We need a president guided by courage and deep faith — and Joe Biden is that person

In 2015 when our son, Beau, died of brain cancer, I felt betrayed by my faith.

Until he took his last breath I believed he would live; as a mother, you never give up hope.

I am not very public about it, but faith has always been important to me. Prayer, especially, has always been a part of how I connected to the people I love and the world around me. But when my final prayer went unanswered during Beau’s final days, I felt abandoned.

Last summer my husband, Joe Biden, and I visited a church on the campaign trail. Though I still had misgivings about my faith, something felt different as we walked to our pew. As we worshiped, a parishioner approached me and said, “Dr. Biden, I would like to be your prayer partner.”

I don’t know if she sensed how moved I had been by the service — or if she could see the grief that still hides behind my smile. What I do know is that her kindness opened something up inside me. It was as if God was saying, “OK, Jill, you’ve had long enough. It’s time to come home.” At that moment I felt there was a path to recovering my faith.

There is power in kindness: it can pull us back to ourselves, build the bonds of community and mend the fault lines of our hearts.

When we listen to the news, we hear that our nation is fractured; we all feel the division, anger and fear. Still, Americans are coming together — and the heart of America still beats with courage and kindness.

We deserve a president with those attributes — and that’s my husband, Joe.

Joe learned his empathy as he watched his father struggle to make ends meet, withstood bullying for his stutter and witnessed racism in his hometown. And he’s faced down tragedy — from losing a wife and baby daughter just after he was elected to the Senate to watching our son slip away.

But these experiences didn’t make Joe bitter or cynical; they made him more committed to serving others and making our country better for everyone. They drove him to write the Violence Against Women Act, successfully stand up to the NRA and win the votes to ensure the passage of Obamacare.

In so many ways this election is about having faith.

The faith that our leaders serve us and not their own interests. The faith that our nation’s character is stronger than fear and hate. The faith that together, we can become something greater.

Joe has always been a man of faith — and one with faith in the boundless potential of everyone who makes America great. And that’s why Joe is the best person to be a president for all Americans.

An accomplished educator, Jill Biden was America’s second lady from 2009 to 2017. She is the wife of former Vice President Joe Biden.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 2:07 PM.