A new book claims first lady Jill Biden became a “full-fledged” member of her husband’s family a decade after their marriage after he suffered from two brain aneurysms and she demanded control over his care.
According to the book, now-President Joe Biden’s wife yelled at other members of his family while he was hospitalized in 1988.
That year, the then-senator from Delaware suffered two serious brain aneurysms and was recovering at Walter Reed Military Medical Center when Jill Biden established herself as the decision maker regarding his health, a book by New York Times reporter Katie Rogers claims.
In the book “American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden,” Rogers wrote that Joe Biden’s second wife made it known she would be a force in the family.
“She was exhausted. In the hospital, as she watched Joe’s mother, sister, and brothers debate the best path forward for Joe’s treatment, something in her broke,” Rogers wrote, according to one of the multiple excerpts of the book that were obtained by Fox News.
According to Rogers, as the Biden family discussed Joe Biden’s medical options, Jill Biden reportedly yelled out at them for not including her in their discussion.
“‘Wait a minute!’ she yelled at the group. ‘He’s my husband. I should be making the decision here,’” an excerpt from “American Woman” reads.
The moment apparently got the attention of Biden’s family.
Rogers wrote, “The Bidens were stunned, until Joe’s mother eventually agreed: ‘She’s right,’ Jean Biden told the group, settling the matter. That was the moment, as Jill has recounted, that she felt she had become a full-fledged Biden.”
Biden reportedly has not suffered an aneurysm in the 36 years since his health scare.
As Rogers notes, according to Fox, Biden was given a 50/50 shot at surviving, and even if he did, doctors believed there was a chance he would return home with brain damage.
(Some Americans might argue that he indeed did.)
According to Rogers, there were very serious concerns Biden’s cognitive functions would be altered.
“If he did survive, there was a chance that the part of his brain that governed his speech would be damaged,” Rogers wrote.
She added, “For Jill, the diagnosis was the latest setback after a stressful year. She had spent months campaigning on his behalf, despite her discomfort with public speaking. She was raising their three children, Beau, Hunter, and Ashley, who were all in different stages of adjusting to school and life in Delaware.”
Joe Biden’s first wife Neilia and his daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident in 1972.
Biden married the then-Jill Jacobs in 1977 – bringing sons Beau and Hunter Biden into the marriage.
Joe and Jill Biden share a daughter, Ashley Biden, who was born in 1981.
And the first lady’s role is clear, according to Rogers.
“As the president and his last surviving son, Hunter, have become targets for conservatives in a rapidly toxifying political landscape, Jill has emerged as the powerful guardian of the Biden inner circle, defining herself as a ‘Philly girl’ who is not to be crossed,” the book states.
“American Woman” is scheduled for release on Tuesday and claims to be the “first definitive exploration” of the “twenty-first-century First Lady.”
