The Woman Who Shaped Joe Biden Long Before the White House — The Beautiful, Brilliant Life of Neilia Hunter Biden

Before Joe Biden ever became a senator, vice president, or president, his life was forever changed by a chance encounter on a sunny spring break in the Bahamas.

There, as a young college student, he spotted a woman by the pool whose quiet elegance and bright smile stopped him in his tracks — Neilia Hunter….

Neilia Hunter was raised in Skaneateles, New York, surrounded by family, academics, and a strong sense of community. Smart, confident, and warm, she excelled at school and later thrived at Syracuse University, where she joined a sorority and became deeply involved in international relations clubs — a hint at the global curiosity and grace she carried naturally. Biden, then a college junior from a modest background, was captivated not only by her beauty but by her ambition and kindness. Within days of meeting her, he boldly told her they would someday marry — and to his own surprise, he was right.