OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
A new book discusses how Jill Biden asserted control over her husband’s medical care after his brain aneurysms in 1988, establishing herself as a decision maker in the family.
The book portrays her as a force within the Biden family, with a pivotal moment where she demanded involvement in medical decisions, leading to her feeling like a full-fledged member of the family.
“She was exhausted. In the hospital, as she watched Joe’s mother, sister, and brothers debate the best path forward for Joe’s treatment, something in her broke,” author Katie Rogers wrote in “American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden.”
“‘Wait a minute!’ she yelled at the group. ‘He’s my husband. I should be making the decision here,’” the book reads.
Rogers wrote, “The Bidens were stunned, until Joe’s mother eventually agreed: ‘She’s right,’ Jean Biden told the group, settling the matter. That was the moment, as Jill has recounted, that she felt she had become a full-fledged Biden.”
The book also highlights Joe Biden’s health scare and the concerns about his cognitive functions.
Jill Biden’s role as a powerful figure in the Biden inner circle is emphasized in the book.
“If he did survive, there was a chance that the part of his brain that governed his speech would be damaged,” Rogers wrote.
“For Jill, the diagnosis was the latest setback after a stressful year. She had spent months campaigning on his behalf, despite her discomfort with public speaking. She was raising their three children, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley, who were all in different stages of adjusting to school and life in Delaware,” she wrote.
“As the president and his last surviving son, Hunter, have become targets for conservatives in a rapidly toxifying political landscape, Jill has emerged as the powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle, defining herself as a ‘Philly girl’ who is not to be crossed,” the book reads.