Born inHammonton, New Jersey, Jacobs grew up inWillow Grove, Pennsylvania. In 1977, she married Joe Biden, a widower, and became the stepmother ofBeau andHunter. Biden and her husband also have a daughter,Ashley Biden, born in 1981. Biden has a bachelor's degree inEnglish from theUniversity of Delaware and master's degrees in education and English fromWest Chester University andVillanova University. She returned to the University of Delaware and received a doctoral degree in education. She taught English and reading in high schools for thirteen years and instructed adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. Following this, she was an English and writing instructor for fifteen years atDelaware Technical & Community College.
Biden is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founder of the Book Buddies program, co-founder of theBiden Foundation, is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, and withMichelle Obama is co-founder ofJoining Forces. She has published a memoir and two children's books.
Early life
Jill Tracy Jacobs was born on June 3, 1951,[1][b] inHammonton, New Jersey.[10] She is the oldest of five sisters.[11] Her father, Donald Carl Jacobs,[12] was abank teller and asignalman in theU.S. Navy duringWorld War II who used theG.I. Bill to attend business school and then had a banking career.[11] His family name had been Giacoppo (or a variation of it)[c] before his father and others in the family emigrated from theSicilian village ofGesso [it].[13] The name was anglicized to Jacobs[13] about a month after the family arrived in the United States.[19] Her mother, Bonny Jean (née Godfrey) Jacobs,[20] was ahomemaker[12] ofEnglish andScottish descent.[21]
Her parents labeled themselves as "agnostic realists" and did not attend church, but she often attended Sunday services at aPresbyterian church with her grandmother.[23] Later, Jacobs independently took membership classes at nearby Abington Presbyterian Church and, at age 16, wasconfirmed.[16][24]
Jill Jacobs always intended to have a career.[25] She began working at age 15, which included waitressing inOcean City, New Jersey.[11][16][25] She attendedUpper Moreland High School, later describing herself as somewhat rebellious there while enjoying her social life, along with being a prankster.[26][11] However, Jacobs has recalled always loving being in English class,[26] and classmates have called her a good student.[11] She graduated in 1969.[27]
She switched her enrollment to the University of Delaware,[28] becoming a student in itsCollege of Arts and Sciences,[33] declaring English as her major.[16] She took a year off from college and did somemodeling for a local agency inWilmington to supplement her income.[16] She and Stevenson drifted apart[29] and separated in 1974.[34]
She met Senator Joe Biden in March 1975.[25][28] They met on ablind date set up by his brother Frank,[28] who had known her in college,[35] though Biden had seen her photograph in a local advertisement.[25][e] Although he was nearly nine years her senior, she was impressed by his appearance and manners, which were more formal than those of the college men she had known.[16] After their first date, she told her mother, "Mom, I finally met a gentleman."[16] Meanwhile, she was going through turbulent divorce proceedings with Stevenson.[29] She petitioned for a half-share in the Stone Balloon club, but the court case ended without its being awarded to her.[29] A civil divorce was granted in May 1975.[30]
She graduated with aBachelor of Arts[36] in English[28] from the University of Delaware in 1975.[f] She began her career as asubstitute teacher for the Wilmington public school system, then taught high school English full-time for a year atSt. Mark's High School in Wilmington.[28][25] Around this time she spent five months working in Biden's Senate office;[38] this included weekly trips with the senator's mobile outreach operation to the southern portions of the state.[28]
Jill and Joe Biden were married on June 17, 1977, at theChapel at the United Nations in New York City.[25] The wedding was described afterward by Joseph Sr. as "a very private affair" that was officiated by aJesuit priest.[39][g] The wedding occurred four-and-a-half years after the deaths of Biden's first wife,Neilia Hunter Biden, and his infant daughter, Naomi Christina Biden, in a motor vehicle accident.[10] Joe Biden proposed marriage to Jill several times before she accepted, as she was wary of entering the public spotlight, anxious to remain focused on her own career, and initially hesitant to take on the commitment of raising of his two young sons.[16][42] The Bidens spent their honeymoon atLake Balaton in theHungarian People's Republic.[43][44] Jill Biden raised Beau and Hunter, and they called her Mom, but she did not formally adopt them.[31]
Jill Biden continued to teach while working on a master's degree atWest Chester State College, taking one course per semester.[28] She graduated with aMaster of Education degree, with a specialty in reading from West Chester in 1981.[16][36][45] The Bidens' daughter,Ashley Blazer Biden, was born on June 8, 1981,[46] and Jill stopped working for two years while raising the three children.[47]
Biden then returned to work, teaching English, acting as a reading specialist, and teaching history to emotionally disabled students.[25] She taught in the adolescent program at the Rockford Centerpsychiatric hospital for five years in the 1980s.[10][16] Biden received her second graduate degree, aMaster of Arts in English fromVillanova University, in 1987.[10][36] She was not considered a political person at the time,[48] and duringher husband's unsuccessful bid for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, she said she would continue her job of teaching emotionally disabled children even if she became thefirst lady.[49] She taught for three years at Claymont High School.[16] In the early 1990s, she taught English atBrandywine High School in Wilmington;[50] several of her students there later recalled her as genuinely caring about them.[51] In all, she spent thirteen years teaching in public high school.[25]
Entrance to the Stanton campus of Delaware Technical & Community College, where Biden taught for fifteen years
From 1993 through 2008, Biden was an instructor in English at the Stanton campus ofDelaware Technical & Community College.[36][10] There she taughtEnglish composition andremedial writing, with an emphasis on instilling confidence in students.[52][53] She has said of teaching at acommunity college, "I feel like I can make a greater difference in their lives. I just love that population. It just feels really comfortable to me. I love the women who are coming back to school and getting their degrees, because they're so focused."[52]
Biden is president of the Biden Breast Health Initiative, a nonprofit organization begun in 1993 that provides educational breast health awareness programs free of charge to schools and other groups in the state of Delaware.[54][55][56] She began the effort after four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer that year.[57] In the following 15 years, the organization informed more than 7,000 high school girls about proper breast health.[56] In 2007, Biden helped found Book Buddies, which provides books for low-income children,[56] and has been very active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, an organization that supports military families.[53] She runs five miles, five times a week, and she has run in theMarine Corps Marathon as well as thePhiladelphia Half Marathon.[25][11]
Biden later returned to school for her doctoral degree, studying under her birth name, Jill Jacobs.[47] In January 2007, at age 55, she received aDoctor of Education (Ed.D.) ineducational leadership from the University of Delaware.[10][56][58][59] Her dissertation,Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs, was published under the name Jill Jacobs-Biden.[58]
Despite personally opposing theIraq War, Biden had not wanted her husband to run in the2004 presidential election, to the point where she interrupted one strategy meeting discussing the possibility by entering in a swimsuit with the word "NO" inscribed on her stomach.[42] But followingGeorge W. Bush's reelection in 2004, she urged her husband to run again for president,[68] later saying: "I literally wore black for a week. I just could not believe that he won, because I felt that things were already so bad. I was so against the Iraq War. And I said to Joe, 'You've got to change this, you have to change this.'"[52] DuringJoe Biden's unsuccessful campaign to be the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, she continued to teach during the week and would join him for campaigning on weekends.[68] She said she would have taken an activist role in addressing education as her chief focus of concern as a potential first lady.[69] She also said she would not seek inclusion in Cabinet meetings and that "I say that I'm apolitical if that's at all possible being married to Joe for 30 years."[68]
Once her husband was selected as the running mate to Democratic presidential nomineeBarack Obama, she began campaigning again. She wore aBlue Star Mothers Club pin in recognition ofBeau Biden's deployment to Iraq.[52] She was not a polished political speaker but was able to establish a connection with the audience.[52] She also made some joint appearances withMichelle Obama.[70] Throughout the time her husband was running for vice president, Jill Biden continued to teach four days a week at Delaware Technical & Community College during the fall 2008 semester and then campaigned over the long weekend while grading class papers on the campaign bus.[20][52][71]
Following the election of the Obama–Biden ticket, she and her husband moved intoNumber One Observatory Circle (in January 2009), the official vice presidential residence in Washington.[73] But as the newsecond lady of the United States, Biden intended to keep teaching at a Washington-area community college, and several of them recruited her.[74][73][75] In January 2009, she began teaching two English courses with an initial appointment as anadjunct professor at the Alexandria campus ofNorthern Virginia Community College (NOVA), the second largest community college in the nation.[59][76] It has been rare for second ladies to work while their spouses serve as vice president,[70][73] and Biden is believed to have been the first second lady to hold a paying job while her husband was vice president.[59][42][i] In White House announcements and by her preference, she was referred to as "Dr. Jill Biden".[59][77]
In May 2009, Obama announced that Biden would be in charge of an initiative to raise awareness about the value of community colleges.[81]Biden continued teaching two English reading and writing classes at NOVA in fall 2009.[82] In January 2010, she gave the commencement speech at the University of Delaware's winter commencement, the first such address by her at a major university.[83] In August 2010, Biden appeared as herself in an episode ofLifetime'sArmy Wives, making it part of her campaign to raise awareness of military families.[84]
In April 2011, she and Michelle Obama founded a national initiative,Joining Forces, to showcase the needs of U.S. military families.[85][86][87] In September 2011, Biden lent her support toUSAID'sFWD campaign, a push for awareness surrounding the deadly famine, war, and drought affecting more than 13 million people in theHorn of Africa.[88]
A building on the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College, where Biden had been teaching since 2009
She continued to teach at NOVA;[89] in Fall 2009 she received a two-year appointment as a full-time faculty member, and in Fall 2011 she was given permanent position as anassociate professor.[90][91] In this role she was teaching three English and writing composition courses two days per week.[91] She made her position there as normal as she could, sharing a cubicle with another teacher, holding regular office hours for students, and trying to persuade her accompanyingSecret Service agents to dress as unobtrusively as possible.[91] Her students were often unaware of exactly who she was, referring to her simply as "Dr. B."[92] She told a colleague, "My standard line when students ask me if I am married to the VP is to say that I am one of his relatives. That usually quiets them."[42] She was known as a compassionate teacher who engaged with her students' lives, but also one who assigned a lot of homework and was a tough grader.[93] Staffers recall Biden always carrying students' work around with her on trips, and Michelle Obama's recollection of her time traveling with Biden was simply, "Jill is always grading papers."[31]
An examination byThe New York Times of her e-mails while second lady concluded that, "she shared the perks of the White House with her teaching colleagues, arranging for tickets to White House events like a garden visit and a holiday tour. But she didn't appear to pull rank; when she needed to take time off work — to attend an event with the Obamas or go on an overseas trip with her husband — she requested permission from the college."[42] In February 2012, she staged a "Community College to Career" bus tour with Secretary of LaborHilda Solis that aimed to showcase alliances between community colleges and local and regional businesses.[94]
Her life with her husband at Number One Observatory Circle tended towards the informal and was centered around family and their nearby grandchildren.[91] In June 2012, she published a children's book,Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops, based around her stepsonBeau's deployment.[95] The same month, the Bidens' daughterAshley, a social worker and former staffer at theDelaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families, marriedHoward Krein.[96]
Role in 2012 presidential campaign
In the2012 U.S. presidential election, in which her husband was running for re-election as vice president, Biden played a modest role.[95] She did not cut back on her teaching schedule and made few solo campaign appearances.[95] This reflected her continuing distaste both for politics and for public speaking, even though the Obama campaign considered her valuable in connecting to military families, teachers, and women.[95]
Second term
Official portrait for second term, December 2012
Following the re-election of Obama and her husband on November 6, 2012, Biden began a second term (January 2013) as second lady. During her husband's second term, Biden continued to be involved with supporting military personnel, including staging multiple visits to theCenter for the Intrepid rehabilitation facility for amputees and attending the inauguralInvictus Games in London.[97] During the2014 U.S. midterm Congressional elections, she campaigned for a number of Democrats, including some in high-profile contests such asMark Udall in Colorado andMichelle Nunn in Georgia.[98][99]
In May 2015, her stepson Beau Biden died frombrain cancer.[63] She later described the loss as "totally shattering. My life changed in an instant. All during his illness, I truly believed that he was going to live, up until the moment that he closed his eyes, and I just never gave up hope."[92] She has said that she lost her faith following his death and stopped praying and attending church for four years, but later started to find faith again as a result of campaign trail interactions with people in 2019.[31][63]
She was present at her husband's side in theRose Garden on October 21, 2015, when he announced he would not run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in the 2016 election.[100] By her own account, Biden was disappointed by his decision, believing her husband was highly qualified for the position, and "would have been the best president".[101]
Biden continued to teach atNOVA, handling a full load of five classes during the Fall 2015 semester.[102] During 2016, she was present with her husband on a listening tour forCancer Moonshot 2020, an effort he was leading.[103] In March 2016, she headed the official party that welcomed American astronautScott Kelly back to Earth fromhis almost full year in space.[104]
The former second couple launched theBiden Foundation in February 2017, with the purpose of allowing them to pursue the causes they cared most about, including focuses upon preventing violence against women, his moonshot initiative, and her interests in community colleges and military families.[106][38] That same month, she was named board chair ofSave the Children; she said, "I think [their] emphasis on education fits with my life's work."[107] Her husband was seen as a popular ex-vice president, and she received a standing ovation when she was a presenter at the71st Tony Awards.[38]
In June 2017, the couple bought a $2.7million, off-the-water vacation home inRehoboth Beach, Delaware, nearCape Henlopen State Park, where they planned to host members of their extended family.[108][109] Their ability to purchase this family property was due in part to deals they signed withFlatiron Books upon leaving office, with Biden contracted to write one book and her husband two.[38][109] By 2019, the couple reported some $15million in income since leaving the vice presidency, including $700,000 in speaking engagements for herself.[110] The couple also substantially increased their charitable giving during this period.[110]
Biden giving a commencement address
Jill Biden continued to teach full-time at NOVA after her husband left office,[107] with a salary of close to $100,000.[109] She was selected to give the keynote address at a commencement forMilwaukee Area Technical College in May 2017.[111] She gave the keynote address at a California teachers summit in July 2017, emphasizing the importance of communities supporting their teachers given the emotional and circumstantial stresses they often have to function under.[112] Then in May 2018, she gave a commencement address atBishop State Community College in Alabama, telling the graduates that "Maybe like me, life got in the way and it's taken you a lot longer than you expected to get here today.... Whoever you are, know this, if you can walk across this stage, you can do anything."[113] In February 2019, she spoke to the graduating class of theNewport News Apprentice School, telling them she realized many of them were in complicated life situations with multiple responsibilities, and that "Sometimes your day is a jigsaw puzzle that never seems to get completed.... But no matter where life takes you, as of today you are a master of a craft, a shipbuilder and a leader, and no one can take that away from you."[114]
In May 2019, her memoirWhere the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself was published.[115] The book has little political content, instead focusing on aspects of family.[116] In it she says that while she is "grateful" to have been Second Lady, "The role I have always felt most at home in is being 'Dr. B.'"[92]USA Today called it an "often-poignant memoir that charts her journey from a rebellious teen to young divorcee to the second lady of the United States."[115] Biden did some book signings to help promote the work.[116]
Role in 2020 presidential campaign
Biden at an August 2019 campaign event
Regarding the much-discussed possibility of her husband running in the2020 United States presidential election, Biden was a key participant in his decision-making process.[117] By one report in March 2019, she was "enthusiastically" in favor of his running.[118]
Days later, Biden addressed the matter of women who hadaccused her husband of physical contact that had made them feel uncomfortable by saying, "I think what you don't realize is how many people approach Joe. Men and women, looking for comfort or empathy. But going forward, I think he's gonna have to judge — be a better judge — of when people approach him, how he's going to react. That he maybe shouldn't approach them."[120] She said she had experienced male intrusion on personal space herself: "I just sorta stepped aside. I didn't address it.... things have changed. There was a time when women were afraid to speak out. I can remember specifically it was in a job interview... if that same thing happened today, I'd turn around and say, 'What do you think you're doin'?'... it's totally different."[120] She also attracted attention by saying "it's time to move on" concerning her husband's role in 1991 regardingAnita Hill and theClarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination.[121]
Biden continued to teach at NOVA during 2019, at one point telling a reporter, "I'm here grading research papers in between interviews."[92] She staged appearances without her husband in early contest states such asIowa, in some cases accompanied by a granddaughter.[122] She attracted notice during one campaign stop in New Hampshire when she emphasized the electability argument in favor of her husband, saying, "you know, your candidate might be better on, I don't know, health care, than Joe is, but you've got to look at who's going to win this election, and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, 'OK, I personally like so-and-so better,' but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump."[123]
OnceHunter Biden became a Republican political focus during theTrump–Ukraine scandal, she was outspoken: "Hunter did nothing wrong. And that's the bottom line."[42] The strain of the subsequentimpeachment trial was enough to fracture a friendship she had with South Carolina senatorLindsey Graham, who repeatedly called for Hunter Biden to be questioned as a witness at the trial.[124]
Biden played a more active role in this presidential campaign than she had in her husband's two prior ones,[31] and for the first time, Biden reluctantly took a leave of absence from NOVA for the spring 2020 semester so she could be on the campaign trail full-time.[42] She took training inonline teaching once theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States struck.[31] She indicated that she intended to resume teaching at NOVA even if her husband were to be elected.[31]
In the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses, she sometimes staged more campaign appearances in that state than her husband did.[42] She gave out her campaign e-mail address to voters in case they wanted to ask her follow-up questions.[125] In joint appearances, she sometimes spoke after he did, acting in the "closer" role.[125] After experiencing a number of victories around the nation, she gained some media attention at the March3Super Tuesday primaries during her husband's speech when she physically blocked a protester from getting at him.[126] Asked about thestiff-arm she employed, she said, "I'm a good Philly girl."[11]
With her husband having become the presumptive Democratic nominee, in June 2020, she published the children's bookJoey: The Story of Joe Biden, which portrayed him as having been "brave and adventurous" as a child despite having a stutter he was bullied for.[127] In July 2020, she spoke out about theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, appearing in a video with her husband to emphasize that she understands the frustration with virtual education substitutes: "Schools and parents alike want a clear, science-based strategy, not mixed messages and ultimatums."[128] She criticized U.S. Secretary of EducationBetsy DeVos for what she saw as political motivations in advocating a reopening of schools no matter what and said that "the first thing [Joe Biden]'s going to do is pick a secretary of education, who is a public school educator and has experience in the classroom. I mean I hear that, again and again and again — no more Betsy DeVos."[129]
She was heavily involved in the vice-presidential selection process that resulted in SenatorKamala Harris's being chosen.[31] On the second night of the virtual2020 Democratic National Convention, Biden spoke from the classroom at Brandywine High School, where she had once taught English.[50] She drew parallels between family suffering and the plight of the country, saying, "How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding and with small acts of kindness, with bravery, with unwavering faith."[130] During the final stretch of the general election, she campaigned in theDelaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, near her home town, emphasizing the importance of theswing state and of women voting, saying, "You will decide, you, the women, will decide the future of this state and this state may determine the entire election."[131]
First Lady of the United States (2021–2025)
Role and continued teaching
Jill's husband, Joe Biden, is sworn in on January 20, 2021, as Jill looks on.
Biden's husband was elected president and took office on January 20, 2021.[132] She is the first spouse sinceBarbara Bush to hold the positions of both Second Lady and First Lady and is the first one sincePat Nixon to hold them non-consecutively.[133] At the age of 69, Biden was the oldest first lady to assume the role.[134] She is also the firstItalian American first lady.[135][18] In mid-November 2020, it was announced that her chief of staff as first lady would be attorney and diplomatJulissa Reynoso Pantaleón and that her senior advisor in the role would be campaign stafferAnthony Bernal.[136] In December 2020, an op-ed piece by writerJoseph Epstein inThe Wall Street Journal, which urged the incoming First Lady to drop the "Dr." from her preferred form of address because she is not a medical doctor,[137] was met with a widespread backlash, especially among professional women.[138] Outgoing First LadyMelania Trump did not invite incoming First Lady Jill Biden to the White House for tea and a tour, which previously had been a tradition in the presidential transition of power.[139]
She resumed teaching at NOVA, albeit at first on a remote basis overZoom due to the pandemic.[140] This made her the first wife of a sitting U.S. president to hold a paying job outside the White House,[3][141] and similarly, the first to continue on with a professional career outside the White House for the majority of her tenure as first lady.[8][9][a] For security reasons and for students who are looking to add a class taught by Biden, her classes at NOVA have often been listed as instructed by "staff".[93] She has stayed up late in the White House quarters to review assignments she has given her students.[141] In September 2021 she returned to in-person teaching at NOVA.[142] Her presence there exemplified the Biden administration's desire to get students and teachers back to physical schools;[142] she subsequently said "thank God we all got off Zoom".[143] Security for her classes became tighter than it had been as second lady, with students having to go through a metal detector and initially getting a security briefing. She has maintained her reputation as a tough grader who gave a lot of homework.[144]
First ladies are expected to have one or more causes that they advocate for, and Biden's have been military families, education, and aspects of health care.[144] The same day may see her teaching classes at the college and then flying to an appearance as first lady.[145] Of managing her professional life, her family roles, and her first lady activities all together, Biden has said, "You can't do anything in a haphazard way. You have to have purpose while you're doing it, and it has to be organized. That's the key to it."[143]
Domestic initiatives and activities
The first lady and president serving a Thanksgiving 2021 meal to service members at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
The Joining Forces program with Michelle Obama, which was put on hiatus by Melania Trump, has been revived by Biden.[146] During visits toJoint Base Lewis–McChord andNaval Air Station Whidbey Island in the state of Washington, Biden said that "the men and women of our armed forces can't be at their best when they are worried that their families are struggling," and praised the joint base for having dedicated spaces for service children on theautistic spectrum.[147] During her tenure, Biden visited 34 military installations and worked with Joining Forces to hold over 70 events for military families focusing on employment, entrepreneurship and other issues.[148] In September 2021, the Office of the First Lady joined theU.S. National Security Council in launching the Joining Forces Interagency Policy Committee to secure proposals across the federal government to support military families.[149][1] In November 2021, the Joining Forces program joinedElizabeth Dole Foundation andWounded Warrior Project in launching Hidden Helpers Coalition, an initiative designed to create supportive programming for 2.3 million children of wounded, ill or injured service members or veterans.[150][151] Hidden Helpers Coalition has partnered with 78 organizations includingChildren's Hospital Association,Military Officers Association of America andHistory Channel.[152][153][154]
During her husband's first year in office, Biden was put in charge of the public push for legislation that, as part of theAmerican Families Plan, would provide free tuition to students attending community colleges.[155] This proposal, initially estimated at over $100 billion, became part of the large proposedBuild Back Better Act (BBB).[156] The BBB social spending initiatives went through a series of negotiations during the year and the bill as a whole struggled to find sufficient support among Democrats in the Senate.[156] Biden continued to advocate for the free community college tuition item and some Democrats in Congress pushed for it too once it became known that it might be eliminated.[157] In a February 2022 appearance before the Community College National Legislative Summit, Biden publicly acknowledged that the free community college tuition item had been dropped from any BBB bill and said that she was "disappointed ... these aren't just bills and budgets to me."[156] (After many further negotiations, a significantly reduced bill passed Congress and became law as theInflation Reduction Act of 2022, with free tuition for community college one of those provisions that did not make the cut.)[158]
Jill Biden is an advocate forCOVID-19 vaccination and toured the United States as a part of President Biden's campaign to vaccinate Americans againstCOVID-19.[159] Indeed, at times she was the foremost spokesperson in the administration for the vaccination effort; she was sent to parts of the country known for anti-vaccine beliefs and antipathy towards her husband, under the belief that she had a better chance of communicating with people in those areas.[160] Biden, who was fully vaccinated with two booster shots, contracted COVID-19 herself in August 2022 and went into isolation protocols;[161] she subsequently encounteredRebound Covid[162] (as well as contracting Covid again in September 2023).[163] In January 2023, Biden underwentMohs surgery to remove twobasal-cell carcinoma lesions from her face and chest.[164]
Biden is an advocate for women's rights. In March 2023, she hosted a Women's History Month event where she call on men to step up and fight to protect women's rights.[165] Biden, with Secretary of StateAntony Blinken, hosted the annualInternational Women of Courage Award, which were distributed by the U.S. Department of State to acknowledge women “who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equity and equality, and the empowerment of women and girls”, at White House.[166] In October 2023, in honor of theInternational Day of the Girl Child, Biden, along with the White House Gender Policy Council, hosted the first-ever “Girls Leading Change” celebration to recognize the profound impact young women are having on their communities across the United States.[167] In February 2024, Biden announced the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research, a $100 million federal funding for research and development into women's health, which is led by the first lady and theWhite House Gender Policy Council.[168] The funding comes from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which is under theUnited States Department of Health and Human Services.[168] Biden said in November 2023 that the initiative grew out after a meeting withMaria Shriver, a women's health advocate and former California first lady.[168]
Jill Biden is also more political than previous first ladies.[169] According to a President's advisor, she is "one of the top raisers across the board for us as a party."[169] She supported her husband's decision to pullAmerican troops out of Afghanistan.[170] In October 2021, Biden visited Virginia to deliver "last-minute stump" speeches for the Democratic governor,Terry McAuliffe, in his race against Republican challenger and his successorGlenn Youngkin.[169] In 2022, she organized seven fundraisers for theDemocratic National Committee.[171] She described the2022 overruling of theRoe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling as "unjust and so devastating."[172] She criticized former president Donald Trump and Russian presidentVladimir Putin during public events and private Democratic National Committee fundraisers.[169] She also criticized Republican opposition of an assault weapons ban and more spending on climate change.[171] In July 2022, Biden expressed frustration with the challenges her husband has faced as his administration has sought to address a range of issues.[173] In April 2024,The New York Times reported that President Biden told an attendee on a meeting with Muslim community members that the first lady had been urging him to calling for an end to theGaza war, lamenting the high civilian death toll.[174][170] She has played a role in the hiring of people within the administration's press personnel and has criticized them when she felt they were not sufficiently protecting her husband's image.[145][144]
Biden gives a tour of the White House to students in 2024.
Jill Biden initiated an overhaul of the White House public tour to make the tour more accessible, interactive and educational for visitors.[175] She initiated the revamp after learning that the public tour had not seen any significant improvements in decades.[176] In the past, the tour allowed visitors only a quick look at some of the most famous rooms in the White House and emphasized the White House's antiques and artwork.[175] Biden described the old public tour toThe Washington Post: "They weren’t dynamic."[177] TheOffice of the First Lady worked on the $5 million project for two years with theNational Park Service, theWhite House Office of the Curator, theWhite House Historical Association, presidential libraries and the History Channel.[178] In October 2024, Biden unveil the upgrade of the tour.[178] The new White House public tour featured digital elements, historical context and insights into the lives of previous presidents and their families.[179] The new tour also includes digital displays that commemorate all eras of American history and five new 3D models of theWhite House that portray the building as it evolved from 1792 to 2024.[179] The tourists also had a greater access to the White House rooms that were previously closed to the public.[180] The tour also accommodates blind tourists.[179]
In May 2022, during the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden made a trip (without her husband) to Romania and Slovakia, visiting withUkrainian women and children refugees and asking questions of workers from aid organizations.[191] During this, she made an unannounced trip across theSlovakia–Ukraine border toUzhhorod, Ukraine, where she met with displaced Ukrainian schoolchildren, as well as with Ukrainian first ladyOlena Zelenska.[192] The visit coincided withMother's Day as celebrated in the U.S., and Biden said, "I wanted to come on Mother's Day. We thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine."[192] It was the first visit to a war zone by a U.S. first lady without her husband sinceLaura Bush went to Afghanistan in 2008, and it was the first appearance in public for Zelenska since the invasion started.[191] At asubsequent NATO summit, Biden and several other first ladies emphasized a commitment to helping Ukrainian refugees.[193] In the same month, Biden visited Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica.[194] At each stop, she engaged in public appearances and diplomatic discussions that emphasized the value that partnership with the United States brought in by addressing a variety of issues within those countries.[194]
Biden with First Lady of EgyptEntissar Amer in Cairo, Egypt, July 2023
While Biden had visited the continent of Africa five times as second lady, her initial visit there as first lady came in February 2023 with a trip to Namibia and Kenya.[195] InWindhoek, she delivered a speech on democracy and women's empowerment.[196] While in Kenya'sKajiado County, she witnessed the effects of the ongoing2020–2023 Horn of Africa Drought.[197]In May 2023, Biden and her step-granddaughter, Finnegan, were the representatives of the American government at thecoronation of Charles III and Camilla, making it the first time that a first lady had attended a British coronation.[198][199] In June 2023, Biden and her daughter Ashley attended thewedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Rajwa Al Saif.[200] In the same month, she visited Egypt, Morocco and Portugal to highlight her advocacy for youth empowerment and arts.[201][202] In July 2023, Biden visited Paris to give a speech to mark the official return of the United States toUNESCO.[203]
In July 2024, Biden led the American delegation at the opening ceremony of the2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.[204] She also visited American athletes at an Olympic training center in Paris.[205] In October 2024, she led the American delegation to the inauguration ofClaudia Sheinbaum as president of Mexico.[206] In December 2024, Biden conducted her final foreign trip as the first lady, visiting Italy, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and France.[207] In Italy, she visited US military personnel inCatania to delivering remarks on behalf of the Joining Forces program.[207] She also visited her paternal family's ancestral hometown of Gesso,Messina.[208][209] In the United Arab Emirates, she toured the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot program and attended theMilken Institute's Middle East and Africa Summit.[210] She also met SheikhaFatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi, mother of the UAE president SheikhMohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan inAbu Dhabi.[210] In Qatar, Biden visited to theQatar Foundation andWeill Cornell Medicine-Qatar to highlight the two countries' interests in education and health.[211] She also attended a dinner banquet hosted by SheikhaMoza bint Nasser Al-Missned to celebrate the wedding of SheikhKhalifa bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikha Fatima bin Nasser bin Hassan Al Thani at the Al-Wajba Palace inDoha.[207] Biden was the keynote speaker at the 2024Doha Forum.[212] After visiting Qatar, Biden and her daughter Ashley attended the reopening ceremony of theNotre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.[213]
By May 2023, Biden had traveled more than her husband, the vice president, or thesecond gentleman.[48]
Approval ratings, popularity and controversy
In October 2021, Biden was placed the seventh most popular first lady out of twelve recent first ladies from an online survey poll by Zogby Analytics.[214]
During the first year and a half of being first lady, aCNN poll revealed that Biden's favorability ratings had declined, from 58 percent favorable to 28 percentage unfavorable at the time of her husband's inauguration, compared to 34 percent favorable to 29 percent unfavorable during June–July 2022.[215] A popularity dip of that extext was unusual, as first ladies usually have stronger ratings than their husbands do and stay high even when their husbands' ratings decline.[169] The decline has been attributed to Biden being more outwardly political than previous first ladies; to the general increase ofpartisan polarization in the United States dragging down everyone associated with an unpopular president; and, because of a large number of respondents shifting their views to "no opinion", an artifact of how the CNN poll was conducted.[169] The poll also showed that Biden is still more popular among Republicans than both the president andvice president.[169] As Biden's time as First Lady came to an end in January 2025, a CNN poll showed her with a 33 percent favorability rating and a 31 percent unfavorability rating with 35 percent unsure how they feel about her.[216]
Biden has been noted for having superiormessage discipline compared to her husband and has rarely produced gaffes.[145] However, one did occur at the July 2022 conference of Latino advocacy organizationUnidosUS, when Biden claimedLatino Americans were as "unique" astacos.[217] She also mispronounced the word "bodegas".[218] HerLatino stereotyping caused widespread condemnation,[219] including from theNational Association of Hispanic Journalists, who issued a statement which said "We are not tacos."[217] Biden apologized viaa spokesman.[219] The combination of a polling decline and the gaffe was noted as unfortunate timing for the White House and the Democratic Party, who were working to win back Hispanic voters who had drifted to theRepublican Party, prior the2022 midterm elections.[215][169][219] In any case, Biden's use in such roles was not diminished, as she became the most requested surrogate of anyone in the Biden administration (including her husband) during fall 2022 campaigns and often was utilized in Republican-leaning areas.[145] Her ability to reach suburban women was especially desired.[48] In all she participated in about 40 speaking appearances or fundraisers for various candidates and as the year 2022 closed, she was suffering from exhaustion and laryngitis.[220]
Biden alongside Angel Reese, when the White House visit did finally take place
Biden did commit what theNew York Times termed an "unforced error" in April 2023 when, after attending the highly watched championship game of the2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, she extended both the losingIowa Hawkeyes as well as the winningLSU Tigers an invitation to the White House traditionally only extended to winners.[221] The remark was walked back by the first lady's spokesperson, and only LSU was invited,[222] after the game's aftermath became tangled in some racially-oriented discussions regarding the differing treatments giventrash-talking behavior by the two teams' top players, LSU'sAngel Reese and Iowa'sCaitlin Clark.[221] Reese initially took offense at Biden's remark, but the two hugged when the LSU visit to the White House took place in May 2023.[223]
Fashion and style
In September 2020, Biden woreStuart Weitzman's black boots with the word "vote" written on them.[224] The boots she wore was sold out immediately and page views for the boots spiked five-fold the next day.[224] At her husband's victory speech in Wilmington, Biden wore anOscar de la Renta dark-blue floral dress designed by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim.[225] The dress she wore sold out quickly.[225] In March 2021, her spokesperson stated that the first lady's press team would not comment on her clothes.[226] During her public appearances, Biden has been noted to favor jeans and cashmere sweaters[227] created by American designers with focus on sustainability.[228] On February 13, 2021, Biden posted a photo on Twitter of her shopping for cupcakes in Washington, D.C. while wearing ascrunchie, which went viral.[214] Of the attention the scrunchie photo got, Biden said onThe Kelly Clarkson Show, "I still don't understand it."[229]
When it came time for her husband to decide whether to run to retain his office in the2024 United States presidential election, she was strongly in favor of him doing so,[48] in large part to keep Trump, the previous occupant of the White House, from returning to it.[230] TheJoe Biden 2024 presidential campaign was announced in April 2023.[48] By February 2024, the subject ofJoe Biden's 81 years of age and associated frailties was a central topic of news coverage, especially after the special counsel report in theJoe Biden classified documents incident, and reports indicated that Jill Biden often sought to shield her husband from excessively long appearances or making impromptu remarks.[230] She remained protective of the rest of her family as well, and in early June she shuttled between attending thetrial of Hunter Biden on gun charges and official appearances as first lady at an 80th anniversaryD-Day commemorative ceremony in France.[231]
On June 27, thefirst presidential debate took place, and Joe Biden's disastrous performance in it led to renewed concerns about his age and fitness for office and tocalls by many Democrats for him to drop out of the race.[232][233][234] Jill Biden immediately rallied to her husband's side, praising him at an after-debate watch party by saying "You answered every question, you knew all the facts," and saying that he would stay in the race.[232] In the days following the debate she continued to be adamant on that point, saying she "will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he's been president" and that "We will continue to fight."[235] Insinuations were made by Republicans and even some Democrats that Jill Biden must have been running the White House all along, akin toEdith Wilson, or that her drive to remain in power in Washington made her comparable toLady Macbeth.[233]
As political pressure mounted on Joe Biden, his circle of close advisors shrunk in size, with those still remaining including Jill and, unusually, Jill's senior advisorAnthony Bernal, leading to concern among Democrats that the president was not getting input from a wide enough base.[236] Jill Biden, meanwhile, was resentful at the number of Democrats and friends who were publicly abandoning her husband.[237]
Eventually, on July 21, 2024, thewithdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election was announced.[234] It came as a sudden statement on a weekend, which Jill Biden had advocated for as a way of making it sound like something her husband had chosen to do rather than been forced and thus preserving his dignity.[237] She subsequently publicly thanked her husband's supporters and urged them to work for the candidate he had endorsed, Vice PresidentKamala Harris.[238]
Subsequent activities (2025–present)
Vice President Harris went on to lose the election in November 2024, setting up a return to power of the previous administration.[239] In December 2024, Jill Biden announced that she had finished the semester and had "taught ... my final class ever at Northern Virginia Community College."[4] It was not stated whether she might teach again elsewhere.[5]
No longer in office, the Bidens returned to Delaware.[5] The presidential loss in 2024 had come amid a series of defeats for Democrats at multiple electoral levels and vote-share declines in many demographics, and occasioned considerable soul-searching about what had gone wrong.[239] A spate of books came out about the campaign and election and how President Biden's team had behaved in regards to him.[240] One of these works,Original Sin, looked back at crucial stages of her husband's presidency and re-election campaign and portrayed her as having been increasingly involved in her husband's decision-making process and unwilling to take to heart any critical views about his abilities to do the job going forward.[241] With respect to post-mortems of that time, she objected to criticisms of her having been too protective of her husband, especially when they came "from some of our so-called friends",[67] with one example of that beingAlexandra Pelosi's having analogized her toLady Macbeth, which she said was "very hurtful".[242]
In April 2025, it was announced that Biden was taking on the position of chair of a new Women's Health Network initiative with theMilken Institute.[240] This was seen as a follow-on to her role in the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research.[240]
In May 2025,Leo Terrell, the Senior Counsel to theAssistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, drew media attention after suggesting that Jill Biden should face criminal charges for "elder abuse." He argued that she was aware of President Joe Biden’s health issues yet remained silent during his reelection campaign. Terrell reiterated his stance in a series of posts on X, including one that read, "Elder Abuse! Criminal Charges??"[243]
^abcThe "majority of" qualifier is due toHillary Rodham Clinton, who was a United States senator during the last 17 days of her eight-year stint as First Lady.[6][7]
^The family name of Giacoppo was subsequently misspelled as Giacoppa at theEllis Island registry.[13] Accordingly Italian sources tend to refer to the Giacoppo spelling,[14][15] while some American sources refer to a Giacoppa spelling.[16][17][18] Still another earlier spelling is Giacobbo; the head of the family at the time of immigration was recorded in Italy as Placido Giacobbo.[19]
^In addition to local bands, musical artists who performed at the Stone Balloon during this period included a 1974, pre-Born to Run-fameBruce Springsteen[29] as well asChubby Checker andTiny Tim. However the bulk of the Stone Balloon's prominence as a venue for up-and-coming major artists occurred after Stevenson's marriage with Jill ended.
^In August 2020, Bill Stevenson told media outlets that this oft-told story about how Joe and Jill Biden met was made up. Stevenson asserted that he and Jill had known Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia going back to 1972, that he had asked County Councilman Biden for help with a liquor license and had held a fund-raiser for his 1972 Senate campaign, and that Joe and Jill had begun an affair in 1974 before he and Jill had separated. In response to Stevenson's statement, a spokesman for Jill Biden said in September 2020: "These claims are fictitious, seemingly to sell and promote a book. The relationship of Joe and Jill Biden is well documented. Jill Biden separated from her first husband irreconcilably in the fall of 1974 and moved out of their marital home. Joe and Jill Biden had their first date in March of 1975, and they married in June of 1977."[35]
^Sources sometimes report Jill Biden's college graduation as occurring in 1974;[28] news articles and press releases from the university indicate that 1975 is correct.[33][37]
^While it has no affect on the validity or legality of the Bidens' marriage, the nature of the ceremony in religious terms is not publicly known. The Chapel is known for being the site of marriage ceremonies forcouples of different religious backgrounds and faiths or otherwise would have difficulty getting married in a formal religious ceremony;[40] an investigation in 2023 by theCatholic World Report was unable to determine whether the procedures formarriage in the Catholic Church were followed.[41]
^While some sources have characterized the couple as being Catholics,[63] other sources have described them as coming from different faiths but attending Catholic services together.[64] Jill Biden generally talks about her adult faith in a personal sense, and while her 2019 memoirWhere the Light Enters describes her in Catholic settings with her husband or their children, it does not state that she herself is a Catholic.[65] Beginning during the 2020 presidential campaign, her prayer partner has been the wife of aWest Columbia, South Carolina-based Baptist pastor.[66] In a 2025 joint appearance on the television programThe View, Joe Biden corrected a host who said the couple were both Catholics, stating "by the way, Jill's a Presbyterian".[67]
^Some sources state without equivocation that Biden was the first second lady to have a paying job.[3]
References
^abc"Dr. Jill Biden: First Lady".White House.Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. RetrievedAugust 6, 2022.Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden was born on June 3, 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey, to Bonny Jean Godfrey Jacobs and Donald Carl Jacobs. ...
^abStoltz, Marsha A. (March 15, 2021)."First lady Jill Biden is a South Jersey native – but she also has roots in Mahwah".The Record. Bergen County, New Jersey.Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. RetrievedMarch 16, 2021.You won't find it mentioned in her Wikipedia biography, but 8-year-old Jill Jacobs' arrival at Betsy Ross Elementary School is carefully preserved in its 1959 attendance records, in teacher Harriett Cook's perfect handwriting, which show her moving from Hatboro. The Jacobs family moved to Miller Road in Mahwah, which they called home from about 1959 to 1961. While living there, Donald Jacobs served as CEO of the Mahwah Savings and Loan Association.
^abCohen, Celia."From UD to VP".University of Delaware Messenger. Vol. 16, no. 3.Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. RetrievedOctober 2, 2020.
"Joining Forces: New Year's Update".White House. January 9, 2023.Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. RetrievedJuly 22, 2024.Since becoming First Lady, Dr. Biden has visited 24 military installations; worked with Joining Forces partners to support over 30 events with the military-connected community; ...
Casey, Sheila (January 23, 2024)."Joining Forces: A Look Back at 2023".White House.Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. RetrievedJuly 17, 2024.In 2023, First Lady Jill Biden visited 10 military installations and worked with Joining Forces partners on more than 40 engagements for our military-connected community.
^"U.S. President Biden Meets Italy's Prime Minister Draghi ahead of G20".Getty Images. October 29, 2021.Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. RetrievedAugust 14, 2022.First Lady Jill Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden, Mario Draghi, Italy's prime minister, and his wife Maria Serenella Cappello, left to right, at the Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy, on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. ...
^abRogers, Katie (May 9, 2022). "First Lady Visits Western Ukraine, Offering Empathy and Support".The New York Times. p. A9.
^ab"Jill Biden chided for saying Latinos as unique as 'breakfast tacos'".Reuters. July 12, 2022. Archived fromthe original on July 17, 2022.a) [...] the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength," Biden said. b) The National Association of Hispanic Journalists was not impressed, saying Biden and her speech writers ought to "better understand the complexities of our people." "We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype," the association said in a statement.
^abcTomlinson, Hugh (July 21, 2022)."Joe Biden's wife Jill joins him in rock-bottom poll rating".The Times.Archived from the original on July 24, 2022. RetrievedAugust 1, 2022.a) The racial stereotyping prompted widespread condemnation [...] b) Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden's spokesman, said she "apologises that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community" c) The timing of her error is unfortunate for the White House as the president and his Democratic Party is fighting to win back Hispanic voters drifting towards to the Republicans before midterm elections in November
^Foussianes, Chloe; Burack, Emily (July 19, 2022)."Dr. Jill Biden's Best Fashion Moments".Town & Country.Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. RetrievedAugust 8, 2021.[...] many of which were created by American designers with an eye toward sustainability. Below, a sampling of Jill's best First Lady style.
![Joe and Jill Biden dancing with members of the U.S. armed forces at the Commander in Chief's Ball. Silk blue gown by Vera Wang.[105]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aVice_President_Joe_Biden%2c_right%2c_dances_with_U.S._Army_Staff_Sgt._Keesha_Dentino_as_Jill_Biden%2c_left%2c_dances_with_Navy_Petty_Officer_3rd_Class_Patrick_Figuero_at_the_Commander_in_Chief%2527s_Ball_at_the_Washington_130121-A-TT930-055.jpg)
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