How Jill Biden raised the bar for women worldwide

They say behind every successful man is a bold and committed woman holding the forte even when all the odds are stacked against them. In political leadership, oftentimes it is the men who get all the spotlight for holding some of the highest positions. But, do we ever take a moment to think about the women behind them? Their comforters and the reasons why these leaders, be it presidents, vice presidents or prime ministers are able to maintain sanity in the public eye?

At a recent Girls Conference in Dar es Salaam we got a rare opportunity to hear former First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete tell us a story of how she met her husband, former president of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete. She revealed how the former head of state tried to woo her but was unsuccessful in the beginning because she wanted him to know that she was worth the time and effort.

One of the messages which Salma Kikwete wanted to pass on to women and girls is that these great leaders need a woman who is grounded and with a mental astute that will add merit to their ambitions.

Such traits are personified in Dr Jill Biden, wife of USA President-elect Joe Biden, who has lived under the radar all her life, but has always been the glue that keeps her family together.

Unlike other former US first ladies who tend to leave their careers and lives and assume this new hefty role in politics, Jill Biden decided from early on to lead a different path by maintaining her career as a teacher.

However, just like the presidents of the United States of America tend to get attention from all over the world, the first ladies as well become a buzz. They sort of become an image of what other women in America and all over the world should be. People observe their taste in style, fashion, their etiquettes and other life choices. Their past is dug and their history and everything prior to their current lives are splashed all over the media. Jill Biden, 61, married Joe Biden in 1977 and together they share three children. She has a bachelor’s degree and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware, as well as master’s degrees from West Chester University and Villanova University. She taught English and reading in high schools for 13 years and taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital.

But what is more striking about her life as the better half of a popular political figure in US politics is how she has maintained her own identity. For example, when her husband was chosen as the Vice President by then US President Barack Obama, Jill Biden went into the history books as the first wife of a vice president to hold a paying job while her husband was in office.

She didn’t want to be identified by her husband’s success, and that has remained her position to date.

So, what are some of the lessons that other women married to public political figures can learn from Jill Biden?

Writer Nahida Esmail says, “Jill Biden’s decision to continue to teach as an English professor, while being the first lady, illustrates her willingness to retain her rightful place in the society. Meaning her position is not defined by her husband’s presidency. None of the first ladies who preceded her maintained their full-time careers. It shows the kind of 21st century woman; strong-willed, educated and determined. My hope is that she uses this power to help fight for women rights across the globe without discrimination towards minorities.”

Most first ladies in America tend to surrender their professions so as to support their husbands, a norm that Jill Biden has chosen to put to rest. Jill Biden’s passion for working can be observed throughout her entire life. Even when she married president-elect Joe Bidden, time to time she still worked while raising their three children and supporting Joe in his political career.

Her choosing to balance between work as well as taking a break willingly displays a great image for today’s women who often feel guilty for taking breaks or choosing to stay home. From old times women were shamed for staying home, then women were shamed for working and currently women are shamed for taking breaks, with Jill Bidden in the office and having led such a balanced life there is hope for women to choose a healthy work-life.

Brian Elibahati, an accounts student who is also a political enthusiast states, “Dr Jill Bidden has displayed all the attics of a strong woman, she is not only a wife and a first lady-elect but in her own way her husband’s protector; displaying that anyone who crosses Joe Bidden wrongly will not be left unscathed. While Joe Bidden was giving a speech in Los Angeles and someone intended to interrupt him, Jill did not hesitate to react in a protective way.” He concludes by saying that her ambition, determination, drive and sense of humour was an important piece in the successful run of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States of America.

More about Dr Jill Biden

From 1993 to 2008, Jill Biden was an English and writing instructor at Delaware Technical & Community College. Since 2009, she has been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College. She is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founder of the Book Buddies program, co-founder of the Biden Foundation, is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, and is co-founder of Joining Forces with Michelle Obama.

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By Diana Elinam and Mpoki Thomson