Jill Biden would be the first U.S. First Lady to keep her day job
Biden has said she plans to continue teaching even if her husband Joe is elected.
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! AOC takes the DNC, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland steps into a new role, and Jill Biden would be the first U.S. First Lady to maintain her own career while her husband is in the White House. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
– First Lady with a day job? I have to say, I didn’t envy Jill Biden for having to follow Michelle Obama’s Monday night tour de force of a Democratic National Convention speech. But Biden delivered a heartfelt address, recalling her early days with Joe Biden after the car accident that killed his first wife and daughter (“How do you make a broken family whole?”) and reflecting the concerns many Americans are feeling amid the pandemic (“How do I keep my family safe?”).
She delivered the address from Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, standing in the very room where she used to teach in the ’90s. It was a fitting background—not just because the country’s empty schools are such a huge concern right now, but also because the classroom has played such a central role in Biden’s life.
Her commitment to teaching shines through in this Washington Post profile. The story paints a picture of a woman dedicated to her family and partnership with Joe Biden, but also to her career as an educator—something that clearly provoked a bit of wistful envy in Michelle Obama during Obama’s run as First Lady, as evidenced by a 2016 White House exit interview conducted by People: “Jill is always grading papers,” Obama said… “Which is funny because I’d forget, ‘Oh yeah, you have a day job!’ And then she pulls out her papers and she’s so diligent and I’m like, ‘Look at you! You have a job! Tell me! Tell me what it’s like!’”
This campaign is the first time Biden has taken a break from teaching since 1981 and the Post reports that she plans to return to her job as an English composition professor at Northern Virginia Community College even if her husband becomes President. It would be the first time a First Lady kept her day job, says Anita McBride, who runs the First Ladies Initiative at American University and was First Lady Laura Bush’s chief of staff. “This would be a precedent,” she tells the Post.
It’s not quite the first woman in the Oval Office. But it would be a huge step forward for the office of the First Lady (and someday, First Gentleman) if the occupant can pursue their chosen profession while also carrying out the duties bestowed on them by marriage. And if Joe Biden wins in November, it will be fascinating to watch how he and Jill function as the first First two-career Couple.
Kristen Bellstrom
kristen.bellstrom@fortune.com
@kayelbee
Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.