This week, for example, the first lady held President Biden's hand during a memorial ceremony outside the White House to mark 500,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States, then made her first solo intercity trip to Richmond, Virginia. There, she visited a cancer research center. She also sat down with pop star Kelly Clarkson for her first solo TV interview, which will air Thursday, and will fly with her husband to Houston on Friday to survey the damage caused and hardship experienced in Texas during this month's fatal winter storms.
"So glad to have someone with your heart and your husband's heart in leadership. We've gone through four years of hell," a panelist told Jill Biden after Wednesday's event at the Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center.
By focusing on her own agenda, the Biden administration is seemingly under-utilizing a messenger who often more clearly articulates the president's priorities than he does himself.
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Jill Biden appears to be "carefully pacing herself" after moving into the White House a month ago, according to first lady historian Andrew Och, reintroducing herself to the public "in a way she is comfortable with."
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Aside from joint appearances with the president and reaching out to government spouses, she's been concentrating on the issue set she touted during the 2020 campaign and transition. On top of cancer research and touring facilities such as the National Cancer Institute and Whitman-Walker Health in Washington, D.C., that list includes education and supporting military families.
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To that end, Jill Biden has convened roundtable discussions on military child education and taken part in a national veteran students conference. She recorded remarks, too, for an American Library Association meeting, hosted teachers and their union representatives in the executive mansion, and put together a charla, Spanish for "chat," for young Latinos.
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"We have to get this done. And we have to do it now," the English and writing professor, who still teaches, said this month of free community college.
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Och predicted the West and East Wing's agendas would "mix and develop," though he expected her to retain her separate identity since it's one she's forged after years in the nation's capital as second lady and decades before that as a senator's wife.
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"The American public loves an active and visible first lady," he said. "We will continue to see more and more of her."
Democratic strategist Tracy Sefl notes the first lady's calendar has been well balanced "with substantive visits and meaningful appearances."
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"Giant Valentine's Day hearts on the White House lawn, for example, were a most welcome sight and spoke volumes," she said, mentioning the surprise the first lady left for the president this month.
"The White House agenda is, of course, to aggressively address the many crises engulfing the country. These are crises that touch every aspect of our lives, and Dr. Biden will continue to use her compassionate, humanizing voice as President Biden's work is underway," Sefl added.
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