Jill Biden (left), Barbara Bush.Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty; Cynthia Johnson/Getty
While “nothing” can prepare someone to take on the duties of first lady, it helps to have good role models,Jill Bidensaid this week.
Dr. Biden, 70, reflected on one first lady in particular whom she hopes to emulate in her own role:Barbara Bush.
In remarks delivered at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy’s National Summit on Adult Literacy held Wednesday, Biden said Bush “was able to use her role to change lives for decades to come.”
“Mrs. Bush reminded us that we all have a role to play as we make our communities better and stronger. And she brought Americans from all walks of life together to do just that,” Biden — aprofessor of English at Northern Virginia Community College— continued. “I hope to do the same.”
Biden then spoke about her own teenage years “growing up the oldest of five girls” and spending summers “watching Phillies baseball games and waitressing at the Jersey Shore to make money for college.”
Noting that had previously spent time at the White House when her husband,Joe Biden, served as vice president, Dr. Biden said that, still, “there’s nothing that can prepare you to be first lady.”
Bush, who died in 2018 at 92, “understood the incredible power of this platform” and invited even those with differences to see her perspective, Dr. Biden said.
She offered one example of Bush’s willingness to reach across divides: a commencement speech the then-first lady gave at Wellesley College in 1990, delivered against a backdrop of controversy at the prestigious women’s college.
While students had petitioned against her appearance, Bush (who was asked to deliver the speech after the graduating class' first choice of speaker, author Alice Walker, declined) opted to move forward with the appearance.Calling Bush’s speech “funny and self-deprecating,” Dr. Biden noted Wednesday that one line, in particular, brought the house down.
Barbara Bush (left) and Raisa Gorbachev in June 1990.REX/Shutterstock
As Dr. Biden said in her own speech this week, “There are times when the role of first lady pushes you to show up, even when it’s uncomfortable — when it calls you to rise to the needs of a moment. There have been times when I’m met with anger or hurt. But I’ve also found that the common values that unite us are deeper than our divisions.”
She continued: “We can change the world in big ways and small ones. And Mrs. Bush reminded us that we need both.”
source: people.com
