The role of First Lady in the United States is loosely defined, highly scrutinized, (opens in new tab) and seriously underpaid. Despite these circumstances, successive first ladies have made the role very significant. Case in point: Hillary Clinton was nominated by her husband to head the White House Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Laura Bush testified before Congress, supported childhood literacy initiatives, and spoke out against the oppression of women in Afghanistan. Michelle Obama established initiatives to end childhood obesity, improve educational opportunities for women, and support military families. And now, Dr. Jill Biden (opens in new tab) will no doubt go even further to revolutionize the job of First Lady by continuing to work as a full-time educator outside the White House.

Here is everything you need to know about her, from meeting the president-elect to seeing the East Wing under First Lady Jill Biden.

First things first: Biden was born Jill Tracy Jacobs in New Jersey in 1951 and spent most of her childhood in suburban Philadelphia; the eldest of five sisters, she developed a reputation as a bit of a prankster (opens in new tab) and for years She often talks about her passion, running (opens in new tab).

She initially enrolled at Brandywine Junior College to study fashion merchandising, but after one semester transferred to the University of Delaware to major in English. She then spent decades as an English and reading teacher in public high schools and community colleges, and even taught history to teenagers in a psychiatric hospital. During that time, she earned two master's degrees in reading and English, and in 2007 she received her doctorate in educational leadership.

While studying for his bachelor's degree, Biden married Bill Stevenson in 1970, but they separated in 1974.

The Bidens were founded in 1975 by Joe's brother Frank. Jill told Vogue (opens in new tab) in 2008. "He came to the door and he was wearing a sport coat and loafers. He was nine years older than me. But we went out to see 'Man and Woman' at a movie theater in Philadelphia, and we really hit it off. I came home and he was standing at the door, and in the '70s it was normal for a guy to come in the door and touch himself. And I went upstairs and called my mother at 1 a.m. and said, 'Mom, I finally met a gentleman.'"

A few years later, on June 17, 1977, they were married in New York City. However, it took five proposals before Jill agreed to marry Joe. She said, "I couldn't lose another mother. So I had to be 100% sure. It was a big step," she told Vogue.

After their marriage, Biden took some time off from teaching to focus on raising her new stepchildren, born to Joe in June 1981, and their daughter Ashley. However, he soon returned to teaching and returned to school himself to begin earning a number of advanced degrees.

Biden has been fully supportive of her husband throughout his nearly half-century political career while cultivating an independent career as an educator. In other words, Biden was married to the Vice President from 2008 to 2016, while also performing many of the typical duties of a second lady, including supporting the First Lady's initiatives and assisting the campaigns of Democratic candidates in the midterm elections, She also kept a full schedule as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College. In doing so, she made history as the first Second Lady to have a paid job during her tenure (opens in new tab).

Then-President Michelle Obama was particularly impressed with Biden's ability to juggle two jobs. 'Jill is always grading papers,' she said in 2016 (opens in new tab)." It's funny because she forgets, "Oh yeah, you have a day job. And she takes out her papers and she's so diligent, and I'm like, 'Look at you. You have a job. What kind of job is it? Tell me what kind of job?'"

Outside of education, she has led White House efforts to advocate for community colleges, co-founded the Joining Forces initiative to support military families with the First Lady, and participated in her husband's Cancer Moonshot 2020 listening tour.

Biden bolstered her husband's political involvement in the 2020 election campaign, taking a leave of absence from his teaching position to participate full-time in the campaign for the first time. She said, "He has always supported my career. He has always supported my career. We want a new president," she told CNN.

She said she will continue to advocate for many of the same causes she worked on as First Lady and as Second Lady. 'It's the same with education, it's the same with military families. I will go around the country to get free community college," she said, according to CNBC (opens in new tab). 'We need good reading programs, we need equity in our schools. We are competing in this global marketplace and the U.S. position has to improve.

So far, the first lady-elect has recently named her staff (opens in new tab) and reopened Joining Forces (opens in new tab). In a statement, Biden said, "These dedicated and skilled public servants from diverse and varied backgrounds bring a shared commitment to building an administration that lifts up all Americans."

According to the Washington Post, she will continue to participate in online educational training during the campaign (open in new tab) and will return to her professorship at NOVA. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning earlier this year (opens in new tab), she said, "If I make it to the White House, I will continue to teach. Biden will again make history at the inauguration as the first First Lady to have a job outside of the White House.