The first thing to know about America’s next first lady is that Jill Biden – a college English professor with four degrees, including a doctorate – is going to be a very busy FLOTUS, since she plans to keep her day job after moving into the White House.
After all, she continued teaching at Northern Virginia Community College during the eight years she served as second lady, working closely with the historic then-first lady Michelle Obama.
The latter considers Biden a “dear friend,” who brings “kindness, empathy, and humor to even the most difficult of situations.”
“She is going to be a terrific First Lady,” Obama said in a statement to USA TODAY.
But Biden will be historic in her own way, or at least that’s her plan: She intends to be the first FLOTUS in the role’s 231-year history to pursue her career and keep a paying job while living in the White House and serving as first lady.
“She will really be bringing the role of first lady into the 21st century,” says first-lady historian Katherine Jellison, a professor at Ohio University, noting no previous FLOTUS has been “allowed” to be like most modern American women, with both a work life and a family life.
“Americans have historically wanted their first ladies to be in the White House and at the president’s side whenever possible,” Jellison says. “Maybe the time has come when Americans will be more accepting of the idea that a president’s wife can simultaneously be a first lady and a working professional.”
“The winds of change are blowing because the country keeps moving; this was bound to happen,” says Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush and assistant to President George W. Bush, and now runs the Legacies of America’s First Ladies Initiative at American University’s School of Public Affairs.
There’s another thing to know about Jill Biden, and about Joe Biden: They project serenity, which has turned out to be a vital quality in the 2020 election.