Why Jill Biden Is Taking Time Off to Help Her Husband Get a Job

[RandySF]

Three months into Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s 2020 White House bid, he was struggling with the intense scrutiny that comes with being the front-runner, and she was increasingly needed on the campaign trail as a top surrogate for her husband. But Dr. Biden was reluctant to pull back from her obligations at Northern Virginia Community College, where she had taught English for a decade.

“I am getting pressure to take off a semester to campaign,” Dr. Biden confided to an associate dean in July, as they exchanged emails about her fall semester classes. “You know where my heart is.”

But before making a decision on her teaching schedule, she wrote, “I’d like to talk to Joe first. If I ever see him!!!!”

By early August, it was decided. Dr. Biden would participate in her husband’s campaign — but she would teach that autumn, too. She informed her colleague of her plan as she took off for “Iowa … again!”

The challenge was resolved only temporarily: The demands of the campaign increased and as the first voting approached she was again conflicted about her dual roles. A month ago, she made the decision to pull back from teaching this semester.

Over their 42 years of marriage, Dr. Biden has been by turns Mr. Biden’s greatest champion and a hesitant political spouse, committed to supporting his career just as he has embraced hers, but protective of her family and her own identity, and keenly aware of the costs of presidential campaigns.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/us/politics/joe-jill-biden-2020.html

[Cha]

1. Thank you Dr Jill Biden!