equality without men thinking and acting the way you are right now? i think men need to look at women as equals and treat them, and it s not an either/or. it s not a zero sum game. when we lift up women, we re going to lift up our economy. we re going to lift up everything. it s not at the detriment of men, so that s what we need. there is still a bit of a stigma with the notion of men taking a step back and being openly supportive of a woman who has a bigger role and a bigger job than the man does. are you trying to intentionally destigmatize that? definitely, definitely. you think about it? i do. not at the beginning because this was a no-brainer, but now that i m in the role and you really see like not all men naturally would do this and would push back, and then
career. i was very successful and i do miss it at times, but if i was going to leave, what better reason to leave than this? and to support her, and we talked about it and we made that decision together that it was worthwhile me taking this pretty major step back from what i was doing. you used the word support, and i think there were a lot of men who intellectually want to support their female partners and then when it gets to that point, it s hard. yeah. it s hard on your ego. you say you have a healthy ego. have there been moments like that? yeah, like i said, you have to put your egoas asaid though, ask it s not about you. i ll be giving speeches, and one of the things i say is men need to support women. don t just think you re being supportive. don t just say you re being supportive. be supportive.
we pick it out, and we re both busy, and we move on. so i m not trying to make it where this is my job. what is your job? first and foremost is to support her. we work in an office called office of the vice president and this office that you re sitting in is really here to support the vice president, support the president, support the administration any way we can. in addition to being her husband. since abigail adams in 1779, a vice president s spouse was a woman. emhoff calls one of those women his mentor, now first lady jill biden. was there a crash course when you came into this? i know there was no manual to be the second gentleman because it didn t exist before, but to be the second spouse? there s no manual, and dr. biden said as much to me because i did ask her, well, you had this role, what can i
doug emhoff is making history of his own. what is your job? as he redefines an old role for a new generation. there s this toxicity, this masculine idea of what a man is. a father. it s the kids initials. i just really wanted a reminder of what s important to me. who with the vice president is marking many firsts. this is very emotional to be able to do this. reporter: while still trying to make time for each other. we re not each other s chief of staff. we re husband and wife. it s the opportunity of a lifetime for the former entertainment lawyer who gave up his job to support his wife. men need to support women. we talk to people in politics and pop culture, and find out what it s like to be them. now being the second gentleman. what s it like to be the first second gentleman? i m only the first second gentleman because the country elected the first woman vice president, so i look at it really mostly in that lens. i m here because i m her husband. i m