The first lady opened up about her marriage, her mission to end the childcare crisis and how she manages her whirlwind schedule.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is getting candid about her marriage to Joe Biden, what she's learned from her divorce, and more. In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Dr. Biden, who covers the magazine's June/July Freedom Issue -- the publication's first cover featuring a first lady in its 155-year history -- shared how her past has informed her future and the funny way she fights with the President.
In an effort to avoid fighting in front of the Secret Service, the couple coined the term "fexting" or fighting over text -- something they came up with during Barack Obama's time in the White House.
"Joe said, 'You realize that’s going to go down in history. There will be a record of that.'" Dr. Biden said with a grin, recalling a time when she typed out a message to him in a moment of anger. "I won’t tell you what I called him that time."
Despite the occasional marital squabble, Dr. Biden is a staunch supporter of her husband, telling Harper's Bazaar, "I try to be a support for Joe, because I don’t know how many people are saying to him, 'That was great. That was brilliant.' I try to be that person for him."
She continued, "Some days, I see Joe and I’m just like, 'I don’t know how you’re doing it.' It’s the pandemic and then it’s the war and then it’s the economy and then it’s the gas prices. You feel like you’re being slammed."
Their long-lasting marriage and the love the pair shares is much different from what Dr. Biden said she experienced during her first marriage -- the first lady was married to Bill Stevenson from 1970 to 1975 before tying the knot with the president in 1977.
"I believed so much in the institution of marriage," Dr. Biden shared. "When the marriage fell apart, I fell hard because of that. And for him to turn out to be who he was …"
She told the outlet that her divorce taught her to be independent -- something the English teacher has drilled into her daughters and granddaughters.
"I knew I would never, ever put myself in that position again—where I didn’t feel like I had the finances to be on my own, that I had to get the money through a divorce settlement," she said. "I drummed that into [my daughter], Ashley: Be independent, be independent. And my granddaughters—you have to be able to stand on your own two feet."
Adding, "I understand a woman’s need to have something for herself."
That independent spirit has pushed her to do it all, with Dr. Biden continuing to teach three classes a week, while managing her affairs at the White House and fitting time in for her big and growing family. But, it's nothing new for the first lady, who admitted to the outlet that she "loves to work."
"Even as a Senate spouse, I was working, going to grad school, doing campaign events, raising kids," she recalled. "The pace is intense but not new. “Showing up matters," she explains. "That’s the feeling I get. You’re exhausted. You just do it."
Still, Dr. Biden, said she finds personal time where she can, telling the magazine that she takes barre classes, grades exams before bed and has dinner with her husband whenever time allows. She also makes sure to cherish the small bits of alone time she does have, setting her alarm for sunrise to take in early mornings at the White House.
"The first thing I do is open the blinds and look out," she said.
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