Jill Biden could be just months away from becoming the first lady of the United States, with her husband, Joe, set for a presidential election showdown with incumbent Donald Trump on November 3.
The 69-year-old on Tuesday made the case for her spouse's campaign for office when she delivered the headline address at the Democratic Party National Convention after Mr Biden was formally announced as the party's presidential candidate.
A self-described introvert, Ms Biden was initially a reluctant political wife, but in recent years has emerged as on one of her husband’s most prominent supporters.
So, here's what you need to know about the woman who could soon be joining Mr Biden, a former vice president under Barack Obama, in the White House.
Who is Jill Biden?
Born Jill Jacobs in June 1951 in the US state of New Jersey, Ms Biden was the oldest of five sisters and grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Willow Grove.
Before marrying Mr Biden, she was married to former college football player Bill Stevenson.
She eventually wedded the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in 1977, more than four years after his first wife and young daughter were killed in a car accident. Ms Biden has previously said that Mir Biden proposed to her five times before she accepted.
She subsequently helped raise his surviving sons, Beau - who later died of brain cancer in May 2015, at the age of 46 - and Hunter, before giving birth to a daughter, Ashley, in 1981.
And as Mr Biden commuted from Delaware to Washington while serving as a senator, Ms Biden steadily built a career as a teacher, ultimately earning two masters’ degrees and then a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2007.
Along the way, former co-workers say, Ms Biden became one of her husband’s most valuable political advisers, someone whose opinion was paramount in most of his biggest decisions, both political and personal.
She was sceptical of his 1988 presidential campaign, but pushed him to run again in 2008, according to her memoir.
Ms Biden went on to hold the title of second lady while her husband served as vice-president from 2009 to 2017.
And after Mr Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee this year, she played a prominent role in auditioning many of the vice presidential candidates, appearing with them at various events.
She has appeared in virtual events in more than 17 cities since May, and is one one of the campaign’s primary surrogates to Latino voters, headlining town halls and holding frequent calls with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
In one week this month, Ms Biden appeared at everything from a science-focused fundraiser to an event with Mr Biden’s faith coalition to one focused on LGBTQ youth, speaking with emotion and fluency about her husband’s plans for each constituency.
And on Tuesday, as she endorsed his campaign for the presidency, she spoke of her family and the struggles they have faced.
"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, carry us forward in our time of need, keep the promise of America for all of us," she said in an address delivered from her old classroom at Delaware's Brandywine High School, where she taught English from 1991 to 1993.
After making the case for Mr Biden to be elected, her husband moved to laud her own qualities as a potential first lady.
"For all of you out there across the country, just think of your favourite educator who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself. That's the kind of first lady... Jill Biden will be," he said.
