Amid public fury and finger-pointing over how to deal with the Democratic presidential nominee, who most Americans believe is too old for the job, some of the frustration is being directed at the first lady, Jill Biden. Which makes me think back to one of her husband’s 2020 campaign viral moments.
On Super Tuesday night, while Joe Biden was giving his celebratory speech at a rally in Los Angeles, two anti-dairy protesters rushed to the stage, only Dr. To run smack up against Biden’s defensive wall. With impressive fleet feet—rocking metallic sling-back pumps, no less—she inserted herself between her man and potential harm. There is one Amazing photo Mr. Biden looks on with concern as she disarms and grabs an opponent by the wrist. “We’re fine,” she assured everyone after the spectacle was over. “We’re fine.”
Notably, this is not the first time that a candidate’s wife has served as a human shield for him in the contest. Less than a month ago, on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, she blocked an aggressive heckler and then showed him the door, Then joke“I’m a good Philly girl.”
Philly tough. When it comes to protecting and supporting her husband, she is the one who Dr. Biden is, fiercely and reflexively. This has been her role since the couple’s married days, when he was a young senator struggling to recover from the loss of his first wife and infant daughter in a car accident. And those who want to recruit her to encourage Mr. Biden to reconsider his presidential bid may be greatly misunderstanding her — and their marriage.
“She gave me my life back,” he said. about Biden in his 2007 memoir, “Promise to Keep.” Even before officially joining the family, she became a surrogate mother to his two young sons. And for nearly half a century since, she has sustained her husband through enough high-intensity drama to tear a lesser spouse apart: his near-fatal aneurysm, the death of his oldest child, his younger son’s devastating drug addiction, multiple presidential runs. .
Which means that if Mr. Biden decides to stay in this race, Jilly, as he calls her, will have his back. duration. Even though a large part of his own party suspected that he was not very well. In fact, the more the elite establishment clamors for it, the more Dr. Biden is likely to withdraw her.
And don’t expect appeals to the common good to sway him. She’s been in this kind of situation before—more than once, in fact—and is unlikely to be moved. We “will not let those 90 minutes define those four years as president. We will continue to fight,” she said. Vogue magazine, on whose August cover she wears a high-end frock by Ralph Lauren that doesn’t exactly scream community-college instructor.
Being a political spouse is a brutal game. Those willing to endure scrutiny and abuse come in all shapes and sizes but often fall into a general category.
There are hard chargers like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole, for whom public life is a shared mission that defines the marital relationship. As Lady Macbeth has been a harsh, sleazy spin on this as a political wife—a trope that seems outdated now that women are usually political stars in their own right.
There are those who seem to be in it for the glamor and attention, like Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was once married to Gavin Newsom and is now married to Donald Trump Jr.
There are people who seem to fall for a man in part because he is important and powerful, for example, Callista Gingrich, who was on her way to becoming Newt Gingrich’s third wife. A multi-year affair With him when he was House Republican whip and later speaker, she was a young congressional staff member.
There are people who are not interested in public life or cut it off but make peace with it, a la Laura Bush.
There are people who refuse to join the circus more than absolutely necessary. See: Melania, Donald Trump’s third wife.
There are people who are not crazy about the idea of life in the political eye but throw themselves into the fray in the name of love or honor. Michelle Obama didn’t hide her disdain for politics, but by God, there was no way she was going to let those haters take Barack Obama down on her watch.
Dr. Biden also seems to fall into this last group. “Jill had nothing to do with politics,” Mr. Biden observes in “Promise to Keep” of their early relationship. And although she hasn’t displayed the same anti-politics edge as Mrs. Obama, Dr. Biden has internalized some harsh political lessons that have shaped his sense of love and loyalty. For instance, she has apparently neither forgotten nor forgiven how Mr. Biden was accused of plagiarizing parts of a speech after he was kicked out of the 1988 presidential race.
“She saw him forced out by the press, the pundits and the polls, and it was a really scarring experience for both of them,” one of her former aides told The Times this week.
More recently, many Democrats in 2020 were convinced that Mr. Biden was a loser and, until late in the primaries, shelved Jazier’s dreams, with more inspirational champions riding to his rescue. The president’s allies like to talk about how he thrives when underestimated by the political establishment and pundits — a theme that has, for obvious reasons, gained energy after the debate. For better or worse, Dr. Biden has learned better than to listen to the experts.
The Biden family believes he asked her to marry him about half a dozen times before she relented. In “Promise to Keep,” he takes the story forward. At some point in 1977, desperate to seal the deal, he offered to leave the Senate if she wanted him, dialing The Wilmington News-Journal’s chief political correspondent to break the news. He hung up before the reporter could answer.
“If I denied you your dream,” she explained later. “I will not marry the man I fell in love with.”
Dr. Biden has seen his spirit through enough blows. He probably knows better than anyone how public service has kept him going through good times and unimaginably awful times. After what the two of them have been through together, she’s not one to take him out of the game for the better. She may not even be the person to question his lasting legacy.
Such abstract arguments seem better suited to someone with a little more emotional distance, someone who can admit and talk frankly about the possibility of his defeat—not because he’s done anything wrong, but because he’s dying. is
The only argument to sideline Mr. Biden as if he could get together with his wife is that staying in the race would destroy her health or well-being. In light of how stressful the presidency is and what he’s clearly already done to it, that seems like an obvious assumption.
But few spouses keep a clear eye on the true toll the time is taking on the love of their life. With many high-level politicians, the job is a big part of what motivates them as they get older. For someone like Mr. Biden, who has spent his entire life chasing this dream, who knows what it will mean to bow out so clearly to the ravages of time? It’s a tough call for any spouse. A good Philly girl too.