{"id":1516213,"date":"2021-11-17T12:02:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T04:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=1516213"},"modified":"2021-11-17T12:02:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T04:02:10","slug":"in-her-quiet-way-jill-biden-reinvents-role-of-us-first-lady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/1516213\/in-her-quiet-way-jill-biden-reinvents-role-of-us-first-lady","title":{"rendered":"In her quiet way, Jill Biden reinvents role of US first lady"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden delivers remarks at the 2021 Tribal Nations Summit at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on November 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. AFP<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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WASHINGTON — Jill Biden promotes Covid vaccines and takes part in political rallies — but only when her college professor schedule allows.<\/div>\n
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In her quiet way, Jill Biden is reinventing the traditional role of the First Lady of the United States.<\/div>\n
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Attending a former governor’s funeral last week, President Joe Biden had to apologize for his wife’s absence.<\/div>\n
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“The reason Jill is not with me today is she’s teaching today, fulltime as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College,” the president said.<\/div>\n
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The announcement in September that the first lady was resuming face-to-face instruction<\/a> at her college made headlines in the American press.<\/div>\n
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Never before had a presidential spouse had a professional career outside the White House.<\/div>\n
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Jill Biden, now 70, married Joe Biden in 1977, when he was a widowed senator with two young boys. The couple later had a daughter together.<\/div>\n
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A member of the national teachers’ union with a doctorate degree in education, Jill Biden continued teaching while her husband served as vice president under Barack Obama.<\/div>\n
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Like most educators in the United States, she taught remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, before returning to in-person instruction this fall. She now teaches English and writing two days a week.<\/div>\n
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When she is not in the classroom, the slim, blond-haired Biden can be seen by the president’s side at private and public events, but also, more and more often, alone on stage.<\/div>\n
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Vaccination<\/h2>\n
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The first lady is traveling around the country urging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and — ever since vaccines were approved for teenagers and younger kids — to also immunize their children.<\/div>\n
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She has also campaigned in support of a Democratic candidate in a local election, attended the Tokyo Olympics and was seen in a cafe with Brigitte Macron, the French president’s wife, as Washington was caught in a diplomatic crisis with Paris.<\/div>\n
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“She certainly has been sort of picking up the pace of her public appearances lately,” said Tammy Vigil, associate professor of media science at Boston University’s College of Communication.<\/div>\n
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“In the modern era, it’s extremely expected of first ladies that they become more and more publicly active.”<\/div>\n
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Jackie Kennedy sought to preserve America’s cultural heritage and famously redecorated the White House. Nancy Reagan campaigned against drug use. And Michelle Obama launched a major movement promoting healthy eating and exercise among American children.<\/div>\n
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By contrast, Michelle Obama’s successor Melania Trump “got into a lot of trouble because she wasn’t as active as she should be in terms of public service,” Vigil said.<\/div>\n
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Unlike Michelle Obama, who faced openly racist and sexist attacks, Jill Biden has so far been largely spared aggression — even in today’s tense political climate.<\/div>\n
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That said, she still came under considerable scrutiny.<\/div>\n
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Earlier this year CNN published a column on its website urging her to exhibit more “restraint” in her fashion choices, after she was seen wearing a black leather skirt and patterned black tights.<\/div>\n
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“It’s part of her high-profile, first lady job to look dignified. And gracious,” psychologist Peggy Drexler opined in the piece.<\/div>\n
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And in late 2020, the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece, calling into question Biden’s academic credentials.<\/div>\n
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“Any chance you might drop the “Dr.” before your name?” the columnist asked. “Dr. Jill Biden” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.”<\/div>\n
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The piece caused a public uproar for its message and \u00a0condescending tone.<\/div>\n
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“The First Ladyship has been behind the times as far as representing what American women do and how they really live,” said Vigil, the Boston University professor.<\/div>\n
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But while Biden pushes the boundaries of her role, she also tries to tread a careful line, mindful that the US first lady is not an elected official and does not possess official powers or duties.<\/div>\n
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She does not openly meddle in politics, although some commentators see her as the inspiration behind Joe Biden’s short-lived initiative to offer two years of free community college to young Americans.<\/div>\n
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In her day, Hillary Clinton faced sharp criticism for being too active in promoting health care reforms while her husband was president.<\/div>\n
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If the family life of a US president and the role of first lady are still subject to “conservative” views in America, Vigil said that other members of Biden’s administration are pushing the boundaries in different ways.<\/div>\n
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Among them is Vice President Kamala Harris, whose spouse Doug Emhoff is the first-ever “Second Gentleman” of the United States. There is also Transportation Secretary Pete Buttitieg, who happily talks about the infant twins he has with his husband.<\/div>\n
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WASHINGTON — Jill Biden promotes Covid vaccines and takes part in political rallies — but only when her college professor schedule allows. In her quiet way, Jill Biden is reinventing the traditional role of the First Lady of the United States. Attending a former governor’s funeral last week, President Joe Biden had to apologize for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":1516218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,43],"tags":[712628,52,252],"byline":[],"source":[206065],"column":[],"editor":[171053],"videographer":[],"position":[],"class_list":["post-1516213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-stories","category-world-latest-stories","tag-jill-biden","tag-politics","tag-women","source-agence-france-presse","editor-don-lejano"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn her quiet way, Jill Biden reinvents role of US first lady | Inquirer 黑料社<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jill Biden promotes Covid vaccines and takes part in political rallies -- but only when her college professor schedule allows.\" \/>\n<meta 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