Michelle Obama rose from humble beginnings in Chicago to the heights of Princeton University and Harvard Law. She has never been content to live in her husband's shadow and has many causes of her own, as well as a sharp personal style that has won her many fans.
Early Years and Education
Michelle Obama, wife of forty-fourth US president Barack, was born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on 17 January 1964. She grew up in the notorious South Side district of Chicago, the descendant of slaves and daughter of an employee of the city’s water plant and a secretary.
But the gifted Michelle rose above what she’s described as her ‘conventional’ beginnings playing Monopoly and reading to graduate from Whitney Young High School where she was on the honor role four years running. Princeton University beckoned and she graduated cum laude with a BA in sociology and African-American studies, among other achievements. Still on the rise, Michelle progressed to the distinguished heights of Harvard Law School where she was an advocate for minority rights.
Work and Meeting Barack
She met her future husband when employed in law firm Sidley Austin in her native Chicago where she specialised in marketing and intellectual property law. The couple-to-be were among a very small number of African-American employees and she was originally assigned to be his mentor. Their first date was to watch the Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing, and they married in 1992. Six years later, Michelle gave birth to the couple’s first daughter Malia and in 2001 their second daughter Natasha, known as Sasha.
Despite Barack being elected to the US Senate, the family decided to remain true to their Chicago roots and not move to Washington DC, as expected. Throughout Barack’s 2008 campaign, Michelle remained committed to her family, vowing to be away overnight only once a week. Work-life balance was to become, and still is, a constant subject around the family dinner table as Michelle maintained her insistence that Malia and Sasha come as high as career on the Obamas’ list of priorities.
Values and Campaigns
Michelle has kept staunch on the subject of African-American and other minority rights and has fought to maintain diversity at her daughters’ private school. This is a theme that’s carried through from her career in public sector positions with the Chicago mayor’s office, non-profit organisations, and the University of Chicago.
She’s also anti-smoking and made it a condition of her support for her husband’s presidential campaign that he give up, which he did. In return, she gave up 80 per cent of her professional responsibilities. She had limited involvement in the early days of the campaign, preferring to spend time with their daughters. But she ramped up her involvement towards the election, attending 33 events in eight days and speaking largely without notes.
Media Profile and Personal Style
The media gave Michelle a hard time during her husband’s presidential campaign, calling her ‘the angry black woman’. She shrugged it off with pragmatism typical of her and her husband’s easy public style. However, she’s not immune to public criticism and tempered her challenging style for a softer and more empathetic tone on the campaign trail, which won her many supporters. She even forsook her designer image for more informal clothing choices.
Her unerring sense of style has brought her as much attention as her position as First Lady. In July 2007, Vanity Fair magazine listed her as one of the ’10 of the World’s Best Dressed People’ and repeated the listing in 2008. She was also heralded by People magazine for her ‘classic and confident’ look. She prefers Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein, among others, and her trademark sleeveless dresses have made her a fashion trendsetter. Hilary Clinton is the only other First Lady to have beaten her to the cover of Vogue.
However, it’s not all about the dresses. She has become a role model for African-American women and been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy for her style sense and Barbara Bush for her self-control and discipline. Michelle has clung to her democratic roots and desire for the betterment of others. In her capacity as First Lady she often visits soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and is still a strong advocate for public service. Military and working families are her pet cause, as is organic farming and she famously dug up part of the White House lawn to become a kitchen garden for teaching local underprivileged kids. She keeps a close involvement in politics, despite being criticised for doing so, and is keen to get better acquainted with the workings of Washington.
Her latest campaign is to reverse the growing trend in the US for childhood obesity. Calling the campaign ‘Let’s move!’, she’s intending to leave lasting change in this area as her White House legacy.
Not content to live in the shadow of her husband, Michelle Obama is a strong role model for all American women, a campaigner and political animal who’s a strong advocate for balancing career with family life, and promotes arts education and healthy eating, particularly among the impoverished. Far from being just a style icon, she’s a force to be reckoned with on the national and international stages. Above all, she’s a realist. In her own words, ‘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.’
Tanya Piejus - Tanya lives in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, and has over 15 years' experience as a writer, editor, communications adviser, ...
