Meet the Bidens: America's new 'first family'

WASHINGTON • US President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill will be the new White House residents when he takes office tomorrow.

Mr Biden has made his family a major focus throughout his career, and his 2020 presidential campaign thrust them fully into the spotlight - with some members causing controversy and others breaking barriers.

Here is a look at the members of America's new "first family":

Dr Jill Biden, an educator, is set to transform her new role as First Lady before she even moves into the White House.

While first ladies traditionally fulfil ceremonial duties, "Dr B", as her students call her, intends to keep her full-time job as an English professor. As First Lady, she is expected to work on education issues and relaunch Joining Forces, a mission to rally around military families that she and predecessor Michelle Obama started in 2011.

The Bidens met in 1975, a few years after the then Delaware senator had faced the unthinkable - the deaths of his young wife and daughter in a car crash.

Mr Biden, 78, often says his second wife "put us back together". The couple wed in 1977, and she became "Mom" to his sons Hunter and Beau, who survived the car accident.

The couple also have a daughter, Ashley, together.

While raising her family, Jill also earned two master's degrees, and eventually a doctorate in education. The 69-year-old supported her husband through his three previous presidential bids and was one of his most vocal advocates and tireless campaigners during his most recent run.

Mr Biden has often spoken about how his relationship with his sons helped him cope with grieving as he built his political career, as well as when he married Jill.

For years, while working as a senator, he commuted by train two hours each way between the family home in Delaware and Washington in order to be there for Hunter and Beau.

Beau was seen as inheriting his father's public service ethos and political skills. He served in the military in Iraq and became Delaware's attorney-general.

He died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46, less than two years after the diagnosis.

Mr Biden refers to his late son often in political speeches, and he regularly visits Beau's grave, as well as those of his first wife and daughter.

Mr Biden's other son, Hunter, struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, and was discharged from the Navy Reserve in 2014 after a positive test for cocaine.

He became a regular focus of President Donald Trump's attacks ahead of the Nov 3 election for his business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Hunter, 50, now an artist based in Los Angeles, has admitted to displaying "poor judgment" in some of his business dealings, but denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Biden, however, has been unwavering in his support for his son. During the final presidential debate, when Mr Trump mocked Hunter's cocaine use, the former vice-president simply said: "I'm proud of him. I'm proud of my son."

After Mr Trump became the first US president in more than a century not to have a dog, the Bidens are bringing two with them.

The German shepherds - Champ and Major - as well as a cat, whose breed and name have not yet been revealed, will move into the White House tomorrow.

Champ has been with the Bidens since 2008.

The family fostered and then adopted Major in 2018.

According to Mr Biden's team, Major will be the first foster dog to live in the White House.

The canine companions featured in one of Mr Biden's campaign ads that warned voters to "choose your humans wisely", highlighting clips of Mr Trump scoffing at the idea of a presidential pet.

The two also starred in the Bidens' holiday message.

A video cut between shots of Champ, relaxing by a Christmas tree with a sedate instrumental version of We Wish You A Merry Christmas playing in the background, and clips of Major playing and zooming around the house to an electric guitar version of the holiday carol.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE