A Priced Political Asset

By Miracle Nwankwo

The month of March is designated women’s month, it is the month set aside to honour the existence of women and their effortless contributions to the human race.

In continuation of this very vital commemoration, we will like to place our spotlight on a priced political asset, an Amazon in governance, and a female thought leader worthy of emulation – Jill Biden.

We aim to focus on her unique strength and passion to help women see possibilities beyond limitations as we all continue to push for the top and as we choose to challenge.

An Admirable Educationist

Dr. Jill has been an educator for more than three decades. She has two master’s degrees, one in reading from West Chester University in 1981, and a second master’s in English from Villanova University in 1987. Jill taught English and worked as a reading specialist in Delaware public schools, and later taught English Composition at Delaware Technical and Community College, a position she held for 15 years. In 2006, Jill went back to school for yet another degree and earned a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007.

A Diplomatic Leader in Two Terrains

When Joe Biden began campaigning for the presidency, she revealed her intentions to keep her job as a teacher even when she becomes the first lady. Now the first lady of the United States, Dr. Jill continues to teach.

When her husband became the vice-president of the United States, she continued working as a full-time professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She was thought to be the first second lady to hold a paying job during her husband’s time as Vice President, says a media source.

A Philanthropist with a Survivor’s Tag

The first lady is not just all about promoting education alone, she is also devoted to supporting military families and cancer research and care initiatives. These courses are dear to her heart because she had endured the painful tragedy of losing a son, Beau Biden, to brain cancer in 2015, who also served in the military for several years. After the death of her son, Dr. Jill and her husband became the face of a national effort to end cancer, and ever since they have not stopped providing care for cancer patients. 

In 2011, she worked with first lady Michelle Obama in a nationwide campaign to help veterans returning from war and military spouses find career opportunities.

She also wrote a children’s book for military families titled Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops, which was published in June 2012. The book was inspired by the experience of Jill’s granddaughter Natalie when her father, Beau, was deployed to Iraq.

A Consistent Support and Partner

Dr. Jill has continued to show commitment to her husband’s political career and remains one of his huge fans and supporters.

Her loyalty and support are spoken of all over the media, and everyone affiliated with her.

One of these comments was by Joe’s former chief of staff Ron Klain told the Washington Post that Jill would be a “critical asset” to Joe’s potential presidential campaign. “Internally she is—next to his sister—his most trusted adviser, “Klain said. “She has a good feel for what works and does not work for him, and does a great job of keeping spirits up.”

Personal story

Dr. Jill was born in Hammonton, New Jersey, as Jill Tracy Jacobs, on June 3, 1951, the firstborn among five girls. She was raised in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania by her father Donald, who worked at a savings and loan bank, and Bonny her mother, a homemaker.

She attended Upper Moreland High School and graduated in 1969. She started working at the age of 15 because she wanted to build a career. She worked as a waitress in Ocean City, New Jersey and later moved to a junior college in Pennsylvania to study fashion merchandising, but the fashion path was unfulfilling, and soon Jill was on to her next act.

Dr. Jill found love and decided to get married, so in February 1970, she tied the knot with Bill Stevenson, and they decided to enroll in the University of Delaware together. While at the University of Delaware, she switched her enrollment in the College of Arts and Sciences and declared English as her major. She then took a year off from college and did some modelling work for a local agency in Wilmington.

However, her marriage was growing cold, as she and her husband drifted apart throughout college, and in 1974 they got divorced.

Shortly after her divorce, she met Joe Biden who at the time was working through a heartbreak having lost his wife, Neilia, and his 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, in a car accident that he and his two other children Beau and Hunter had survived. Biden had just been elected senator in 1972 when he lost his wife, this was a tough time for him.

Married Again

Dr. Jill and Joe met on a blind date organised by Joe’s brother in 1975. Although there was an age gap between them, the charming senator and father of two, connected with the young college lady immediately. Dr. Jill was so excited about meeting Joe that she ran to her mother’s room at 1:00 a.m. on the night of her first date with Joe and said, ‘Mom, I finally met a gentleman.’

However, she was very careful with her decision to marry him, because she had fallen in love with his sons and the marriage had to work, she couldn’t have them lose another mother, having lost their mom. It took Joe proposing to her five times before she accepted, she wanted to be very sure about her decision.

The couple were joined United Nations Chapel in New York City and they welcomed a baby girl in 1981, and the Bidens raised their three children in Wilmington, Delaware. Now, the couple has five grandchildren.

You cannot light a candle and put it under a bushel, a light is meant to be at the top to give light to its surrounding. That is why in Amazons Watch Magazine we believe that with Dr. Jill in the highest female position in the world, every woman stands a chance to victory.