US Presidential: Jill Biden, “the backbone” of Joe Biden

Jill Biden, the wife of the Democratic presidential candidate, in a video defused online at the close of the 2nd day of the Democratic Convention in Milwaukee, August 18, 2020. DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION / AFP

Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow

5 mins

On the second day of the Democratic convention this Tuesday, August 18, the evening was closed by Jill Biden. Married for 43 years to the one who is now running for the presidency of the United States, she knows perfectly well the workings of American politics. But until now Joe Biden's wife has always stayed out of the spotlight, preferring her own career as a teacher. At 69, she says today she is ready to occupy the place of first lady of the United States.

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In the toilets of the school where she teaches English literature, Jill Biden quickly dons an evening gown and heels to join a reception at the White House. It's 2009 and Jill Biden is the first wife of an American vice president to keep her job. Michelle Obama remembers her sitting on Air Force 1 with a bunch of her students' copies to correct. “  Being a teacher isn't what I do, it's who I am,  ” Jill Biden wrote in her memoir. And this Tuesday, August 18, 2020, it is again from a classroom in which she taught that the wife of the Democratic candidate speaks to Americans. An empty and silent classroom, witness to the coronavirus epidemic that is hitting the United States hard.

After all the political figures who have supported Joe Biden, the mission of his wife that evening is to portray the portrait of the man, the husband, the father whom fate did not spare: widower at 34 after a tragic traffic accident that claimed the lives of his first wife and their daughter, followed by the death of their son, Beau, at the age of 46 from brain cancer.

“  How do you bring together a broken family? In the same way that one brings a nation together: with love and understanding, with small gestures of kindness, with bravery, with once unshakeable,  ”she said facing the camera before continuing:“  That's exactly what number of you are doing right now for your loved ones, even for people you don't even know, for your communities. Some would have us believe that our country is desperately divided, that our differences are irreconcilable. But that's not what I've seen across the country in recent months. We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats.  "And Jill Biden concludes:"  The burdens we carry are heavy. We need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we turn this nation over to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together.  "

Links with the Hispanic community

Through this speech at the Democratic convention on Tuesday, Jill Biden fulfills her role as wife to perfection. It has been 43 years since the Biden's have been married and form a close couple. Jill Biden does not like to be seen as a political advisor to her husband. But it is clear that in this presidential campaign, she is involved as in none of the many others led by her husband during his long political career.

For the first time since the birth of their daughter Ashley, Jill Biden has suspended her teaching activity. She participated in the choice of the vice-president, Kamala Harris , she holds dozens of virtual meetings and forges links with a Hispanic community which is still reluctant to vote for her husband.

Dream of teacher unions

If Joe Biden wins the election on November 3, there is no doubt that Jill Biden will be a much more active first lady than Melania Trump is. Some teachers' unions even dream of seeing her initiate a reform of the American education system. And for good reason: Jill Biden, known for her empathetic and warm side, is also known for her perseverance and iron will.

This is evidenced by her doctorate in Educational Sciences, which she took 15 years to obtain while taking care of the family, her students and, incidentally, her husband's political career. “  Dr. B  ”, as her students call her, has already announced that she will resume her teaching activity, even if she becomes the first lady of the United States.

This Tuesday evening, Jill Biden ends her intervention by kissing her candidate husband. I don't know anyone as strong as her," said Joe Biden moved. She has a straight spine like an i.  ".

See also: US Presidential: Joe Biden officially invested by the Democratic Party

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