307. A wonderful “View from the East Wing”
I have always admired Jill Biden for being the first First Lady to hold a job outside the White House while her husband was President. She worked as a professor of English at a college.
Secondly, unlike her predecessors, she never flaunted herself and, throughout, considered herself an ordinary woman leading an extraordinary life.
The former first lady has released her new memoir, View from the East Wing. I wanted to read the book, but Amazon has priced it very high– for a 288-pager, Rs 2142.
The description indicates that Jill recounts her White House experiences in her own words, offering insights into the Biden presidency and its effects on her family. “She takes you behind the scenes—from Camp David to Air Force One, from grading papers in the Rose Garden to witnessing her husband’s sudden reelection bid ending. This story focuses on a woman committed to her roles as wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and First Lady of the United States,” it states.
This is not her first book. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Where the Light Enters and of the children’s books Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops, Joey: The Story of Joe Biden, and Willow the White House Cat. That makes it clear that View from the East Wing is not ghostwritten.
Before that, as First Lady, Jill served as Second Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She championed causes such as women’s health, military families, vaccine awareness, cancer initiatives, and education. She also chairs the Milken Institute’s Women’s Health Network.
Reading some of her interviews made me picture her as a lady who speaks the truth and is apolitical.
For example, on October 21, 2024, Jill acknowledged that her 81-year-old husband, Joe Biden, made “the right call” by stepping down from his re-election campaign, thereby paving the way for Kamala Harris, 60, to run against Donald Trump, 78.
She said, “I’ve had such a great four years. It’s really been the honor of our lives. It’ll be tough to step away, but we’re starting a new chapter, a new journey. It’s time for something new. It was the right call.”
It was not surprising to hear again in a recent interview, when she recalled the immense pressure Joe Biden faced in the aftermath of his disastrous 2024 debate performance, that he told her, “Jilly, I had no choice,” after his decision to drop out of the presidential race.
Biden’s poor debate performance against Donald Trump raised serious concerns among Democrats and prompted calls for him to withdraw from the race. When asked whether she and her husband were surprised by their party’s reaction, she said: “Having people we really considered close friends publicly say really terrible things about Joe... if they talked to us personally, that’s one thing. But going on TV shows, in the press, or sending op-eds – that was really hurtful.”
Regarding the family, particularly her son Hunter Biden, she admitted, “It’s hard for me to say this, but Hunter was a drug addict.” She added, “It was a really hard time for our family to go through. So many families in America deal with addiction. And I’m sorry that I didn’t talk about it a little bit more.”
Joe Biden became President at a complicated moment in US history, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the shadow of the January 6 insurrection. Some of his decisions I didn’t like, such as his decision regarding the war in Ukraine.
He was in a position to stop it, but rather than making a bold decision, he followed EU leaders in supporting it militarily, thereby fueling an already raging war.
After initially stating he would not use his executive authority to pardon his son, he granted his son, Hunter, a “full and unconditional pardon” for his federal gun and tax convictions just before leaving office. He offered no explanation and remained silent.
But Jill Biden has come out openly, saying, “The current president kept saying that he wanted retribution, and he kept pounding it and pounding it,” she said. “So we couldn’t let that happen.”
A frank and valid statement, whether someone likes it or not.
Before Joe Biden became president on January 20, 2021, I bought a book titled “Joe Biden: American Dreamer,” written by Evan Osnos and published by Bloomsbury. In its Prologue, two descriptions made me like this man, and by the time I finished reading the book, I was one of his fans. He was vice president at the time.
I will quote from the book: “A British minister once asked him, in a private meeting, about the protocol for addressing one another. Biden gave a theatrical glance to either side and said, ‘It looks like we’re alone, so why don’t you call me Mr. President and I’ll call you Mr. Prime Minister.’”
Only a man full of life and with a great sense of humor can reply like that.
Another funny yet profoundly important reply he gave to the mother of his first wife, Neilia Hunter, when she asked about his professional goals: He replied, “President,” and added, “of the United States.”
At that time, he was barely out of his teens, and Neilia was his girlfriend, not yet his wife.
I admired his dedication to his goal, which took more than 50 years to achieve. In his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, he said, “Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.”
I was pained to learn that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Jill said in a recent interview that “I think if he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, that’s one thing, because that can be cured, but the fact that it metastasized to his bones, that makes it a whole different story. So, I think Joe will live with cancer 'till the rest of his life.”
While history's judgment of his political career and presidency remains uncertain, Donald Trump’s failures have clearly highlighted that Joe Biden was much better positioned to serve another four years in the White House.
Hope to read Jill Biden’s book soon.