Jill Biden
Encyclopedia
Jill Tracy Biden is an American educator and, as the wife of Vice President
Joe Biden
, is the Second Lady of the United States
.
She was born in Hammonton
, New Jersey
and grew up in Willow Grove
, Pennsylvania
. She married Joe Biden in 1977 and became stepmother to his two young sons from his first marriage, Beau
and Hunter, whose mother and baby sister died in a car accident. Joe and Jill Biden have a daughter, Ashley, born in 1981.
Jill Biden has a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware
, master's degrees from West Chester University
and Villanova University
and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware. She taught English and reading in high schools for 13 years, and also taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. From 1993 to 2008, she was an English and writing instructor at Delaware Technical & Community College
. Since 2009, she has been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College
and is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband is Vice President. She is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founded the Book Buddies program, and is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground.
. Moving several times while very young, she and her four younger sisters spent the majority of their childhood in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
. Her father, Donald C. Jacobs (1927–1999), was a bank teller
who became head of a savings and loan in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. His family name had originally been Giacoppa before her Italian grandfather anglicized it. Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs (1930–2008), was a homemaker
.
The family was not particularly religious, but in ninth grade, Jacobs independently took classes in order to join the Presbyterian church
.
Jacobs always intended to have her own career. She began working at age 15, which included waitressing at the Jersey Shore
. She attended Upper Moreland High School
, where she was somewhat rebellious and enjoyed her social life, but always liked English class. She graduated in 1969.
in Pennsylvania to study fashion merchandising, but soon found it unsatisfying. She married Bill Stevenson, a former college football player, in February 1970. Within a couple of years he opened the Stone Balloon in Newark, Delaware
, near the University of Delaware
. It became one of the most successful college bars in the nation.
She enrolled at the University of Delaware, where she declared English as her major. She then took a year off from college and did some modelling
work for a local agency in Wilmington
. She and Stevenson drifted apart.
Subsequently, she returned to college and met Joe Biden as a senior at Delaware in March 1975. They met on a blind date
set up by Joe's brother, though it turned out that Biden had unknowingly fancied her, having seen her in a local advertisement. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
from the University of Delaware later in 1975. She began her career teaching high school English. Meanwhile, she was going through turbulent divorce proceedings with Stevenson; the court case ended in 1976, with her not getting the half-share in the Stone Balloon she had wanted.
She and Joe Biden were married on June 17, 1977 at the Chapel at the United Nations
in New York City
by Melvin Hawthorne, Chaplain of the Church Center of the United Nations, about five years after Joe Biden's first wife and infant daughter died in a car accident. Joe had proposed several times before she accepted, hesitant to take on the commitment of raising his two young sons who survived the accident. She continued to teach and then, while pregnant, received a Master of Education
with a specialty in Reading from West Chester University
in 1981. The Bidens' daughter Ashley Blazer was born on June 8, 1981, and Jill stopped working for two years while raising the three children.
She then returned to work, teaching English, acting as a reading specialist, and teaching history to emotionally disturbed students. She taught in the adolescent program at the Rockford Center psychiatric hospital
for five years in the 1980s. In 1987, Biden received a second Master of Arts
degree, this one in English from Villanova University
. During her husband's 1988 bid for the Presidency
, she said she would continue her job of teaching emotionally disturbed children even if she became First Lady
. In all, she spent 13 years teaching in public high school, including 3 years at Claymont High School.
From 1993 through 2008, Biden was an instructor at the Stanton/Wilmington campus of Delaware Technical & Community College
, where she taught English composition
and remedial writing
, with an emphasis on instilling confidence in students. She has said of teaching at a community 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."
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. In the following 15 years, the organization informed more than 7,000 high school girls about proper breast health. In 2007, Biden helped found Book Buddies, which provides books for low-income children, and has been very active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, an organization that supports military families. She runs five miles, five times a week, and she has run in the Marine Corps Marathon
.
Biden later returned to school for her doctoral degree, studying under her birth name, Jill Jacobs. In January 2007, at age 55, she received a Doctor of Education
in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Her dissertation, Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs, was published under the name Jill Jacobs-Biden.
Following her strong dismay at George W. Bush's reelection in 2004
, she urged her husband to run again for President. During Joe Biden's 2008 campaign to be the Democratic nominee
, she continued to teach during the week and would join him for campaigning on weekends. She said that she would have taken an activist role in addressing education as her chief focus of concern as a potential First Lady. She also said that she was basically apolitical and would not seek inclusion in Cabinet meetings.
Once her husband was selected as the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama
's running mate, she began campaigning again.
She wore a Blue Star Mothers Club
pin in recognition of Beau Biden
's deployment to Iraq. She was not a polished political speaker, but was able to establish a connection with the audience. She also made some joint appearances with Michelle Obama
. 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.
(the vice presidential residence in Washington) as Second Lady of the United States
, Biden intended to keep teaching at a Washington-area community college, and several of them recruited her. In January 2009, she began teaching two English courses as an adjunct professor at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College
(NOVA), the second largest community college in the nation. It has been rare for Second Ladies to work while their spouses serve as Vice President, and Biden is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband is Vice President. Biden planned to be a public advocate for the importance of community colleges and to advise the Obama administration on issues related to them. In White House announcements and by her preference, she is referred to as "Dr. Jill Biden".
Catherine Russell, a former adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was named Biden's chief of staff for her Second Lady role. Courtney O’Donnell, a former spokesperson for Howard Dean
and Elizabeth Edwards
, was named her communications director and Kirsten White, a lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, her policy director. As Second Lady, Biden has a staff of eight overall and occupies a corner suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
On The Oprah Winfrey Show
just before the inauguration, Jill Biden said that Barack Obama had offered her husband either the Vice-Presidency or the position of U.S. Secretary of State
. However, Joe Biden's spokesperson stated that Biden had only been offered one job by Obama. In May 2009, Obama announced that Biden would be in charge of an initiative to raise awareness about the value of community colleges.
In June 2009, Biden gave the commencement address at Kingsborough Community College
in Brooklyn
, New York
, and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the City University of New York
. Biden continued teaching two English reading and writing classes at NOVA in fall 2009. 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. In August 2010, Biden appeared as herself in an episode of Lifetime's Army Wives
, making it part of her campaign to raise awareness of military families. In April 2011, she and Michelle Obama joined to start a national initiative to showcase the needs of U.S. military families. She continued to teach at NOVA, and by 2011 held a permanent position as an associate professor, teaching three English and writing composition courses two days per week. Her position there was as normal as she could make it, sharing a cubicle with another teacher, holding regular office hours for students, and trying to get her accompanying Secret Service agents
to dress as unobviously as possible. Her life with her husband at Number One Observatory Circle tended towards the informal and was centered around family and their nearby grandchildren.
In September 2011, Dr. Biden lent her support to USAID’s FWD
campaign, a push for awareness surrounding the deadly famine, war, and drought affecting over 13 million people in the Horn of Africa
. Her announcement of the initiative coincided with the release of several celebrity Public Service Announcements. Along with Uma Thurman
, Geena Davis
, Josh Hartnett
, and Chanel Iman
, Biden was featured in one of the television and Internet spots revealing that one child dies every six minutes in the Horn of Africa.
|-
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, is the Second Lady of the United States
Second Lady of the United States
Second lady of the United States is an informal title for the wife of the vice president of the United States, coined in contrast to the first lady ....
.
She was born in Hammonton
Hammonton, New Jersey
Hammonton is a town in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 14,791. It is located directly between Philadelphia and the resort town of Atlantic City, along a former route of the Pennsylvania Railroad currently used by New Jersey...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and grew up in Willow Grove
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Willow Grove is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper Moreland Township...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. She married Joe Biden in 1977 and became stepmother to his two young sons from his first marriage, Beau
Beau Biden
Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an American lawyer, Army JAG officer, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard...
and Hunter, whose mother and baby sister died in a car accident. Joe and Jill Biden have a daughter, Ashley, born in 1981.
Jill Biden has a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
, master's degrees from West Chester University
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester University of Pennsylvania is a public university located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, about miles west of Philadelphia. It is one of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education . West Chester was ranked 69th in the Master's Universities ...
and Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware. She taught English and reading in high schools for 13 years, and also taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. From 1993 to 2008, she was an English and writing instructor at Delaware Technical & Community College
Delaware Technical & Community College
Delaware Technical & Community College is the community college system in the state of Delaware with locations in four cities. It was created by the Delaware General Assembly in 1966 by House Bill 529. The college is fully accredited and several curricula have been accredited by various...
. Since 2009, she has been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College, often abbreviated NVCC and colloquially as NOVA, comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the...
and is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband is Vice President. She is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founded the Book Buddies program, and is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground.
Early life
Jill Tracy Jacobs was born in Hammonton, New JerseyHammonton, New Jersey
Hammonton is a town in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 14,791. It is located directly between Philadelphia and the resort town of Atlantic City, along a former route of the Pennsylvania Railroad currently used by New Jersey...
. Moving several times while very young, she and her four younger sisters spent the majority of their childhood in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Willow Grove is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper Moreland Township...
. Her father, Donald C. Jacobs (1927–1999), was a bank teller
Bank teller
A teller is an employee of a bank who deals directly with most customers. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier. Most teller jobs require cash handling experience and a high school diploma. Most banks provide on the job training....
who became head of a savings and loan in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. His family name had originally been Giacoppa before her Italian grandfather anglicized it. Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs (1930–2008), was a homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
.
The family was not particularly religious, but in ninth grade, Jacobs independently took classes in order to join the Presbyterian church
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
.
Jacobs always intended to have her own career. She began working at age 15, which included waitressing at the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
. She attended Upper Moreland High School
Upper Moreland High School
Upper Moreland High School is a comprehensive public high school, serving grades 9–12, located in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, about fifteen miles outside of Philadelphia. It is the only high school in the Upper Moreland School District, which includes part of Huntingdon Valley, Hatboro, and Willow...
, where she was somewhat rebellious and enjoyed her social life, but always liked English class. She graduated in 1969.
Education and career, marriage and family
Jacobs enrolled in a junior collegeJunior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
in Pennsylvania to study fashion merchandising, but soon found it unsatisfying. She married Bill Stevenson, a former college football player, in February 1970. Within a couple of years he opened the Stone Balloon in Newark, Delaware
Newark, Delaware
Newark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...
, near the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
. It became one of the most successful college bars in the nation.
She enrolled at the University of Delaware, where she declared English as her major. She then took a year off from college and did some modelling
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
work for a local agency in Wilmington
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
. She and Stevenson drifted apart.
Subsequently, she returned to college and met Joe Biden as a senior at Delaware in March 1975. They met on a blind date
Blind date
A "blind date" is a date between two people who have not previously met. The phrase may also mean:Television*Blind Date , a dating game show in the United Kingdom*Blind Date , a reality show in the United States...
set up by Joe's brother, though it turned out that Biden had unknowingly fancied her, having seen her in a local advertisement. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of Delaware later in 1975. She began her career teaching high school English. Meanwhile, she was going through turbulent divorce proceedings with Stevenson; the court case ended in 1976, with her not getting the half-share in the Stone Balloon she had wanted.
She and Joe Biden were married on June 17, 1977 at the Chapel at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Melvin Hawthorne, Chaplain of the Church Center of the United Nations, about five years after Joe Biden's first wife and infant daughter died in a car accident. Joe had proposed several times before she accepted, hesitant to take on the commitment of raising his two young sons who survived the accident. She continued to teach and then, while pregnant, received a Master of Education
Master of Education
The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...
with a specialty in Reading from West Chester University
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
West Chester University of Pennsylvania is a public university located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, about miles west of Philadelphia. It is one of the 14 state universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education . West Chester was ranked 69th in the Master's Universities ...
in 1981. The Bidens' daughter Ashley Blazer was born on June 8, 1981, and Jill stopped working for two years while raising the three children.
She then returned to work, teaching English, acting as a reading specialist, and teaching history to emotionally disturbed students. She taught in the adolescent program at the Rockford Center psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
for five years in the 1980s. In 1987, Biden received a second Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree, this one in English from Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
. During her husband's 1988 bid for the Presidency
Joe Biden presidential campaign, 1988
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr., a Democratic United States Senator from Delaware at the time, was a candidate for President of the United States in the 1988 United States presidential election....
, she said she would continue her job of teaching emotionally disturbed children even if she became First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
. In all, she spent 13 years teaching in public high school, including 3 years at Claymont High School.
From 1993 through 2008, Biden was an instructor at the Stanton/Wilmington campus of Delaware Technical & Community College
Delaware Technical & Community College
Delaware Technical & Community College is the community college system in the state of Delaware with locations in four cities. It was created by the Delaware General Assembly in 1966 by House Bill 529. The college is fully accredited and several curricula have been accredited by various...
, where she taught English composition
Composition studies
Composition Studies is the professional field of writing research and instruction, focusing especially on writing at the college level in the United States...
and remedial writing
Remedial education
Postsecondary remedial education is a large and growing segment of higher education in the United States...
, with an emphasis on instilling confidence in students. She has said of teaching at a community college
Community colleges in the United States
In the United States, community colleges are primarily two-year public institutions of higher education and were once commonly called junior colleges....
, "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."
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. In the following 15 years, the organization informed more than 7,000 high school girls about proper breast health. In 2007, Biden helped found Book Buddies, which provides books for low-income children, and has been very active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, an organization that supports military families. She runs five miles, five times a week, and she has run in the Marine Corps Marathon
Marine Corps Marathon
The Marine Corps Marathon is an annual marathon held in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC. The mission of the MCM is to promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill and showcase the organizational skills of the United States Marine Corps....
.
Biden later returned to school for her doctoral degree, studying under her birth name, Jill Jacobs. In January 2007, at age 55, she received a Doctor of Education
Doctor of Education
The Doctor of Education or Doctor in Education degree , in Latin, Doctor Educationis, is a research-oriented professional doctorate that prepares the student for academic, administrative, clinical, or research positions in educational, civil, and private organizations.-Differences between an Ed.D...
in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Her dissertation, Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs, was published under the name Jill Jacobs-Biden.
2008 Presidential campaign
George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004
This article is about the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, the former President of the United States and winner of the 2004 Presidential Election. See George W. Bush for a detailed biography and information about his full presidency, and George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000 for a...
, she urged her husband to run again for President. During Joe Biden's 2008 campaign to be the Democratic nominee
Joe Biden presidential campaign, 2008
The Joe Biden presidential campaign, 2008 began when Senator Biden announced his candidacy for President of the United States on the January 7, 2007 edition of Meet the Press. He officially became a candidate on January 31, 2007 after filing papers with the Federal Elections Commission...
, she continued to teach during the week and would join him for campaigning on weekends. She said that she would have taken an activist role in addressing education as her chief focus of concern as a potential First Lady. She also said that she was basically apolitical and would not seek inclusion in Cabinet meetings.
Once her husband was selected as the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's running mate, she began campaigning again.
She wore a Blue Star Mothers Club
Blue Star Mothers Club
During World War II, in March 1942, the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. organization was formed in the United States to provide support for mothers who had sons or daughters in active service in the war. The name came from the custom of families of servicemen hanging a banner called a Service...
pin in recognition of Beau Biden
Beau Biden
Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an American lawyer, Army JAG officer, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard...
's deployment to Iraq. She was not a polished political speaker, but was able to establish a connection with the audience. She also made some joint appearances with Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
. 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.
Second Lady of the United States
Despite moving to Number One Observatory CircleNumber One Observatory Circle
Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the Vice President of the United States.Located on the northeast grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the house was built in 1893 for its superintendent. The Chief of Naval Operations liked the house so much...
(the vice presidential residence in Washington) as Second Lady of the United States
Second Lady of the United States
Second lady of the United States is an informal title for the wife of the vice president of the United States, coined in contrast to the first lady ....
, Biden intended to keep teaching at a Washington-area community college, and several of them recruited her. In January 2009, she began teaching two English courses as an adjunct professor at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College, often abbreviated NVCC and colloquially as NOVA, comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the...
(NOVA), the second largest community college in the nation. It has been rare for Second Ladies to work while their spouses serve as Vice President, and Biden is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband is Vice President. Biden planned to be a public advocate for the importance of community colleges and to advise the Obama administration on issues related to them. In White House announcements and by her preference, she is referred to as "Dr. Jill Biden".
Catherine Russell, a former adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was named Biden's chief of staff for her Second Lady role. Courtney O’Donnell, a former spokesperson for Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
and Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth Anania Edwards was an American attorney, a best-selling author and a health care activist. She was married to John Edwards, the former U.S...
, was named her communications director and Kirsten White, a lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, her policy director. As Second Lady, Biden has a staff of eight overall and occupies a corner suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
On The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
just before the inauguration, Jill Biden said that Barack Obama had offered her husband either the Vice-Presidency or the position of U.S. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
. However, Joe Biden's spokesperson stated that Biden had only been offered one job by Obama. In May 2009, Obama announced that Biden would be in charge of an initiative to raise awareness about the value of community colleges.
In June 2009, Biden gave the commencement address at Kingsborough Community College
Kingsborough Community College
Kingsborough Community College , part of the City University of New York system, is the only community college in Brooklyn, New York. The campus is located at Manhattan Beach, which is at the eastern end of Coney Island. The 71-acre campus overlooks Sheepshead Bay, Jamaica Bay, and the Atlantic...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. Biden continued teaching two English reading and writing classes at NOVA in fall 2009. 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. In August 2010, Biden appeared as herself in an episode of Lifetime's Army Wives
Army Wives
Army Wives is an American drama series that follows the lives of four army wives, their families, and an army husband whose wife is in the army. The series, shot at ABC Studios, premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007...
, making it part of her campaign to raise awareness of military families. In April 2011, she and Michelle Obama joined to start a national initiative to showcase the needs of U.S. military families. She continued to teach at NOVA, and by 2011 held a permanent position as an associate professor, teaching three English and writing composition courses two days per week. Her position there was as normal as she could make it, sharing a cubicle with another teacher, holding regular office hours for students, and trying to get her accompanying Secret Service agents
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
to dress as unobviously as possible. Her life with her husband at Number One Observatory Circle tended towards the informal and was centered around family and their nearby grandchildren.
In September 2011, Dr. Biden lent her support to USAID’s FWD
FWD
FWD may refer to:* Front-wheel drive, a common method of vehicle propulsion.* FWD Campaign from USAID* Free World Dialup , a non-commercial Voice over IP network....
campaign, a push for awareness surrounding the deadly famine, war, and drought affecting over 13 million people in the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
. Her announcement of the initiative coincided with the release of several celebrity Public Service Announcements. Along with Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
, Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
, Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
, and Chanel Iman
Chanel Iman
Chanel Iman Robinson , known professionally as Chanel Iman, is an American fashion model perhaps best known for her work for Victoria's Secret.-Early life:...
, Biden was featured in one of the television and Internet spots revealing that one child dies every six minutes in the Horn of Africa.
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