Joe, Jill, Hunter, And Ashley Biden—Get To Know America's New First Family!
They're the new First Family moving into the White House! Read about President-elect Joe Biden's family history
One of the many things that propelled President-elect Joe Biden to victory was the fact that he's a family man, and a working class family man, at that. With this, Americans across the country saw themselves and their own family histories mirrored back; to them, he's a president who knew exactly their woes and worries, a leader who could push policies and back legislation that benefitted the regular John and Jane.
President-elect Joe Biden wasn't born into privilege; he was born in pre-wartime America, grew up at a time when the family business was in steady decline, lived with grandparents when his parents couldn't afford their own home, and relied on his own scrappiness and hard work to get into law school, and eventually, his foray into politics as a senator at 30 years old.
And everyday for many years, he would go on a 2.5 hour-long commute via train to and from work. It was just more economical to take public transportation.
President-elect Joe Biden's kids Hunter, Beau, and Ashley, and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, all share the same sentiments about keeping things low-key and working towards bigger and better things other than material comforts and wealth. Collectively, the Biden family gives the world much reason to want to get to know them better.
Without further ado, we introduce each of the Biden family members to you, all of whom have great stories behind their names.
First Lady Jill Biden
Jill Jacobs-Biden has been married to Joe since 1977. They've celebrated more than 40 wedding anniversaries together, and their relationship is #goals in a lot of ways.
She's always been supportive of his political career that began years before they met; but at the same time, Joe makes sure to devote just as much to her and the kids as he does with work, to fulfill his side of the bargain. (Remember his 2.5 hour-long commute? It was apparently faster to take the train than to drive. He made it a point to get home as quickly as possible to make it in time for dinner and tuck his children in bed).
Outside of their marriage, Jill is her own woman. She currently teaches in college and loves her career as an educator; she doesn't just hold a Bachelor's degree in English, but also two Master's Degrees, and a Doctorate, too! She'll even be the first-ever First Lady to hold a full-time job. She's been quoted for saying "I can have it all," in reference to being a fulfilled wife and mom, working on her own interests and passions as an individual, and most recently, taking on her newest responsibility as being the nation's FLOTUS.
Oh, and at 69 years old, do you know that she runs almost every day and does weight training, too?
As the incoming First Lady, she hopes to further champion her advocacies in education, helping military families, and supporting cancer-focused medical initiatives.
Hunter Biden
Outgoing President Donald Trump found a target in Hunter and believed he could discredit the Biden campaign because of him. Hunter was seen as "easy prey;" Hunter was a drug addict, and his addiction caused him his career as a military man. He tested positive for cocaine use and was discharged from the service in 2014—when Joe Biden was still serving as vice president under the Obama administration.
Hunter turned 50 years old this year and has picked up from where he left off, pre-military. He's doing well as an investment lawyer and businessman, and is even a dad of three. He's healthy now, very much sober and a productive member of society. But the beauty in this story isn't only that Hunter recovered. It's that his proud dad Joe never kept this family experience as a secret as if it was something to be ashamed of—a blemish in his bid for the presidency.
In several of his interviews and campaign speeches, Joe spoke openly about the challenges of getting Hunter to go to, and stay in, rehab. Hunter made it to the headlines in 2016 when he very publicly relapsed, and the Trump administration and supporters feasted on the incident.
Rather than treat this as a skeleton in the closet, Joe framed it as a modern-day success story for a 21st century American family. Hunter is Joe's son with his first wife, Neilia Hunter, who died in a car accident in 1972 with their infant daughter, Naomi; they had another son, Beau, who passed away in 2015.
Ashley Biden
As the youngest Biden, she's also the most private about her life, but whose passions in life mirror that of her parents most closely.
She didn't go down the path of law school like her dad and older half-brothers; instead, she focused on learning about social work and discovering how she could be of help to some of the most underserved communities of the country. Her first jobs included working at a mental health center, a juvenile detention facility, and foster care homes, and she went on to become a staunch advocate for criminal justice reform.
She would explore other interests later on; it would be the death of her brother Beau that prompted her to found her own ethical clothing brand called Livelihood, an initiative she uses to raise awareness on and address the issue of income inequality brought on by racial discrimination. Public service was always something she wanted to be a part of, she has explained, albeit not as a politician.
Don't expect to find much of her online, either. She keeps her social media presence "official business only," as she truly prefers to let her work speak for itself and keep her personal life private as much as possible.
Now 39 years old, Ashley has been married for seven years. Ashley is Joe and Jill Biden's only biological child.
Beau Biden
Beau would never grow up to see his father assume the highest political position in the land. Like his brother, he was a soldier, but he passed away in 2015 at age 46—not from an injury from battle, but from brain cancer. His death is one of the reasons why Jill Biden became so passionate about supporting cancer research as well as detection, treatment, and care for patients.
He was a lawyer (Delaware's Attorney General, in fact) before joining the military exactly like his big brother Hunter. He was married for 13 years and had two kids before he passed away.
But one of the better known stories about Beau was from his childhood; he survived the car accident that killed his mom and his infant sister, and left him and Hunter in critical condition when they were mere three and four-year-old. The accident left him bedridden for days, and his time at the hospital coincided with Joe being sworn into office as a senator. Instead of choosing which was more important to him—beginning his political career or being with his child at a time he needed his father most—Joe managed to do both.
Joe was sworn in at Beau's bedside, with the podium to the hospital and the media having to cram into the hospital room.
Neilia Hunter and Naomi Biden
Joe Biden was married to another woman before he met Jill in the 70s.
He didn't get divorced; his first wife, Neilia Hunter, died in a car accident when she was 30 years old. It was the same accident that left Hunter and Beau injured and in critical condition. The second tragedy to befall Joe in this accident was that he also lost his one-year-old daughter, Naomi.
The family was on their way to buy a Christmas tree when their car was slammed by a trailer truck, resulting in a massive vehicular crash.
Joe was left with an indescribable weight in his heart, but it was his close relationships with his boys that ultimately helped him see things through and heal. Experiencing the power of close family bonds himself, this tragic time in his life proved to be one of the most transformative. It's what made him a "family first" man, and it would shape what would be important to him as a boss, a senator, a vice-president and eventually, the president of the United States.
Photos from @drbiden
