Jill Biden earned a Doctor of Education at the University of Delaware; the university reported the degree at its January 2007 ceremony, with a dissertation on keeping community-college students enrolled. She also has two master’s degrees. In 2010 the university gave her a separate honorary degree, and said so. [1][2]
She taught English at Northern Virginia Community College while second lady and kept teaching as first lady. [3]
In December 2020 the writer Joseph Epstein told her in the Wall Street Journal to drop the “Dr.,” calling her “kiddo” and the title “fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.” The piece drew a wide backlash. The question it raised, whether non-medical doctors should use the title socially, is a matter of taste; the degree itself is not in doubt. [4][5]
What we can’t tell you. Some university pages list her in the class of 2006; the degree was conferred at the January 2007 ceremony.
Contemporary university report identifying the earned doctorate and January 2007 commencement. Some other UD alumni records use 2006; this article identifies the ceremony rather than resolving every academic-year convention.
Archived official biography, written before the administration ended. Present-tense references to teaching and office describe that period, not a verified October 2026 employment status.
A picture of a young Joe and Jill has circulated for years with a caption saying she was 15 and his sons’ babysitter. Their published account puts their first date in March 1975, when she was 23 and divorcing her first husband, and he was 32. [1][2]
That first husband, Bill Stevenson, has said they met earlier and that the relationship overlapped his marriage. Jill has denied it. Even his version does not make her a teenager or a babysitter. [1]
What we can’t tell you. How and when two people first met is ultimately their account against a former spouse’s.
Traces a miscaptioned photograph and compares chronology, including the first husband’s disputed account. His account does not support the teenage claim either.
Archived official biography, written before the administration ended. Present-tense references to teaching and office describe that period, not a verified October 2026 employment status.
What the record says about her role after the debate.
After the June 2024 debate, Jill was one of the loudest voices for staying in. AP reported that she and Hunter encouraged him to remain in the race and questioned how his staff had prepared him. [1]
In her 2026 memoir she wrote that during the debate she feared he was having a stroke and that doctors “checked” him immediately afterward. The White House had said in 2024 that he was examined days later. [2][3]
The House Oversight majority’s October 2025 report argues that a small inner circle, including her longtime aide Anthony Bernal, shielded the president. Bernal invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked whether any unelected official or family member carried out the duties of the president. Pleading the Fifth is a legal right and not evidence of guilt. The report did not find that Jill made presidential decisions. [4][5]
What we can’t tell you. The memoir is her account. The House report is a partisan majority document; Democrats on the committee rejected its conclusions.
5 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
DOCUMENTED The family & personal claims
“A Wall Street Journal column told Jill Biden to drop the “Dr.””
Joseph Epstein’s 11 December 2020 op-ed addressed her as “kiddo” and called the title “fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.”
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