Jill Biden: while the gossip gets insistent on Melania, the first lady arrives in dolce vita. Here is his story
The latest gossip about Melania Trump insinuates that the now former first lady, at the news of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential elections, had already packed her bags, determined to escape from the White House as soon as possible. What is certain is that the new tenant couldn't be more different. Italian-American, teacher, multi-graduate, loving grandmother, smiling wife: Jill Biden could be the first first lady to have a paid job in addition to her official duties.
Sixty-nine years - over forty of which spent with Joe Biden - Jill brings to Washington her decisive attitude, the concrete and slightly bourgeois elegance of those used to work, made of turtlenecks, comfortable boots and pastel coats. The two women in common have only one modeling experience: for Melania it was the golden ticket to the United States. For Jill it was the way to pay for her studies at the English literature faculty, waiting to fulfill her true dream: teaching. A passion that Ms. Biden does not intend to give up even during her four years in the White House. And the press has already nicknamed her "Professor Flotus" or "doctor Flotus", from the acronym of First Lady of United States.
A rightfully given name: Jill Biden, born Jacobs, boasts two degrees - obtained while working and raising a family, the White House website points out - and a PhD in Education, thus specializing in training and teaching. At first she had chosen to study marketing and fashion, but her prospect did not thrill her at all. She decided to try again with the subject that always fascinated her the most, English literature, posing as a model to put aside some savings. Legend has it that one of these shots was noticed by Joe Biden, who was struck by his blue eyes and his smile. It was her brother, Frank Biden, who arranged a blind date between Jill, then a 24-year-old student, and Joe, the man who would become the 46th president of the United States.
At that moment, however, he was a young widower at the beginning of his political ascent. Three years ago, when he had just been elected a Delaware senator, a phone call had changed his life forever: his first wife, Neilia, was going out shopping for Christmas with the children when a tractor hit his Station hard. Wagon, killing her and her daughter Naomi, who was just one year old. His other two sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured: Biden was sworn in from the hospital, and commuted between Washington and Delaware for several months to keep them alone. Meeting Jill in 1975 brought serenity and confidence back to Biden's life after years of pain. "She is the real rock of this family," the newly elected president repeated often. But it wasn't love at first sight. "At the time, I was dating guys in jeans, t-shirts and clogs," Jill Biden told Vogue about their first date. “Then he shows up at the door, with his coat and moccasins. I thought: oh my God, it will never work, not even in a million years ". But something snapped between them: he, nine years older than her and two of her children, took her to the cinema in Philadelphia. She, returning from an unhappy first marriage, returned to her house and phoned her mother: “I met the perfect gentleman”. Two years later, Joe Biden asked her to marry him. Not once, but five times. "I had to be absolutely sure - recalled Jill during an interview with Vogue - those children could not lose another mother". Beau and Hunter were on either side of the altar when Jill and Joe exchange their wedding rings, in a Catholic church in New York, and they were with them on their honeymoon.
Over forty years together: in between there was a daughter, Ashley, her husband's political ascent, her academic career, work in charities, from breast cancer research to supporting military families. When Biden became Barack Obama's vice president in 2008, Jill Biden made a lot of talk about her decision to work at Virginia Community College: she was the first second lady to do so in over two hundred years, and she promised she would do it even if became first lady. Now, twelve years later, Joe Biden's two women will make history: Kamala Harris, the first female vice president, and Jill Biden, the only Flotus to date with a salary (earned outside the White House).
During the election campaign we saw her pull her husband by the jacket - literally - when she got too close to the journalists, to enforce the distancing; we have seen her give speeches from empty classrooms due to the pandemic, we have always seen her attentive beside her, strictly with the mask coordinated with the clothes. Like the black flower embroidered dress that she chose for the evening of the victory: a model by Oscar De La Renta, the same one that dressed Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Regan. When you are the president's wife, even your clothes speak: on the night of the first debate, while her husband dueled on TV with a president who denied climate change, Jill wore an oil green cocktail dress by Gabriela Hearst, an environmentally conscious designer , already used on other occasions: a political message not too subtle. But sometimes the message was much more explicit: in September she was photographed in a purple dress and a pair of black boots with the words "Vote!" in big letters on her calf. A limited edition by Stuart Weitzman that, needless to say, immediately became a cult. Of course, she does not have the impeccable rigor of Melania, the perfect mannequin wrapped in magnolia dresses, in Gucci blouses and in sophisticated military suits. Jill captivated voters with her practical and casual style, with her career woman blazers (which she is), with suede boots instead of high heels (general relief) with bold colors she's not afraid to wear: fuchsia, acid yellow, lilac, fire red.
And while the world waited spasmodically for the votes to be finished, a small Sicilian town crossed its fingers stronger than the others. This is Gesso, a fraction of Messina, from which Gaetano Giacoppa, the grandfather of Jill Biden, departed last century to try his luck overseas. And once he arrived, he first changed his surname to the more English-speaking Jacobs. He wanted to look more American: who knows what he would have said knowing that his niece would one day live in the White House.
