For decades, Dr. Jill Biden, the new First Lady of the United States, has been at President Joe Biden’s side. Joe Biden and Jill Biden have an enduring love story. She stepped into his life after he suffered after great tragedy when his first wife died in a car crash along with his infant daughter.
On January 20, 2021, Biden was sworn in as the nation’s 46th president. At his side was Jill, who wore a teal-colored jacket. You can see photos of Jill’s first inauguration day outfit, a coat, throughout this article.
According to People Magazine, the outfit was by the Markarian label. You can see the website for the designer here. The designer is an American designer named Alexandra O’Neill.
“The color blue was chosen for the pieces to signify trust, confidence, and stability,” the fashion house said, according to People. “The look was carefully crafted by a small team in the heart of New York City’s Garment Center and hand finished by O’Neill in her West Village studio.” According to People, the look includes “tapered tea-length dress features a chiffon bodice and a neckline hand-embellished with Swarovski pearls and crystals.”
Joe and Jill married on June 17, 1977 at the United Nations chapel in New York City. Jill is an educator who has highlighted teaching as a profession and continues to serve in that role. When she married Biden, Jill became the mother to his two sons with wife Neilia. The couple had daughter Ashley together.
GettyBidens at the inauguration.
Jill wrote on Instagram, “Growing up, I wanted two things: a marriage like my parents’—strong, loving, and full of laughter—and a career. And I found both and more with Joe, as a Biden.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Biden Says Jill ‘Gave Me Back My Life’
GettyDoug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Jill Biden and President-elect Joe Biden wave as they arrive on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol for the inauguration on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today’s inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States.
Joe Biden hasn’t minced words when discussing the importance of Jill in his life.
“She gave me back my life,” Joe Biden said in his 2007 book Promises to Keep. “She made me start to think my family might be whole again.”
How did they meet?
According to Vogue Magazine, Jill Biden was doing some modeling here or there in Wilmington. “Joe Biden saw her picture in an advertisement posted on a bus shelter and was smitten,” the magazine reports.
In this photo, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden dance during the Public Inaugural Ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC.
He managed to get Jill’s unlisted number through his brother, Frankie. “I was a senior, and I had been dating guys in jeans and clogs and T-shirts,” Jill told Vogue. “And he came to the door and he had on a sport coat and loafers, and I thought, God, this is never going to work, not in a million years. He was nine years older than I am!”
They went to see a movie called A Man and a Woman in Philadelphia, the magazine reports, and they “hit it off.” He shook her hand at the end of the night, which led her to dub him a “gentleman,” and that was the start of it all.
Jill Biden wrote an article for Time Magazine in which she described the moment Joe Biden proposed to her.
“The first time Joe proposed, he simply said, ‘I want us to get married.'” she wrote. “It wasn’t a big deal — just an ordinary conversation on an ordinary day. I already knew how he felt, so it didn’t come as a surprise. I also knew I couldn’t say yes.”
However, both Hunter and Beau wanted Joe to marry Jill too. “But unbeknownst to me, Joe wasn’t just asking on his own accord. Beau and Hunter had recently cornered him in the bathroom one morning while he was shaving. ‘Beau thinks we should get married,'” she wrote. “‘We think we should marry Jill.'”
Jill Biden ‘Couldn’t Say Yes’ the First Time Joe Proposed
GettyJill and Joe Biden
Jill wrote recently on Instagram, “I’ve had many titles over the years, but my forever favorite is “Mom.” Beau and Hunt—the boys who made me their mother. And Ashley—the daughter who completed our family.”
However, it didn’t always seem so certain.
Joe Biden had to ask Jill five times to marry him; her initial hesitance was something she told Vogue was because of her age (25) and because she wanted to be certain for his children. Jill had already been married once before to a man named Bill Stevenson, and that marriage had ended in divorce.
“She was just starting her own career,” Biden wrote in his book. “I think it was easier for her in the beginning of our courtship when I wasn’t thinking about marriage. We both just liked having fun with somebody again, and she wanted to keep it that way.”
Eventually, he told her, “Look, this is the last time I’m asking you. I don’t care when we get married. But I want a commitment,” Vogue reported. Realizing he was serious this time, she said yes.
When they did marry, Joe’s sons Hunter and Beau stood at the altar with their dad. “The way they thought of it, the four of us were getting married,” Joe recalled in his book.
READ NEXT: Biden’s Heartbreaking Words About Son Beau.