The First Ever 'First Lady with a Career' Jill Biden... US Media Highlights Her 'Quiet Support'

WP "Jill Biden Wants to Return to Teaching Even as First Lady"

▲Jill Biden, wife of Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate in the US [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Jill Biden (69), who will become the first First Lady in history to maintain a separate professional career.

Jill Biden, who rose from Second Lady of the United States to First Lady in just four years, stated in a media interview last August when her husband, former Vice President Joe Biden, accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, that even if her husband became president, "I will continue teaching."

As an English composition professor at Northern Virginia Community College, a two-year junior college, Mrs. Biden has drawn attention from the U.S. media for her "quiet support." She took a leave of absence for the first time since her daughter Ashley was born in 1981 to help her husband's presidential campaign. She said she would deeply regret it if the election results were poor because she was not fully devoted to supporting her husband. The Washington Post (WP) reported that Mrs. Biden still wants to return to teaching even if her husband becomes president.

Accordingly, there is growing interest in whether she will become the first U.S. First Lady to maintain a separate professional career. She was also the first U.S. Second Lady to hold a paid job when her husband was vice president in 2009.

Her passion for education is exceptional. She participated in an education-related task force during the presidential campaign, and a famous anecdote from her time as Second Lady is that she graded students' answer sheets on Air Force Two, the official plane, during her husband's overseas trips.

She earned master's degrees from West Chester University and Villanova University, and in 2007, in her mid-50s, she received a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware.

After working as a high school teacher for over 20 years, she served as an English professor at Delaware Community College for 25 years before moving to her current university when her husband became vice president.

Born as the eldest daughter of four daughters of a banker in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Mrs. Biden has been independent enough to earn money through part-time jobs since she was 15 years old.

It is known that she used her maiden name instead of Biden when presenting her doctoral dissertation to avoid the prejudice of being in her husband's shadow.

In 1975, when she was a 24-year-old college student, Mrs. Biden first met Joe Biden, who was eight years her senior. At that time, Biden had lost his first wife, and Mrs. Biden was also divorced. After two years of dating, they married in New York in 1977.

Mrs. Biden visited South Korea in July 2015 during her time as Second Lady.

She attended an event hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and stated, "Women should be given more opportunities to realize their potential," showing the image of a working mom balancing work, studies, and childcare.

Mrs. Biden has also drawn attention from the U.S. media for her "quiet support" during the election process.

She is called Biden's "invisible hand," exerting considerable influence on major decisions, including the selection of the vice-presidential candidate in this election.

After Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris was nominated, she said it was a choice made by both her husband and herself.

Mrs. Biden's influence on her husband reportedly increased after she filled the void left by Biden's eldest son Beau, who passed away from brain cancer in 2015.

The WP predicted that Mrs. Biden will be much more popular and active than the current First Lady, Melania Trump.