Dr. Jill Biden: The Hardest Moments No One Saw (The Untold Story of the White House Years)

**Jill Biden** (0:00)
I said to Joe, you know, we've given him everything, Joe, everything. Why would he turn to drugs? His daughters kept, where's daddy? Where's daddy? Have you heard from daddy? We didn't know where he was or how to find him.

**Jay Shetty** (0:13)
On one side, you have the grief of Beau and then dealing with the public scrutiny, especially around Hunter.

**Jill Biden** (0:18)
I didn't believe Beau was gonna die. I think once we went through that, no matter how mean it got or cruel, it was like, buddy, you can't touch us.

**Jay Shetty** (0:32)
Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. My guest today is Dr. Jill Biden, an educator, author, former First Lady of the United States, and someone who has dedicated her life to teaching. Today, we talk about family, resilience, and the lessons she's learned through some of the life's biggest transitions.
Jill Biden, welcome to On Purpose.

**Jill Biden** (0:55)
Thank you.

**Jay Shetty** (0:56)
Thanks, Jay. It's such a joy to see you again. We saw each other-

**Jill Biden** (0:59)
Yeah, about a month ago, right?

**Jay Shetty** (1:00)
About a month ago at History Talks-

**Jill Biden** (1:02)
In Philly.

**Jay Shetty** (1:03)
Absolutely. I had the honor of interviewing you and President Biden.
I've been fortunate enough to have so many interactions with your family, who've been so extremely generous and kind to me in so many ways. So I'm really, really appreciate it.

**Jill Biden** (1:15)
Well, they feel the same way about you.

**Jay Shetty** (1:17)
It's rare that you get to interview someone and then get to interview their wife, and then get to ask them questions about each other.

**Jill Biden** (1:23)
And then all the grandkids and everybody else.

**Jay Shetty** (1:25)
Yeah, but I keep bumping in to it everywhere around the world.

**Jill Biden** (1:27)
All the Bidens.

**Jay Shetty** (1:27)
It's pretty special. And I have to wish you a happy belated birthday.

**Jill Biden** (1:30)
Thank you.

**Jay Shetty** (1:31)
And you're obviously celebrating with your book launch.

**Jill Biden** (1:33)
Actually, the second day of my book launch, yeah.

**Jay Shetty** (1:35)
So you didn't get to really celebrate.

**Jill Biden** (1:37)
Oh no, I had five cakes. I mean, now I'm on my celery diet.

**Jay Shetty** (1:42)
Five cakes?

**Jill Biden** (1:43)
Yeah, five cakes. Everywhere I went, everybody gave me a birthday cake.

**Jay Shetty** (1:47)
Oh, that's so sweet.

**Jill Biden** (1:47)
It was really nice. And so if somebody makes you a birthday cake special, you have to eat it. You just can't say, oh no, I'm watching my calories. You have to eat the cake. So five cakes.

**Jay Shetty** (1:56)
Five cakes, that's impressive.
I was thinking about this. You've lived an extraordinary life.

**Jill Biden** (2:01)
I have.

**Jay Shetty** (2:02)
When we read this book, you can't help but think how does one person experience all of this?
And how does one person even have the capacity to navigate all of this? And I was thinking that if you were to look at your life, looking forward from age 20, and you were to reflect on what's happened, what would that version of you think? What would that version of you anticipate or be able to see?

**Jill Biden** (2:28)
I never could have foreseen any of it. Not any of it. Because if you think of where I was at age 20, I was at the University of Delaware. I was studying English.
I was actually married. I got married. I went to college. I met someone freshman year, fell in love and got married. It was this great romantic vision, oh, we'll go to college together. We'll take classes together, which we did start out doing. The marriage went on for about five years and we really grew apart. It was the best thing because it sent me on this new trajectory. I met Joe when I was a senior at the University of Delaware. He called me. It's a funny story. I was at home in my apartment and it was Saturday, and I get this phone call and he said, Jill, this is Joe Biden. Well, I knew who he was, but we hadn't really spent any time together. I think I shook his hand at one event one time.
He said, are you free tonight? I said, well, no, I have a date. He said, do you think you could break the date?
I said, I don't know. Call me back in an hour. So I broke the date and we went out and so like I said, I was a senior at the University of Delaware. All the guys I dated had long hair, bell bottoms, clogs, tie-dye shirts. So he comes to the door and I opened the door and I took one look at his perfect suit and his leather loafers, and I thought, thank God, this is only one date. Because he was just so different from anyone I had gone out with. He was 10 years older. I knew he had two children because he lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident. So we went out on the date to Philadelphia. We went out to the movies and for dinner afterwards. I really had no intention of going out with him again. I was just curious. But we came home and I remember I lived in this townhouse. We went to the door and it was this time where it was like this revolution where men were more forward. They felt like you owed them something at the end of the date. He stuck out his hand and he said, I'd like to see you again. No kiss, no groping, nothing.