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Michelle Obama
First Lady of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2009
Preceded byLaura Bush
Personal details
Born
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson

(1964-01-17) January 17, 1964 (age 60)
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseBarack Obama (m. 1992)
ChildrenMalia and Sasha Obama
Residence(s)Kenwood, Chicago (private)
The White House (official)
Alma materPrinceton University (A.B.)
Harvard Law School (J.D.)
ProfessionLawyer
Signature

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the First Lady of the United States.

Michelle Robinson was born in and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She recieived her bachelor's degree from Princeton University and her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard Law School. After completing her formal education, she returned to Chicago and accepted a position with the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University.

Family and education

See also: Michelle Robinson's family tree

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois to Fraser Robinson III,[1] a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian Shields Robinson, a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store.[2] Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school.[3] The Robinson and Shields families can trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was an American slave in the state of South Carolina,[4][5] where some of her paternal family still reside.[6][7] Her maternal great-great-great grandmother, Melvinia Shields, also a slave, became pregnant by a white man. His name and the nature of their union have been lost. She gave birth to Michelle's biracial maternal great-great grandfather, Dolphus T. Shields.[8]

Robinson grew up on Euclid Avenue in the South Shore community area of Chicago,[2][9][10] and was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table".[11] The family entertained together by playing games such as Monopoly and by reading.[12] She and her brother, Craig (who is 21 months older), skipped the second grade. By sixth grade, Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School (later renamed Bouchet Academy).[13]

She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, where she was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer.[2] The round trip commute from her South Side home to the Near West Side took three hours.[14] She was a high school classmate of Santita Jackson, the daughter of Jesse Jackson and sister of Jesse Jackson, Jr.[12] She graduated from high school in 1981 as salutatorian.[14][15]

Michelle was inspired to follow her brother to Princeton University;[3] he graduated in 1983. At Princeton, she challenged the teaching methodology for French because she felt that it should be more conversational.[16] As part of her requirements for graduation, she wrote a thesis entitled, "Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community."[17][18] "I remember being shocked," she says, "by college students who drove BMWs. I didn't even know parents who drove BMWs."[14] Robinson majored in sociology and minored in African American studies and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985.[2][19] She earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988.[20] While at Harvard, she participated in political demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were members of minorities.[21] She is the third First Lady with a postgraduate degree, following Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush.[22] In July 2008, Obama accepted the invitation to become an honorary member of the 100-year-old black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which had no active undergraduate chapter at Princeton when she attended.[23]

Barack and Michelle Obama, wearing dark outdoor clothes, in front of a crowd. His expression is muted; she has a wide smile.
Barack and Michelle Obama.

She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin (she has sometimes said only two, although others have pointed out there were others in different departments),[24] and she was assigned to mentor him as a summer associate.[25] Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting where he first impressed her.[26] The couple's first date was to the Spike Lee movie Do the Right Thing.[27] The couple married in October 1992,[26] and they have two daughters, Malia Ann (born 1998) and Natasha (known as Sasha, born 2001).[28] After his election to the U.S. Senate, the Obama family continued to live on Chicago's South Side, choosing to remain there rather than moving to Washington, D.C. Throughout her husband's 2008 campaign for President of the United States, she made a "commitment to be away overnight only once a week — to campaign only two days a week and be home by the end of the second day" for their two children.[29] She is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. She is the first cousin, once removed, of Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., one of the country’s most prominent black rabbis.

She once requested that her then-fiancé meet her prospective boss, Valerie Jarrett, when considering her first career move.[11] Now Jarrett is one of her husband’s closest advisors.[30][31] The marital relationship has had its ebbs and flows; the combination of an evolving family life and beginning political career led to many arguments about balancing work and family. Barack Obama wrote in his second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, that "Tired and stressed, we had little time for conversation, much less romance".[32] However, despite their family obligations and careers, they continue to attempt to schedule date nights.[33]

The Obamas' daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school.[34] As a member of the school's board, Michelle fought to maintain diversity in the school when other board members connected with the University of Chicago tried to reserve more slots for children of the university faculty. This resulted in a plan to expand the school.[3] The Obamas' daughters now attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, after also considering Georgetown Day School.[35][36] She stated in an interview on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the couple does not intend to have any more children.[37] They have received advice from past first ladies Laura Bush, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Rodham Clinton about raising children in the White House.[36] Marian Robinson has moved into the White House to assist with child care.[38]

Career

Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin, where she first met her future husband. At the firm, she worked on marketing and intellectual property.[2] Subsequently, she held public sector positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the Mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development. In 1993, she became Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies.[15] She worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood 12 years after she left.[12]

In 1996, she served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University's Community Service Center.[39] In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs.[40] She continued to hold the University of Chicago Hospitals position during the primary campaign, but cut back to part time in order to spend time with her daughters as well as work for her husband's election;[41] she subsequently took a leave of absence from her job.[42] According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate. The total Obama income, however, was $991,296, which included $51,200 she earned as a member of the board of directors of TreeHouse Foods, and investments and royalties from his books.[43]

She served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE: THS),[44] a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum in Template:City-state, on May 14, 2007.[45] She serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.[46]

2008 Presidential election

Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama on stage at a campaign rally.
Winfrey joins the Obamas on the campaign trail, December 10, 2007
The Obamas face each other and bump fists on stage. She wears a purple dress and he wears a dark suit. Several signs read "CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN" and several photographers take photos.
The Obamas fist bump upon his winning the Democratic nomination.
Barack and Michelle Obama and a woman and a man on an outdoor stage. The first three smile and wave. The men wear suit pants, white shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and ties. Michelle is in a colorful print dress and the other woman is in a creme business suit.
The Obamas, with Joe and Jill Biden at the August 23, 2008 Vice Presidential announcement in Template:City-state.
Michelle Obama speaks at a convention; her image and name are projected on a huge screen behind her. The large audience waves vertical blue signs.
Obama speaks at the 2008 Democratic convention

Although Obama has campaigned on her husband's behalf since early in his political career by handshaking and fund-raising, she did not relish the activity at first. When she campaigned during her husband's 2000 run for United States House of Representatives, her boss at the University of Chicago asked if there was any single thing about campaigning that she enjoyed; after some thought, she replied visiting so many living rooms had given her some new decorating ideas.[47]

At first, Obama had reservations about her husband's presidential campaign due to fears about a possible negative effect on their daughters.[48] She says that she negotiated an agreement in which her husband gave up smoking in exchange for her support of his decision to run.[49] About her role in her husband's presidential campaign she has said: "My job is not a senior adviser."[30][50][51] During the campaign, she has discussed race and education by using motherhood as a framework.[16]

In May 2007, three months after her husband declared his presidential candidacy, she reduced her professional responsibilities by 80 percent to support his presidential campaign.[11] Early in the campaign, she had limited involvement in which she traveled to political events only two days a week and traveled overnight only if their daughters could come along;[1] by early February 2008 her participation had increased significantly, attending thirty-three events in eight days.[31] She made several campaign appearances with Oprah Winfrey.[52][53] She wrote her own stump speeches for her husband's presidential campaign and generally spoke without notes.[14]

Throughout the campaign, the media often labeled her as an "angry black woman,"[54][55][56] and some Web sites attempted to propagate this image,[57] prompting her to respond: "Barack and I have been in the public eye for many years now, and we've developed a thick skin along the way. When you’re out campaigning, there will always be criticism. I just take it in stride, and at the end of the day, I know that it comes with the territory."[58] By the time of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August, media outlets observed that her presence on the campaign trail had grown softer than at the start of the race, focusing on soliciting concerns and empathizing with the audience rather than throwing down challenges to them, and giving interviews to shows like The View and publications like Ladies' Home Journal rather than appearing on news programs. The change was even reflected in her fashion choices, wearing more informal clothes in place of her previous designer pieces.[47] The View appearance was partly intended to help soften her public image,[54] and it was widely-covered in the press.[59]

The presidential campaign was her first exposure to the national political scene; even before the field of Democratic candidates was narrowed to two, she was considered the least famous of the candidates' spouses.[50] Early in the campaign, she told anecdotes about the Obama family life; however, as the press began to emphasize her sarcasm, she toned it down.[43][49] New York Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd wrote:

I wince a bit when Michelle Obama chides her husband as a mere mortal — comic routine that rests on the presumption that we see him as a god ... But it may not be smart politics to mock him in a way that turns him from the glam JFK into the mundane Gerald Ford, toasting his own English muffin. If all Senator Obama is peddling is the Camelot mystique, why debunk this mystique?[50][60]

On February 18, 2008, she commented in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." Later that evening she reworded her stump speech in Madison, Wisconsin, saying "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."[61] Several commentators criticized her remarks,[62] and the campaign issued a statement that "anyone who heard her remarks ... would understand that she was commenting on our politics."[63] In June 2008, First Lady Laura Bush commented on the controversial words: "I think she probably meant I'm 'more proud,' you know, is what she really meant... I mean, I know that, and that's one of the things you learn and that's one of the really difficult parts both of running for president and for being the spouse of the president, and that is, everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued."[64]

Asked in February 2008 whether she could see herself "working to support" Hillary Rodham Clinton if she got the nomination, she said "I'd have to think about that. I'd have to think about policies, her approach, her tone." But when questioned about this by the interviewer, she stated "You know, everyone in this party is going to work hard for whoever the nominee is."[65] Despite her criticisms of Clinton during the 2008 campaign, when asked in 2004 which political spouse she admired, she had cited Hillary Clinton, stating, "She is smart and gracious and everything she appears to be in public — someone who's managed to raise what appears to be a solid, grounded child."[66]

On the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Craig Robinson introduced his younger sister.[67] She delivered her speech, during which she sought to portray herself and her family as the embodiment of the American Dream.[68] Obama said both she and her husband believed "that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do, that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."[69] She also emphasized loving her country, in response to criticism for her previous statements about feeling proud of her country for the first time.[68][70][71]

That keynote address was largely well received and drew mostly positive reviews.[72] A Rasmussen Reports poll found that her favorability among Americans reached 55%.[73] Political commentator Andrew Sullivan described the speech as "one of the best, most moving, intimate, rousing, humble, and beautiful speeches I've heard from a convention platform."[74] The speech made Juan Williams tear up over the thought of the significance of her presentation as a representative of Black America.[75] A pair of articles in the National Review, including one by Byron York, however, noted that although the speech presented America as the land of opportunity, it conflicted with her campaign trail speeches that described negative aspects of the country.[76][77]

On an October 6, 2008 broadcast, Larry King asked her if the American electorate was past the Bradley effect. She stated that her husband's achievement of the nomination was a fairly strong indicator that it was.[78] The same night she also was interviewed by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show where she deflected criticism of her husband and his campaign.[79]

On E. D. Hill's Fox News show America's Pulse, Hill referred to the fist bump shared by the Obamas on the night that he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination as a "terrorist fist jab".[80] In June 2008, Hill was removed from her duties on the specific show, which was then canceled.[81][82]

First Lady of the United States

Another woman sits in a stuffed chair, and Michelle Obama sits on an adjacent couch.
Then-First Lady Laura Bush sits with Obama in the private residence of the White House.
Barack and Michelle Obama hold hands and smile while walking; she waves to a crowd. She wears a gold embroidered dress and coat; he wears a black overcoat and burgundy scarf. A serious man in a dark suit watches nearby.
Michelle Obama wore Isabel Toledo clothes made of St. Gallen Embroidery in the 2009 presidential inauguration.
Barack and Michelle Obama dance arm-in-arm and smile. She wears a white dress, large ring, long earrings and a bracelet. He wears a black tuxedo.
The Obamas dance at a presidential inaugural ball.

Style and fashion sense

With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, Michelle Obama has become a part of popular culture. In May 2006, Essence listed her among "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women."[83][84] In July 2007, Vanity Fair listed her among "10 of the World's Best Dressed People." She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball as a "young'un" paying tribute to the 'Legends,' which helped pave the way for African American Women. In September 2007, 02138 magazine listed her 58th of 'The Harvard 100'; a list of the prior year's most influential Harvard alumni. Her husband was ranked fourth.[83][85] In July 2008, she made a repeat appearance on the Vanity Fair international best dressed list.[86] She also appeared on the 2008 People list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her "classic and confident" look.[87][88]

Many sources have speculated that, as a high-profile African-American woman in a stable marriage, she will be a positive role model who will influence the view the world has of African-Americans.[89][90] Her fashion choices were part of Fashion week,[91] but Obama's influence in the field did not have an impact on the paucity of African-American models who participate, as some thought it might.[92][93]

She has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy due to her sense of style,[86] and also to Barbara Bush for her discipline and decorum.[94][95] Her white, one-shoulder Jason Wu 2009 inaugural gown was said to be "an unlikely combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy".[96][97] Obama's style is described as populist.[22] She often wears clothes by designers Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Donna Ricco and Maria Pinto,[98] and has become a fashion trendsetter,[99][100][101] in particular her favoring of sleeveless dresses that showcase her toned arms.[102]

She appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in the March 2009 issue of Vogue.[103][104] Every First Lady since Lou Hoover (except Bess Truman) has been in Vogue,[103] but only Hillary Clinton had previously appeared on the cover.[105]

The media have been criticized for focusing more on the first lady's fashion sense than her serious contributions.[22][106] She has stated that she would like to focus attention as First Lady on issues of concern to military and working families.[89][107][108] U.S.News & World Report blogger, PBS host and Scripps Howard columnist Bonnie Erbe has argued that Obama's own publicists seem to be feeding the emphasis on style over substance.[109] Erbe has stated on several occasions that she is miscasting herself by overemphasizing style.[38][110]

Work undertaken and causes promoted

Michelle Obama and Elizabeth II shake hands and smile at each other as Barack enters the room in the background.
Obama greets Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, April 1, 2009
Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni share a laugh while seated on adjacent couches.
Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni

During her early months as First Lady, she has frequently visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens.[111] She has also sent representatives to schools and advocated public service.[111][112] On her first trip abroad in April 2009, she toured a cancer ward with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[113] She has begun advocating on behalf of military families.[114] Like her predecessors Clinton and Bush, who supported the organic movement by instructing the White House kitchens to buy organic food, Obama has received attention by planting an organic garden and installing bee hives on the South Lawn of the White House, which will supply organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings.[115][116]

Obama has become an advocate of her husband's policy priorities by promoting bills that support it. Following the enactment of the Pay equity law, Obama hosted a White House reception for women's rights advocates in celebration. She has pronounced her support for the economic stimulus bill in visits to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Education. Some observers have looked favorably upon her legislative activities, while others have said that she should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she intends to visit all United States Cabinet-level agencies in order to get acquainted with Washington.[117]

She has gained growing public support in her early months as first lady.[111][118] She is notable for her support from military families and some Republicans.[111][114] As the public is growing accustomed to her, she is becoming more accepted as a role model.[111] Newsweek described her first trip abroad as an exhibition of her so-called "star power"[118] and MSN described it as an display of sartorial elegance.[84] There were questions raised in the American and British media regarding protocol when the Obamas met Queen Elizabeth II,[119] and Michelle reciprocated a touch on her back by the Queen during a reception, purportedly against traditional royal etiquette.[119][120] Palace sources denied that any breach in etiquette had occurred.[121]

On June 5, 2009, the White House announced that Michelle Obama was replacing her current chief of staff, Jackie Norris, with Susan Sher, a longtime friend and adviser. Norris will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service.[122] Then in February 2010, the resignation of White House Social Secretary, Desiree Rogers was announced to be effective the following month.[123] Rogers had been at odds with other administration officials, such as David Axelrod, and then the White House State Dinner snafu occurred on November 24, 2009.[124] Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot.[125]

After her first year in office, she undertook her first lead role in an administrationwide initiative. Her goal was to make progress in reversing the 21st century trend of childhood obesity.[126] She stated that her goal is to make this effort her legacy: "I want to leave something behind that we can say, ‘Because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.’ And my hope is that that’s going to be in the area of childhood obesity."[126] She has named the movement "Let's Move!" [127]. This effort does not supplant her other efforts: supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and healthy living for children and families across the country.[128] She has earned widespread publicity on the topic of healthy eating by planting the first white house vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as first lady.[126][129]

See also

References

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Further reading

  • David Colbert (December 2008). Michelle Obama, An American Story. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0547247702.
  • Elizabeth Lightfoot (December 2008). Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1599215217.
  • Liza Mundy (October 2008). Michelle Obama, A Life. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1416599436.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michelle Obama.
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Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of the United States
January 20, 2009 – present 		Incumbent
Honorary Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities
Serving with Chairwoman Adair Wakefield Margo
2009 – present

Template:Family of Michelle Robinson

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