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Jill Biden will carry on working as a teacher even as First Lady

Photo credit: JIM WATSON
Photo credit: JIM WATSON

From Harper's BAZAAR

Jill Biden has confirmed that she will continue working as a teacher while serving as First Lady. She is the first person to attempt such a balancing act in such a public-facing role.

Biden, who has a doctorate in educational leadership, will still work at Northern Virginia Community College, where she taught full-time as second lady throughout the Obama administration. “Dr. Biden will keep her teaching at Northern Virginia Community College separate from her public role,” said her spokesman, Michael LaRosa.

Although the position of First Lady as no official duties, there are still public expectations of what the role requires. Whatever Biden decides, she will face a high level of scrutiny from both the media and US voters. It is not known how Biden will manage her teaching duties amid the typically intense security that usually surrounds high-profile political figures.

Biden began her career teaching at Delaware Technical Community College and later earned her doctorate from the University of Delaware in 2007. She is also president of the Biden Breast Health Initiative, a non-profit organisation that provides educational breast health awareness programs free of charge to schools and other groups in the state of Delaware.

Biden hadn't initially wanted husband Joe to run for president, showing her discontent in 2004 by writing 'No' on her stomach and marching around their house in a bikini. She later changed her mind and urged him to try again. When her husband was running for vice-president in 2008, she would work during the week then campaign at the weekends, while marking students' work on the campaign bus. Michelle Obama recalled of her time travelling with Biden that she was always "grading papers".

She has dismissed calls to drop the 'Dr' from her title on the basis that she is not a medical doctor. "Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished," she responded.

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