Joe Biden Once Told His Ex-Mother-in-law That He Intends to be the President of The United States

Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, started his political career in 1970 when he won a seat on the New Castle County Council. In 1972, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. His first wife, Neilia Hunter, was a powerful supporter of his political ambitions from the beginning. They first met in 1963 while Neilia was a college sophomore at Syracuse University and the future president was a junior at the University of Delaware.

They were both in Nassau for spring break. As per Politico, Neilia's mother inquired about his career goals when he first met her. She was told by Biden that he wanted to be "President of the United States". 

As per the Independent, Biden then relocated to Syracuse for law school after earning his undergraduate degree in Delaware. Meanwhile, Neilia completed her master's degree in English there while working as a special needs teacher. He was a law student when they got married on August 27, 1966. He described it as "a dangerous combination of arrogant and sloppy" and ultimately graduated 76th out of 85 students.

After graduating, the young couple relocated to the Wilmington suburb where the future Democratic leader started his legal career and joined the New Castle County Council. Neilia Biden then got herself registered as a Democrat even though she was a Republican. The couple had three children - Joseph Robinette III, known as Beau; Robert Hunter; and Naomi Christina, known as Amy.

As per the National News, on December 18, 1972, Neilia Biden was unfortunately involved in a car accident; she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Biden lost his beloved wife and daughter Naomi on the fateful day. 

Biden wrote in his 2017 book Promise Me, Dad, “The pain ... seemed unbearable in the beginning, and it took me a long time to heal, but I did survive the punishing ordeal. I made it through, with a lot of support, and reconstructed my life and my family.” Five years after the tragedy Biden married Jill Jacobs, who was a University of Delaware student at the time. They had connected on a blind date, the couple exchanged vows at the United Nations Chapel in New York City on June 17th, 1977.

Since then, Jill Biden has been Joe's staunchest ally and confidante. As per USA Today, in 2020 while addressing a rally in Los Angeles Biden called her his "secret service". '"I’m probably the only candidate running for president whose wife is my Secret Service. Whoa, you don’t screw around with a Philly girl, I’ll tell you what," he had stated when the first lady had pushed a few unruly protestors from getting to him while on stage.

Biden had further stated, "I thought I heard on the news on the way over that the committee in charge of Secret Service decided they have to start providing Secret Service for us. I think that’s because they’re afraid Jill’s going to hurt someone. I tell you what man, I married way above my station."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on September 15, 2023. It has since been updated.