bible each time
he returned to the U.S. Senate, and his son Beau was also sworn in with it when he became
attorney general of Delaware. The couple reprised their roles in 2013 — along with the Bible
— when Joe was sworn into office as vice-president, for Obama's second term.
Joe Biden might be the Democratic nominee for president, but Jill boasts an equally
impressive resume. The Los Angeles Times reported that prior to Joe's time in the White House,
Jill had already earned two masters degrees and had worked for almost 25 years as a college
professor. But with the encouragement and support of her husband, Jill took on another
educational pursuit: getting her doctorate. Reportedly, Joe once half-joked to his wife,
"Why don't you go out and get a doctorate and make us some real money?"
Jill really did just that, and in 2007, she received her doctorate in education from the
University of Delaware. To top it off, Joe presented Jill with her degree at her graduation.
“I never, ever doubted that anything she set her mind to, she could do."
Unlike any other second lady before her, Jill maintained her full time employment as a college
professor while her husband served as VP with President Barack Obama. And it's a choice
that she became quite well known for. As noted by CNBC, Jill would walk around the White
House with papers that needed to be graded, something that even First Lady Michelle Obama
was delighted to see. At the time, Michelle recalled,
"Jill is always grading papers. Which is funny because I'd forget, 'Oh yeah, you have a day
job!' And then she pulls out her papers and she's so diligent and I'm like, 'Look at you!
You have a job! Tell me! Tell me what it's like!'"
Should Jill go on to assume the role of first lady in 2021, she has plans to once again
maintain her employment — becoming the first-ever FLOTUS to hold a job outside of the White
House. Jill told CBS News that she plans to continue teaching, even if her husband is
elected president, in order to continue inspiring her students. She told the outlet,
"It's important, and I want people to value teachers and know their contributions, and
lift up the profession."
And, she promises, she will also bring along a healthy dose of humor.
"These times are so tough, sometimes it takes a little levity, a little laughter, to lighten
things up. A little joy."
Inspired by the children's garden at the White House which features the names of all the
presidential children and grandchildren, Jill was inspired to commemorate her and her husband's
time as second lady and vice-president with a thoughtful detail at the vice-presidential
residence.
According to The Washington Post, Jill launched the Family Heritage Garden at the residence.
The garden, with its circular design and lush greenery, features a fountain at its center,
with large pavers surrounding it. Jill then went to work commemorating the Biden family
tree for the garden and compiled the list of their family members for the permanent
fixture.
The names of the Bidens and their children were carved into the stone surrounding the
fountain, as are the names of the former vice presidential families that lived on the grounds.
Even the pets got a shout-out — and the couple's former cat Daisy and German shepherd
Champ were included on a stone in the garden, as well.
"Which do you like better, these? Or these? Joe, they're the same. They capture different
moods."
While Joe Biden's tenure as vice-president was winding down, a slew of memes showcasing
his close relationship with Barack Obama flooded the internet — with some even pointing to
the made-up antics that Joe could have gotten up to in the White House. Y'know, scenarios
like Joe leaving whoopee cushions all over the place for Donald Trump to find once he
assumed office.
"This also gives the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance."
In a joint interview with Michelle Obama, Jill talked about the bromance between Joe
and Barack and pointed out just how funny and yet kindhearted it was. When she was asked
about what her husband and Obama might do after their stint in the White House, she
told Entertainment Weekly,
"They're going to be eating ice cream somewhere, I'm sure. […] That has become a truly beautiful
friendship. And I don't think we've really seen a lot of that and especially in politics.
But I think they really love one another."
"It's the best decision that Barack has made as president of the United States, picking
Joe and the Bidens as our partners in this journey."
Joe and Jill Biden's relationship has found itself firmly positioned in the spotlight
during the highly anticipated 2020 presidential campaign — and Jill has been by Joe's side
pretty much every step of the way. From a supportive hug after the presidential debate
to joining him at campaign stops all around the country, Jill has played a pivotal role.
"Please welcome my husband, Joe Biden."
But one of the most well-known instances where Jill jumped to Joe's defense was at his Super
Tuesday rally in Los Angeles. According to USA Today, Jill and senior campaign adviser,
Symone Sanders, successfully fended off a handful of animal rights protestors who had
rushed the stage. The event — which drew an audience of supporters that included A-list
Hollywood celebrities and local politicians — continued with barely a blip, as Joe laughed
off the incident during his speech to the crowd, saying,
"I'm probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service.
Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what."
"You gotta protect those you love, right?"
These two clearly prove that no matter the struggles that may come their way, or the
political offices they might hold, their family comes first and their loyalty to each other
continues to inspire everyone they meet.
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