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Jill Biden
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Jill Biden was born Jill Tracy Jacobs on June 3, 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey, and grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Delaware, earning a bachelor’s degree in English in 1975, and later pursued two master’s degrees, one in education from West Chester University and another in English from Villanova University. She married Joe Biden in 1977, becoming stepmother to his two sons, Beau and Hunter, from his first marriage. Together, they have one daughter, Ashley, born in 1981. Jill balanced her career as an educator with her family life, even as Joe’s political career advanced. She continued teaching throughout her time as the Second Lady during Joe Biden’s vice presidency from 2009 to 2017, earning a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007. Dr. Biden has been a strong advocate for education, military families, and cancer research, drawing from personal experience with loss, especially after the death of her stepson Beau Biden in 2015 from brain cancer. When Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, Jill became the First Lady of the United States in January 2021. As First Lady, she continued to break new ground by maintaining her teaching career, becoming the first to hold a full-time job outside the White House while serving in the role. Her initiatives focus on education, supporting military families, and advocating for free community college and other educational opportunities.
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