- Dr. Jill Biden headlined night two of the Democratic National Convention.
- Biden delivered a speech from the Delaware classroom where she taught English in the 1990s, making the case that her husband could unify a divided, hurting nation.
- "How do you make a broken family whole? ... The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding—and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith," Biden said.
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"This quiet is heavy," Dr. Jill Biden said from an empty Delaware classroom on Tuesday night.
Biden headlined the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, delivering a speech from the Wilmington, Delaware, classroom where she taught English in the early 1990s.
Speaking from Room 232 of Brandywine High School, Biden portrayed her husband, former Vice President Joe Biden, as a leader who can unify the country amid multiple crises.
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Biden spoke of the personal tragedies her husband has overcome as she made the case for why the former vice president should be the next commander-in-chief.
"How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding—and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith," Biden said.
—Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) August 19, 2020
At just 29 years old, Joe Biden became one of the youngest people ever elected to the Senate. He would go on to represent Delaware for 36 years before becoming the 47th vice president.
But not long after he was elected to the Senate, Joe Biden's wife and 1-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident that also injured his two young sons. Decades later, Joe Biden's son, Beau, passed away from brain cancer.
"There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did it—how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But I've always understood why he did it ... He does it for you," Biden said of her husband.
She also addressed the elephant in the room, COVID-19, which led this year's Democratic convention to be held virtually and has placed strains on school systems across the US: "You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways. There's no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors. The rooms are dark and the bright young faces that should fill them are confined to boxes on a computer screen."
—Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) August 18, 2020
Biden, who holds a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware, taught English at Northern Virginia Community College during the eight years she was second lady.
She recently said she hopes to continue teaching if the former vice president wins the election and she becomes first lady.
The former second lady took a leave of absence from her teaching career over the past year while campaigning for her husband.
