Events and fill your bookcase is, we do speakers on the road. We have speakers bring to work with you to bring some offers and your businesses. So i run that program and im super happy. So, little housekeeping before we get started with the show as it were. This is a timer to turn off your phones. And you look and make sure you haveve done that, it would be really good. [laughter] this is also the time p i tell u the program is going to run about an hour. There will be some conversations, really good conversations for about 45 minutes. Then we will be doing q a we are done. Gethere is aint mike over here behind the pillars. You get up you will see it. We are going to ask you if you have a question for the panels you do use the mic. One of the reasons is because we are filming today. Bothn. On youtuber went live toe youtube were also filmic with cspan pretty much build hear your questions. We with them to hear question. At the think we are just goin to ask you after words if you can help us full of the chairs a little housekeeping that would help us out a lot. Okay, onto the show as it were. You are all here. To learn about this great book. Jill, a biography of the first hylady. My understanding the first biography of jill biden. I am pretty excited about it. The authors today are julie pace who is executive editor of the Associated Press purged prims issues a Washington Bureau chief and White House Correspondent purchase when the White House Correspondents association smith award in 2014. Her coauthor is darlene super phil who is a White House Reporter also the Associated Press. Anderson theres lot of ap alum date. [applause] [cheering] and therefore you know darlene has worked for over 30 years on the political beat she covered both president obama and president trumps term. Of course, they are here with the famous susan page who is the d. C. Bureau chief of usa today. So ladies, come on and thats enough for me. And have a good conversation. [applause] good evening. I see some familiar faces out there. When we got to the q and a, youll be created on your willingness to ask tough questions of your new boss. [laughter] i just hope youll keep that in mind. It is so great to see people in person. Especially to talk about such a wonderful new book about an interesting figure important our times it is about jill biden. Congratulations the two of you on your book. You know theres all kinds of biographers, authorized biographies, tell all biographies, biographies of the infamous, the famous and among the most difficult biographies to write his biographies on the flight written about figures who are still living at in p the process of making news and history. But in some ways those can beal the most valuable biographies. They are about public figures we are still trying to figure out. We welcome to the genre jill a biography of the first lady. When appropriate enough by journalists who have covered her and are covering her. Im going to ask them questions but them are going to go to questions will be eager to hear about what is on your mind. Lets start at the beginning. Why did you want to write this book . Quick i one of things i found really interesting about jill biden as she was both this known figure. You know her name, you know who she is coming seen on television, youve seen her on the spotlight. But shes also unknown. Been a part of her stories often toe foror the perspective of otr people, from her husband, even her children in some cases. So the idea of putting the story back in her hands, telling it from her perspective was really appealing to us. I w was excited to write abot jill biden because ive been on the white house beat as you mentioned or someoneim mention, quite a long time now. Ive covered for first ladies but this book was an opportunity for me too pour out into the books of the Institutional Knowledge have developed about first ladies. D think darlene if i could say for second, darlene under cells or self on this front. She is really the foremost expert in first ladies in the press corps right now. s that come with the prize . I wish. A bonus . So, you decide youre going to write this biography pretty go to the white has to say to joe biden in her office, would like to write a biography of you, what was her reaction . Which is sort of joking, we went to the first ladys office cycle working on this project, i would say the reaction was not overly enthusiastic. At theth beginning. And you know we really had to think about how we were going to write this book if she did not participate in it. If she did not talk to us and how were going to build this a portrait of her using just sources around her. So we dug in on that front. And fortune through the process i think as we talked to more people, you know how it goes as reporters, they are talking to people around them, they start to get a s little worried and think maybe its time for them to talk. We are very fortunate that she spent time with us in september. We talked with her quite extensively. I think it was important toce us that her voice was in the book. I think, knowing she was able to tell her story from her perspective journalists really want to make sure you give people every opportunity possible to do that. I would just add that it helped he reporters from the Associated Press had come to the first ladys office to write her story. Because of the ap credibility, our reputation, is not going to be a gotcha book or not not digging into her past or whatever dirty pass she may have had or may not have had, that sort of thing for those of really big cell appointment knowing me, knowing julia knowing the ags credibility. You did not start the book knowing she was going to cooperate. Edeafly not. Do it anyway . G to were well down the road and some people are looking as wonderful, worked with us to a lot of conversations with evelyn, and bridget about what do we do if we dont get to talk to the first lady . How ist that book going to turn out . Were heading down that road with her or without her full participation. Its a much richer with her voice. Joe biden does not do a lot of interviews. And yet she did three with you. How was she in the interviews was she pretty forthcoming . Is very forthcoming perch was very welcoming what she warmed up the idea of someone writing herer story. At first she was little reticent about it who would be interested in reading about me was one of her initial responses. But she agreed to three onehour interviews. She answered all of ourer questions. There is nothing or she said iv not going to answer that for that is offlimits but she answered everything we asked. Tell make no one knows more about joe biden in america than you do. Tell me something that you discovered about her or that surprised you . Something you think people really do not understand about jill biden . Are a few things. We one thing that stood out to me, darlene said she answered all of our questions but that is absolutely true. She answered everything, nothing was off limits. One thing thats really clear when we came of these three interviews was that she is very protective of what i think of as the biden familyxt story. I think to some extent they have shared so much with the world. Have shared so many difficult moments with the world. She sees her role as some way being the guard rail. If he was just left up to jill biden it would all be out there. It answers everybodys question and talk about at great length. She sees herself as a person who said were just not going to go any further. We are going to keep a little bit of that backward even things for example like Hunter Bidens addiction. Which is known and has been public. She would say that is his story to tell. He should tell that story. I am going to keep my perspective on this a little bit guarded here. E there is the moment you could get her sense shes just not going to go any further. And again i do think that is a reaction to having so much else of their life out there, to analyze, be scrutinized, and really the publics is much as theirs. Darlene was surprised you . I had had prior exposure when joe was Vice President xi was his wife. The use the word second lady which i dont like and i try not to use it. So ive had prior exposure to her prebetter pouring for this book one of things i learned about her was the extent to which she likes to play practical jokes on people. There i a very famous maybe i should say famous story. Theres a very funny story where she was traveling when he was Vice President. She climbed into the overhead bin on the plane. Dont remember for his planar air force two. Sorry for the poor person came along and open the bin to try to put their luggage in there. Re she popped out and you can imagine how that all went. Theres just lots of other stories like that. One time, with one of her College College and got the Maintenance Crew to help her bring in a 50pound pumpkin input on this womans feet. That woman came in and had no idea where the pumpkin came from. That was interesting to me. That is not something that most people would see when you see joe biden traveling around the country, talking about community colleges, military families or whatever shes doing that day. Of the thing i love, that secret Service Protection already. She want to go out to brunch iss a big runner and she really hated secret Service Agents would run along with her. So she put on a wig and left their house and said lets see how long it takes. It took them a a little whil, then they caught up. They did the guy get that point. She seems like a serious person. There whole prankster thing is interesting. Thanks she is a little irreverent. She also talks a lot about always trying to find the joy in life. If you know there story you know about joe losing his first wife and their baby daughter. At the two of them losing their son, beau. She tries to take moments where she can try to put a smile in someones face. Or play a practical joke. Hear something from the book that struck me as interesting. I like you to explain a little bit. You write dr. Jill biden assume the role of first lady decades later than she first envisioned. She arrived hard and, at times jaded but the harsh realities of politics and the personal tragedies are family has endured in the public eye. She also stepped into the white house as a symbol of resilience and relatability. H passionate. Take the first part person. She arrived hardened and at times dated to the role of first lady. What she mean by t that . What things i learned by this process, i did not cover the 1980 campaign as a reporter. The 88 campaign both bidens went into that Campaign Thinking he could really win. It this young charismatic politician. He was seen as a future of they Democratic Party. They go into that campaign with extremely High Expectations been she goes into that starting to already think what will life be like if we win and hes in the white house . A them but if i going to do upon first lady. Reminds remount down that road how are they going to raise her kids, come to a crashing halt and really embarrassing fashion. Think that experience is scarring to her. She believes so much in him. She believes so much he is the right man for that moment. I think she really recoiled froa the process a little bit. Through successive campaign to see herer being the one signal,r not ready to do this again. No, start your time to do this again. By the time they get there again but i think is really h interesting, 2008 he gets one person on the boat and iowa, he x she thought that was a moment he was writing could win. I was so that doesnt happen. And in that moment shows his realization people she thoughtin they could count on whod been with him for a long time and have been supporters may be coopted in support of obama. Maybe quaff and support hillary. Their left or the feeling of what about joe . Where are you will be need you the most . When she gets into 2020 she is fully aware of the political game. She is hardened to the realities of upper theres no allusion. In some ways in the cap repairs are for the job much more than anybody who has had it before. It was a very long process of getting her to this point. Works with the words used in our interview to describe her feeling coming out of the 88 campaign she said it stung. To julies point she internalize all of that. She told usop at one point she d not name any names of people who had made promises to joe, to be there, to support him, when they needed those people, those people were not there. So again, she has learned from experience having been a political wife, the wife of a set or kept running, and running, and running, andle running, took all of that and internalize it and use it to learn from. A stock but the second part of what you wrote in the message i read, fiercely protective of her family. That is something that is going to be tested with hunter biden, subject of a grands jury note meeting in delaware on tax issues. If republicans gain control the house or the senate in november, as now seems likely, nothing is ever guaranteed in politics but likely. All but certain they will launch investigative hearings into hunter biden and his uncle jimmy biden, the president s brother. What does jill biden think about those controversies involving her son hunter . And the prospect really brutal investigations ahead . W ask aunt interesting because the family had questions and discussion for into 2020 campaign with the sydney for them. Even before he got towe the powr hunter was under investigation are certainly elements of his past they knew what he put into the spotlight. They decided as a family they were ready to move forward. Again they knew that was going be part of thehe process. Im not sure they fully understood what this is going to lookok like. Certainly they anticipated would end up in a situation of the second half of the presidency could have a shadow of investigation. With thatf pretense for them politically but as a family as part of the legacy that will give the next couple of months. As much a she is a part of the reality of politics, she is still a mom. It does hurt her across her great pain to watch one of her children be put through the ringer the way heye has. Will be very interesting to see how they deal with n it. Right now there are lots of questions thatgs come to the whe house about hunter biden during the daily press briefings. Youve seen the answer is hunter does not work for the government, i do not speak for hunter. If the elections in november go the way most people think they will, they will have to figure out how to deal with it and how to respond all about. Does she think hunter bear some responsibility for the pickle he is in . I or does she think of some of the family is said that it is not his fault. He is an addict, this was his addiction talking, not him a unfair to hold him responsible, whats her views . Or of the conversations we had with her and conversations we have people around them, i dont think they feel he bears responsibility. They understand heon has addictn and he has struggled publicly. They also understand that maybe the optics of some of what he did in ukraine or may be in china during the obama industry sure problematic, we w never get past that point. It optics, it was a bad look, maybe he should not have been doing that. Again, i think might take away from it as much is the story in the public sphere, is much as this is something being picked apart for them its also very personal. He is their son. I think they are going to defend him. They are going to defend him until the end, truly. What does joe biden think about the presss corps . Thats a good question. Ive never asked that. What is your sense . She seems very tolerance of the press. I have traveled with her a couple of times. He she has a press pool traveling with her. Th she will come back to the back of the plane at the beginning or end of trips to do a little chitchat. Ive not seen any outright disdain for the press were we have seen in prio administrations. She has been in the public eye a for a long time. It was the wife of the Vice President , the wife of longtime senator, dealing with the press is not something that is new to her is the way it has been for other first ladies. You mentioned how prepared she was for this role of the first lady. I think first ladies in modern times, the only other person similar preparation was barbara bush would also served eight years in the role others call second lady, had also been the wife of a member of congress, somebody would run for office over and over again. There is no definition. There is no paycheck that comes with that, to joe biden arrive in the white house with a clear idea about what she wanted to do in this role . Absolutely. Because againin she had been thinking about being first lady during those previous campaigns it never went anywhere. So she had an idea of what she wanted to do. Even before she became first lady she took some steps to resurrect the military Family Initiative that should work with Michelle Obama. And she knew she would have a platform to promote those issues, cancer research, education, those types of issues she has worked on her whole life. I also think when things important to her was to continue to work. For those threads were for both sthe biden story or know anythig about joe biden should you probably know she is a teacher. Something i was struck by, its not as shtick. She is a real teacher. She actually goes to the class and bring her as first ladies actually dictated by your teaching schedule travel is both, events are both from that, the staff fiercely guards up time on her counterpart are interview schedules built around her teaching schedule. I was very much part of her identity. I think she came into the job wanting to make sure she could retain that. Not just for herself even i think its important her but to set a new standard you can be first lady, you can be a political spouse could have this independent part of your life because you did not run for office. Youre not an elected officials. Shes trying to make clear you can support your spouse, you can do the ceremony aspects of the job and so to something youre really passionate about and you carried into that job. No first ladies ever done that. She is the first working first lady. While they are all progress working outside the white house. An independent rear she had before it gets a paycheck for. Thats been so important to her even though some people said she cant do that when shes in the white house. Its important her people referred to her