Vice President Joe Biden often joked on the campaign trail abouthis wife's lofty educational achievements. She had two master'sdegrees and had already worked for nearly a quarter century as acommunity college instructor. But he had a better idea.
"Why don't you go out and get a doctorate and make us some realmoney?" he said he told her. (That was always good for a laugh,especially in university towns.)
In 2007, at age 55, Jill Biden did earn a doctorate - ineducation, from the University of Delaware. Since then, in campaignnews releases and now in official White House announcements, theprefix "Dr." is used before her name. This strikes some people asperfectly appropriate and others as slightly pompous, a qualityoften ascribed to her voluble husband.
Last week, the White House announced that Jill Biden has returnedto the classroom - believed by some who study the presidency andvice presidency to be a historical first. Biden is teaching twocourses at Northern Virginia Community College, the second-largestcommunity college in the U.S. She began teaching before theinauguration; the announcement was delayed out of respect for thatevent.
"She's just really excited to be back in the classroom," said herspokeswoman, Courtney O'Donnell. "Teaching is such a huge passionand a joy for her."
Some second ladies, as vice presidents' wives are called, areaccomplished professionals. Marilyn Quayle is a lawyer, but she didnot practice while her husband, Dan, was in office. Lynne Cheney,Biden's immediate predecessor, is a novelist who earned a Ph.D. inEnglish with a dissertation titled "Matthew Arnold's PossiblePerfection: A Study of the Kantian Strain in Arnold's Poetry." Shegoes by Mrs. Cheney.
But Biden is believed to be the first second lady to work for aliving while her husband holds office.
"I think she is unique," said Joel Goldstein, a professor at St.Louis University School of Law and an expert on the vice presidency.Other second ladies - Cheney, Quayle, Tipper Gore and Joan Mondale -wrote, lectured or did important volunteer work.
"But I think Dr. Biden is the first that I was aware of tobasically continue in the regular workforce," said Goldstein.
Biden, on the trail, explained that his wife's desire for thehighest degree was in response to what she perceived as her second-class status on their mail.
"She said, 'I was so sick of the mail coming to Sen. and Mrs.Biden, I wanted to get mail addressed to Doctor and Senator Biden.'That's the real reason she got her doctorate."
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