The Truth About Joe Biden's Relationship With His Sister Valerie
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There is no denying that President-Elect Joe Biden's family has his back, especially his sister, Valerie Biden Owens (pictured right). With only about a 3-year age difference, the two were extremely close throughout their formative years and have remained so well into adulthood.
Owens has stood by her brother for decades. She worked as his campaign manager in 1972, helping him become the fifth youngest U.S. senator in history, per Vogue. She continued to be his campaign manager during his six senate reelection bids and his failed runs for president in 1988 and 2008, and she served as his senior campaign advisor when he finally scored the job of his dreams in 2020. Considering she's been a part of Biden's career from the start, we can only imagine how she felt when her brother won the most coveted position in politics.
"We were all thrilled and numb and happy. It was a magnificent day. And it was ... almost surreal." she told People, explaining how the Bidens reacted when he was named the winner. "It was overwhelming ... certainly I was thrilled that my brother was elected president of the United States, but all along I knew that the election was about so much more than my brother being president," she said. "And I knew, I believed with my whole heart and soul that my brother was the right person, at the right time, for all the right reasons."
Keep scrolling for more details about Joe Biden's special relationship with his sister.
Joe Biden's sister serves as his 'emotional guardrails'
It appears Joe Biden looks up to Valerie Biden Owens just as much as she idolizes him. While the politician also has two brothers, Frank Biden and Jim Biden, his bond with his sister is unlike any other. "She has been my best friend my entire life," Biden wrote of Valerie in his memoir, Promises to Keep. The former vice president's deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, described her as Biden's "emotional guardrails."
Owens even moved in with her brother for a while to help raise his children following the devastating loss of his first wife and baby daughter, per Vogue. Despite the hardships Biden has been through, Owens thinks they ultimately helped guide him to success. "Because Joe has tasted tragedy, as well as triumph, as he has walked the walk, people respond to him and there's comfort in knowing that somebody else gets it," she told People.
Longtime Biden family friend, Sen. Christopher Coons, told The Washington Post that Biden could not have achieved his political goals without his sister's help. "She respects and admires him, and she helps him be his best self," Coons said. "But she can also look him in the eye and say, 'Don't do this.' She can tell him the stuff that nobody wants to hear. Because you can't fire your sister."