If you're looking for a new couple to stan, then I suggest you turn your attention to the 46th President of the United States and his wife of over four decades. Joe and Jill Biden's relationship timeline is truly a beautiful thing, especially when you consider everything the Bidens have faced. Together they've contended with three presidential campaigns and the death of a son, not to mention the challenges they navigated before they even met. However, the power couple has managed to overcome every roadblock (and look totally in love while doing it).
Just over two years before Jill and Joe met, the new POTUS lost his first wife, Neilia Hunter, in a car accident, along with their one-year-old daughter, Naomi. At the time of the accident, Jill was still married to her fellow University of Delaware classmate Bill Stevenson, though the two ended up separating in 1974 and divorcing the following year. According to his 2007 memoir, Promises to Keep, Joe credits Jill for turning his life around following Neilia and Naomi's deaths. "She gave me back my life," he wrote of Jill. "She made me start to think my family might be whole again." Here's their sweet love story from the very beginning.
In December 1993, Joe and Jill became grandparents for the first time after Hunter welcomed his first daughter, Naomi, who Hunter named after his late sister. The couple has since welcomed six more grandchildren: Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, Robert, and two new additions whose names haven't yet been revealed.
After his ill-fated first presidential run, Joe expressed a desire to run again in the 2004 presidential election — but apparently, Jill put her foot down. In fact, she was so against his running that she interrupted a meeting discussing Joe's potential candidacy with a very strong message. As she explained in Where the Light Enters, "I was sitting at the pool in my swimsuit. My temper got the best of me. I decided I needed to contribute to this conversation. As I walked through the kitchen, a Sharpie caught my eye. I drew NO on my stomach in big letters, and marched through the room in my bikini."
Four years later, Joe decided to run for presidency again, and this time, he had Jill's support. In January 2007, he entered the 2008 presidential race. Not long after, Jill received a doctorate degree in educational leadership, and her husband was there to cheer her on. "I got to hand her the doctorate on the stage at the University of Delaware," Joe proudly told Stephen Colbert during a December 2020 appearance on The Late Show. "She had two master's degrees. She kept going to school all the time while teaching at night."
Though Joe didn't end up winning the 2008 presidential election, he did win the next best thing. In January 2009, Joe became the 47th Vice President of the United States, and Jill became the only known second lady to have a full-time, paying job. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jill continued to teach full-time throughout Joe's eight-year term as VP.
On May 30, 2015, tragedy struck when Beau passed away from brain cancer. Jill spoke about the experience during her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech. "After our son, Beau, died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again. It was summer, but there was no warmth left for me," she said, per Harper's Bazaar. "Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back, and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That's just who he is."
In 2019, Joe launched his third presidential election, and apparently, the third time is the charm. Joe was elected president, and after taking the Oath of Office on Jan. 20, 2021, Joe and Jill officially became the 46th President and first lady of the United States.
I can't wait to watch these two thrive in the White House.