First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday called her role both powerful and intimidating at times, as she reflected on her months in the White House so far and her travel to dozens of states to promote vaccines, education and other issues, including to parts of the country that aren’t as receptive to the spouse of a Democratic president.
She spoke partly in honor of the late Barbara Bush, whose foundation held the national literacy summit where Dr. Biden was the keynote speaker Wednesday.
“There’s nothing that can prepare you to be First Lady,” Dr. Biden said. “We aren’t elected. We have to define this role for ourselves. And we are thrust into the national spotlight in a way I know none of us could have anticipated.”
Dr. Biden then told the story of something that happened in her first month in the White House:
“I went to a bakery to buy Valentine’s Day cupcakes, and the fact that I wore my hair up in a scrunchie made national news. Can you believe that?” she laughed. “As first lady, everything you say or do carries more weight. And while that can be intimidating at times, it’s also what makes this role special.”
Dr. Biden explained why she had traveled to so many parts of the U.S. already — 32 states in total including Alabama, Mississippi and Alaska, she mentioned — especially to talk to people who will never agree with her.
“The answer is that I’m their first lady, too,” she said. “I’ve seen how a kind word or gesture can relax someone’s shoulders just a bit, can open their heart to what you have to say, even if we’ll never agree.”
That message, she said, is one partly inspired by Barbara Bush, who made literacy her top priority in the years before and while she was in the White House, which led to her husband, President George H.W. Bush, signing the National Literacy Act in 1991. The bill boosted adult literacy programs, which the first lady saw as a critical issue at the root of others, such as poverty.
“Thousands of Americans wrote to Mrs. Bush, asking how they could help her literacy efforts,” Dr. Biden said at the National Summit on Adult Literacy Wednesday. “And she would write back saying, ‘Go out and help a neighbor who needs help, then you’ll be a part of my program.’”
Herself an English teacher, the first lady said Wednesday that she knows firsthand not only the power of reading but also of learning from those who are different from you and reaching out, even in small ways.
“When our neighbor is sick, we don’t ask who they voted for—we just bring over soup,” she said. “We all have a role to play. And the more kindness we give, the more is reflected back on us.”