Michelle Obama in Her Own Words Page 5
She has been completely forthcoming. She will spend as much time as I need on the phone. She’s been completely gracious with her time and her advice, and I am grateful to her for that.
Newsweek, November 5, 2008
ON HER HUSBAND
I’m married to a man who gets it.
Campaign speech, October 22, 2008
Can his mind be changed?
Absolutely. Hey, I change it every day.
Larry King Live, February 11, 2008
He’s a good man. First of all, he’s my best friend. He’s a phenomenal support to me and the girls. I mean this is a guy who, in the midst of this race, hasn’t missed a parent/teacher conference. This is the stuff that I look at. He took the girls trick or treating. He came home for a day to buy the Christmas tree. He took me out for our anniversary. I mean, he is just consistent. But he is consistent. It’s just his character, you know?
Larry King Live, February 11, 2008
I listen very intently when he speaks because I always want to find out whether I believe it, you know, whether I feel that authenticity. And I do every single time he speaks, but there are just some times when he touches my heart in a way that makes me very clear about why we’re doing this.
MSNBC, November 13, 2007
Barack is one of the few men I’ve met who is not intimidated by strong women. He relishes the fact that I’m not impressed by him.
Chicago Tribune, April 22, 2007
The one thing that I can tell people is that Barack has not disappointed me once in the twenty years or more that I’ve known him. Not once. And that’s the only reason why I can be sitting here.
Gayle King Show, August 25, 2008
Barack gets angry. It’s not something that’s said about him, he can take any name-calling or the back-and-forth, but it’s the unfairness that we’re seeing across the country that makes him mad.
Larry King Live, October 8, 2008
He’s got me, he’s got my mom, he’s got our girls. He’s surrounded [by women] and he loves it. He’s very comfortable with women, and he’s comfortable with women who push him. That’s the only reason I could be married to him. It’s the only reason it would work.
Rocky Mountain News, July 17, 2008
He’s a gifted man, but in the end, he’s just a man.
Chicago Tribune, April 22, 2007
The Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with nineteen years ago. He’s the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail’s pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands.
One Nation speech, Democratic National Convention,
August 25, 2008
[I know he’s stressed] when he’s writing small notes late at night. When he’s really sort of brooding about something, it’s late at night, and there’s a lot of little note-writing going on.
Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2008
My best accessory.
Ebony, September 2008
Barack is exactly who he appears to be. I know that’s hard to understand in politics. He’s smart, he’s decent, a good husband and a good father.
Reno Gazette-Journal (NV), August 10, 2007
ON HER HUSBAND’S PRESIDENTIAL ABILITIES
He is incredibly smart and he is very able to deal with a strong woman, which is one of the reasons he can be president, because he can deal with me.
Good Morning America, May 22, 2007
You see people who can live well in corporate America. They can wear that uniform well. They can’t make the transition and vice versa. Barack lived comfortably in those two worlds.
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, February 15, 2008
Barack is going to make mistakes. But, see, the beauty of Barack making mistakes is that he’s not going to be so stubborn that he can’t admit that he’s making mistakes and he can’t look at another way of approaching things.
Larry King Live, February 11, 2008
You will not see another politician like [Barack] in your lifetime. Because they don’t come along very often. There are other people like him out there, but they don’t choose to go into politics because they have sense. My husband is a little crazy.
Salon.com, November 28, 2007
He’s not just going to tell you what you think you want to hear.
Larry King Live, February 11, 2008
And he has to continue to make [his children] a priority even as he’s the leader of the free world. I think that’s an important thing for him to model for others. It’s this notion that if he can do it, then we all have to really fight for it.
Newsweek, November 5, 2008
He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA), May 29, 2008
If he’s doing his job, he’s going to say things that you don’t agree with.
USA Today, May 11, 2007
When was the last time we’ve had a president of the United States who spent years working on the streets in a major city, for years working with people who never had a voice and advocating for better streets, cleaner streets, safer communities?
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, February 15, 2008
I married him because I saw that specialness.
Concord Monitor (NH), May 5, 2007
ON HOW HER FAMILY’S LIVES WILL CHANGE
In the end you have to prioritize your life around your children so that they know that they continue to be the most important people in the world to you even if you are possibly going to be the next president of the United States.
Tell Me More, NPR, January 25, 2008
It will be a hard transition for those little girls. They’ll be going on eleven and eight. They’ll be leaving the only home that they’ve known. Someone’s got to be the steward of that transition. And it can’t be the President of the United States. It will be me.
Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2008
We certainly don’t want to spend the next four or eight years in the White House trying to live up to a persona that isn’t true. I want to be able to be me, and we’re certainly not going to change just to win. Because the point isn’t winning, it’s changing the country, its changing America, it’s changing the way you live. It’s throwing this game out, shaking it up and throwing it out the window, and not just playing it better than the people who played it before.
MSNBC, November 13, 2007
As first lady, my number one job would still be Mom. At seven and ten, our daughters are young. If we move to Washington, my first priority will be to ensure they stay grounded and healthy, with normal childhoods—including homework, chores, dance, and soccer.
U.S. News & World Report, October 17, 2008
Our hope is that we do some of what we’ve been doing for the last year and a half. That we really treat our family life as separate as you can, that we keep the girls’ lives very set apart from this whole experience. Which means we have to just pretend like this isn’t happening. And we’ve gotten sort of good at it. It’ll be a little bit more challenging, but I think that staying connected to friends and family who know you [will help].
Newsweek, November 5, 2008
It’s just more of the same, except more people are watching. I think that if you’re secure in yourself and you sort of know who you are—not to say we don’t have anything else to learn but, you know, we’re pretty grounded—that helps you handle all of the ups and downs of this kind of stuff.
Larry King Live, February 11, 2008
ON HOW SHE DEALS WITH STRESS
Our high stress levels and busy lives also make it difficult for us to be completely on point mentally. We’ve n
ot yet embraced the notion that it’s OK for us to take time out for ourselves, to find the time to be still, to be quiet and to reflect on our lives. I know I can’t do it. You know, the minute my kids go to bed at 8:30—click, click, the TV. And I need time to wind down and to just reflect.
Campaign speech, July 8, 2007
ON HOW SHE INFLUENCES BARACK
I don’t spend any time at all, because I don’t have the time, to dig deep into his energy policy. It’s not my forte, I’m not an energy person, I’m not necessarily the one who has particularly interesting insight [in that area].
MSNBC, November 13, 2007
The notion of sitting around the table with a set of policy advisors—no offense—makes me yawn. I like creating stuff.
Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2008
ON HOW SHE MAKES DECISIONS
Life changes and I never see one set of decisions as permanent. I look at it as this is what I’m doing for this time and make sense at this time in my life and I don’t try to predict what the future will hold in terms of those types of decisions.
Chicago Defender, November 5, 2007
ON IMMIGRATION
We would have an immigration policy that brings 12 million people out of the shadows.
Associated Press (AP), August 27, 2008
ON THEIR IMAGE AS A COUPLE
We are new to politics in terms of just this approach—how we talk, how we look—imagine having a president of the United States who is just two years out of college debt and understands that.
Brattleboro Reformer (VT), December 6, 2007
You’ve never seen anyone like us before, and that’s a little freaky, isn’t it? It’s like, “They’re real!” Well, guess what? Real people can be politicians too. We as a country have grown suspicious of real. We take the fake.
Salon.com, November 28, 2007
ON IRAQ
Instead of putting millions into a war, we could be providing universal health care. Instead of putting millions into a war, we could be expanding education and increasing the quality of education for all children. Instead of putting money into a war, we could be providing better quality childcare.
All Things Considered, NPR, July 9, 2007
You can’t do the I told you so. We’re in a war. We have young men and women over there fighting right now, and we have to think pragmatically about bringing this to an end. That’s the conversation now. That was then, this is now. We have to deal with Iraq today is what he has been saying. And, again, you can’t take a rash approach. You can’t just pull folks out. You can’t just cut off funding completely. You’ve got to unravel this thing in a common sense way.
Good Morning America, May 22, 2007
ON LAURA BUSH
Laura Bush was just so gracious. She is a really sweet person and couldn’t have been more excited and enthusiastic about the tour [of the White House]. So that was wonderful. And her entire team, their team has been working closely just to make us feel welcome.
60 Minutes, November 16, 2008
That’s what I like about Laura Bush. [She has] a calm, rational approach to these issues. And you know, I’m taking some cues. I mean, there’s a balance.
The View, June 18, 2008
There’s a reason people like her. It’s because she doesn’t, you know, add fuel to the fire.
New York Times, June 19, 2008
ON HER LAW CAREER
Work is rewarding. I love losing myself in a set of problems that have nothing to do with my husband and children. Once you’ve tasted that, it’s hard to walk away.
The Telegraph (UK), July 26, 2008
I had a fancy office, a secretary, and a new Saab. But it wasn’t enough.
Joliet Herald News (IL), October 14, 2004
I didn’t see a whole lot of people who were just thrilled to be there. I met people who thought this was a good life. But were people waking up just bounding out of bed to get to work? No.
Newsweek, February 25, 2008
I could die tomorrow. I had to ask myself, is this how I want to spend my time? I knew I would never feel a sense of passion or joy about the law. I was on a conveyor belt. Law school had just been the next step.
The Telegraph (UK), July 26, 2008
ON HER LEGACY
I think we’re gonna sort of tip the scales of balance in favor of most Americans. I believe we’ll have universal health care, I believe that we’ll have more of a chance of people’s wages keeping up with the cost of living, I think we’re going to have a presidency that is serious about global warming, that is going to begin to talk openly about the challenges we face.
MSNBC, November 13, 2007
ON LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE
The White House is beautiful. It is awe-inspiring. It is a great gift and an honor to be able to live here. And, you know, we want to make sure that we’re upholding what that house stands for. But I couldn’t help but envisioning the girls running into their rooms and, you know, running down the hall, with a dog. And, you know, you start picturing your life there. And our hope is that the White House will feel open and fun and full of life and energy.
60 Minutes, November 16, 2008
Barack was gone [from home] most of an entire two-year period. And now, we get to be together under the one roof, having dinners together. And, you know, I envision the kids coming home from school and being able to run across the way to the Oval Office and see their dad before they start their homework. And having breakfast. And he’ll be there to tuck them in at night.
60 Minutes, November 16, 2008
ON HER MARRIAGE
I married a man who came from a very different kind of upbringing. He didn’t grow up with a father; his mother traveled the world. So we both came to this marriage with very different notions about what children need, and what does a couple need to be happy. So I had to give up some of my notions, and so did he.
Vanity Fair, December 2007
Life was you get married, you have kids, you buy a home. I thought Barack would be a partner at a law firm or maybe teach or work in the community. We’d watch our kids go to college and go to their weddings and take care of the grandkids and that was it.
People, August 4, 2008
From the beginning of our relationship there have been a lot of unexpected, wonderful twists and turns. We’ve affected each other’s lives in pretty significant ways.
Chicago Defender, November 5, 2007
The truth is that everybody struggles with it, we just don’t talk about it out loud. And then also I had to change. Because there were a lot of things time-wise that he couldn’t provide, because he was not there. How do I stop being mad at him, and start problem-solving, and cobble together the resources? I also had to admit that I needed space and I needed time. And the more time that I could get to myself, the less stress I felt. So it was a growth process for me individually and for us as a couple, too.
Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2008
We know we are blessed.
Campaign speech, October 22, 2008
Normal is relative. I feel like our relationship is exactly the same because we talk every night. We talk as long as we need to. So I don’t feel like I’m in any way disconnected from him. So in terms of physical time together, it’s more sporadic. But mentally and emotionally, it feels like we’re right where we’ve always been.
Newsweek, March 3, 2008
There is so much work we need to do as a family and as a couple.
Sioux City Journal (IA), May 22, 2007
How do I structure my world so that it works for me and I’m not trying to get him to be what I think he should be?
People, June 18, 2007
We have very separate professional relationships, which I think is healthy.
Sioux City Journal (IA), May 22, 2007
When we married, he didn’t pledge riches, only a life that would be interesting.
London Daily Mail, February 6, 2008
We do operate as individual p
rofessionals. And we’re both stubborn. He has his opinions, I have mine. Just like everything else.
Chicago Sun-Times, September 19, 2004
We have a rule in our house that I can tease and he can’t.
Associated Press (AP), May 29, 2007