America may be looking at Jill Biden as the next First Lady, should her husband win against Donald Trump in this year's US election. Said to be the strong force behind Joe Biden for more than 40 years, she has been front and centre campaigning for her husband.

Born Jill Jacobs in June 1951 in the state of New Jersey, Mrs. Biden grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and is the eldest among 5 sisters. She was previously married to former college football player Bill Stevenson before tying the knot with the Democratic presidential nominee in 1977.

Before marrying Jill, Joe Biden was a widower for more than four years after he lost his first wife and youngest daughter in a car accident. Mrs. Biden said he had proposed to her five times before she finally accepted, the Evening Standard wrote.

The Bidens were blessed with a daughter, Ashley, while Mrs. Biden helped raise her husband's surviving sons, Beau and Hunter. They sadly lost Beau to brain cancer at the age of 46 in May 2015.

Mrs. Biden built a strong and steady career in teaching describing herself as a "lifelong educator." She holds two master's degrees as well as a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware.

Although she had been sceptical of her husband's presidential campaign in 1988, she was the driving force that pushed him to run again in 2008. Mrs. Biden had since held the title of second lady while her husband served as vice-president to Barack Obama from 2009 -2017. She was the first vice-president's wife to carry on with her paid day job even after her husband was elected into office.

"I couldn't just walk away ... So I did both. For eight years, that was my life's dichotomy. State receptions and midterms. Dinner with the most powerful man on Earth – and study sessions with single mums."

The US military has also enjoyed much support from Mrs. Biden. She launched the Joining Forces initiative alongside Michelle Obama where the program focuses on helping military veterans and their families acquire education programmes and employment resources. She published a children's book in 2012 titled "Don't Forget, God Bless our Troops," where she used her own granddaughter's experiences of belonging to a military family.

Jill and Joe Biden
"I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole," says former US second lady Jill Biden as she addresses the Democratic National Convention after her husband was formally nominated by his party for the presidential election. Photo: DC POOL