The causes close to the heart of the First Lady~~By J. Jones
NOTE: This is not a political piece, nor an attempt to tell the story of the First Lady’s life. Rather, it’s about the verbs. What Jill Biden is doing that many may not know about.
Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, has many talents, gifts, and quite a natural connection with children. Chief among them is that she was an excellent teacher-turned-Professor. Dr. Biden is well-known as, per her own words, “a teacher before any other career”… including First Lady. However, her “reign” as US First Lady is only a year and a half old, so we don’t know a lot about her yet.
This, though, is indisputable: She is passionate for education, children, and social service. And fame is decidedly not her goal.
“I’m not a politician. I am an English teacher.”
“Education is possibility set in motion.”
~ Jill Biden
Joe Biden kisses his wife, Jill, at Brandywine High School, where she taught English from 1991 to 1993
Dr. Jill Biden, lest we forget, was a longtime educator. As the wife of a Presidential candidate, she played a huge role in supporting and uplifting her husband’s presidential campaign. According to those closest to her, she performed her usual daily work, while still working on initiatives close to her hear… and still serving as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) credit: CNBC
All those things… they she did.
(L) Inaugural Ball, 2021
Supporting the Troops and COVID
Jill’s Causes: Go here for more information on Dr. Jill Biden’s philanthropic causes.
We can learn something from every single medical interaction. Every case, every patient has a lesson to teach us.
~Jill Biden
Two jobs… First Lady, combined with her skills as an educator, meshed perfectly when Mrs. Biden was tasked with educating, listening, and providing answers for older school kids who had doubts about COVID vaccines. And that she did.
The first lady, Jill Biden, and the surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, visited an elementary school in McLean, Va., that is running a coronavirus vaccine clinic for its students. Click here to hear Mrs. Biden speak with these students.
Possibly because so many in her own family have spent time in the military, or just via a heartfelt need to serve school children on military bases, when touring a few of them, she was appalled by the level of education and materials being used in so many base schools.
Jill Biden has kept a relatively low profile as of now, February 2022. Don’t confuse that as inaction… or worse, apathy. In fact, Sr. Biden is much more involved with the community in DC and surrounding areas than any First Lady in recent history. The exception to that would be Michelle Obama… and if fact, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden traveled often together and remain very close friends.
Dr. Biden doesn’t often discuss her good deeds in the press. One gets the sense that she performs the roles she chooses(and surely some she didn’t,) but without the fanfare many First Ladies might have craved. Truly admirable.
“We needed to do more for military families. Period; end of story.”
~ First Lady Jill BidenProgress in US Military (This link will take you to a list of positive changes for the military.)
As previously stated, Jill Biden has a heart for children and education. And it’s not just “a cause” she adopted… (every First Lady is expected to have a platform,) nor does she visit these schools/Army in need for the purposes of a photo op. She’s there for real.
While visiting US troops in the Middle East, soldiers were thrilled that this woman, who couldn’t be less like what they mostly expected, was fighting for their families. She promised improvements, and as you can likely guess now… That she did. She took time to discuss concerns she had about their children’s education, and how she could help. (In actuality, she was already making progress.)
Breast Cancer Awareness
“One thread of pain runs through every community, north and south, rich and poor, in the best of times and the depths of this pandemic, and that’s cancer.”
~Dr. Jill Biden
As if the many jobs of Dr. Biden weren’t enough to fill her schedule, there is one more cause she holds dear… breast cancer. Though she pulls no punches with the trauma of the people she loved and lost in such quick succession, there is one silver lining. It was her then-acquaintance, and now one of the best friends, (Michelle Obama,) who supported Jill and motivated her terrible grief become “good” grief.
And then there was this heartfelt letter, expressing the importance of, and need for, small kindnesses… especially when faced with a sick friend or family member. In this case, it was breast cancer.
Kindness seems to be taking a backseat to viciousness and divisiveness. This is a simple reminder.
October 1, 2021
Dr. Biden tweeted:
Last night, the White House was illuminated in pink to start #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, in honor of survivors, those we’ve lost, and those going through treatment now. If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, know our hearts are with you, and we are fighting for a cure.
And that she did.
Credits: Boston Globe, White House Historical Society, Boston Globe, CNN, Refinery 29, Jill Biden’s Twitter, New York Times, “Promise Me, Dad” by Joe Biden, Shannon Carlin, ABC, MSNBC
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