The response was scathing: their The future? Is this really about them?
In fairness, the cover line also appeared in a fawning Vogue profile, taken from a speech about women’s empowerment.
But the First Lady’s statement to the magazine after Biden’s disastrous debate performance was no more reassuring: She stressed that the president would “always do what’s best for the country,” but defiantly declared, “I’m not going to let these 90 minutes define my four years as president. We’re going to keep fighting.”
What’s best for the country is not for the Biden family to continue fighting that fight, at least not in the way they have so far.
If the president decides to continue running, he will have to become a very different type of candidate — and a very different type of president. He will have to shed the protective shrink-wrap he’s been encasing himself in and step further from behind the teleprompter. Above all, what this moment demands is complete candor about whether this 81-year-old man can handle another four years in the toughest job on earth.
No one knows the truth about the president’s condition better than his wife; she is, by all accounts, his closest confidant. But the president’s tendency to turn to the advice of his own family will not serve him or the nation well. Nor will the palace guards’ declaration that what the public saw last Thursday was just “a bad night.”
Let’s hope the couple’s conversation is more honest than the embarrassing, childish performance Jill Biden put on when she took the stage at the post-debate viewing party. “Joe, you did a great job!” Jill said. “You answered all the questions! You had all the facts!” She’ll need to curb the reflexes that led her to shove a heckler off the stage at one of her husband’s campaign events in 2020.
I respect Jill Biden and have long believed that the First Lady is the most underappreciated and underutilized asset in the White House.
She was the first presidential spouse to insist on continuing to pursue her career while living in the White House, and after showing the courage to earn a PhD in education at age 55, she now teaches English at a community college. The position provides her with a connection to the real world of people struggling to succeed in ways few can comprehend in the stilted surroundings of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. She has also taken up the cause of military families, including spouses frustrated by limited career options in a life that requires them to relocate every few years.
Then there’s the personal story of how she saved a family of a father and two sons that had fallen apart after losing his wife, mother, young daughter and sister.
“I never imagined that at 26 years old, I’d be asking myself how to put my broken family back together,” she said during her speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention in 2020. “And yet Joe would always tell his sons, ‘Mommy sent Jill to us.’ How could I argue with Mommy? So together we found a solution.”
If the president and his wife decide now that he should stay in the race, Jill Biden must work to ensure the president performs to the best of his ability. Even if the president is asked to appear in unscripted scenes more frequently, Jill must contend with schedulers and political insiders who insist that the president be everywhere at once. Jill must ensure that the president gets rest when he needs it. Jill must take on the role of an internal executive, a la Nancy Reagan.
And if they decide it’s time to bring an end to his half-century in office, Jill Biden will again be called upon to demonstrate strength and tenacity to save himself, his party and the country from future chaos.
Sure, there’s no written job description for “first lady.” Each has had to figure it out for themselves. But few have experienced the kind of trying moments Jill Biden now faces. And that line on the Vogue cover is true: The Bidens will indeed determine their own future, and the future of all of us.
