Joe Biden’s wife: who is First Lady Jill Biden, was he married before, do they have children?

Joe Biden is travelling to Ireland with his family for a four day tour through the country which he credits for shaping his life.

Biden is of Irish descent and becomes the eighth sitting American president to visit the country. The four day tour through Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which effectively brought The Troubles to a close in 1998.

Biden’s visit also sees a meeting with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and the pair are set to discuss Northern Ireland’s post brexit future.

Biden has a personal connection to Ireland due to his roots in County Mayo and the trip also sees him stop at his province, where some of his family members are from.

The president will be accompanied on the trip by his wife Jill Biden. But who is the first lady and do the pair have children? Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Jill Biden?

Jill Biden is an American educator who has served as the first lady of the United States since 2021. She previously served as the second lady from 2009 to 2017 when her husband was vice president to Barack Obama.

Biden was born on 3 June 1951 in Hammonton, New Jersey and she is the eldest of five sisters. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware in 1975.

Jill met Joe Biden that same year and the pair married two years later in 1977. It was the second marriage for both of them. Joe’s first wife died from a vehicle crash in 1972 along with his baby daughter Naomi.

While Jill’s first marriage to Bill Stevenson ended in divorce after five years in 1975.

Biden has worked as a teacher for several decades and she has a doctorate in education. She made history when her husband took office by remaining in education while holding the position of first lady.

In her 2019 memoir, Where the Light Enters she explained husband: “I just wanted to do the thing I love best.”

Do Jill and Joe Biden have children?

Jill and Joe Biden have a daughter named Ashley who was born in 1981. Jill also became a stepmother to Joe’s two sons Beau and Hunter who were born during Joe’s first marriage. Beau Biden died from brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.

Who is Hunter Biden?

Hunter Biden is the second son of Joe Biden and he is accompanying the U.S president on his trip to Belfast.

Hunter was seriously injured in the crash that killed his mother and younger sister Naomi when he was just two years old.

He works as a lawyer and as a businessman and he is the founding partner of investment advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners.

Hunter has been the subject of immense media scrutiny in recent years and he was accused of serving the “strategic interests” of China’s government and military while serving as a board member of Beijing based business firm BHR partners.

He also made headlines in 2019 when he was found to be the biological and legal father of a child born to an exotic dancer, Lunden Alexis Roberts. Hunter claims to have no “recollection” of the encounter in his memoir but he has settled a paternity suit with Roberts and has agreed to pay child support.