Michelle Obama in Her Own Words Read online

  Campaign speech, October 22, 2008

  When I go before a crowd, I’m thinking about trying to reach people’s hearts.

  Larry King Live, February 11, 2008

  I like campaigning more than I would have imagined. This would be a hard thing to do if you didn’t fundamentally like people. But interestingly enough, me, Barack, and our girls, we get energy from people. You know, when I’m tired, I get more energy coming out of a rally where I get to get hugs and I see people on the rope line tearing up because they never thought they’d see this moment. I see kids who are focused and engaged in a way that I’ve never seen before. That gives us both energy.

  Larry King Live, October 8, 2008

  There’s an out-of-body kind of aspect to it.

  GQ, September 2007

  I’m not doing this because I’m married to him, because truly, this process is painful. If you have a choice, America, don’t do this! Teach! Do something else. I tried to [tell] Barack—there are so many ways to change the world. Let’s do them! I [didn’t] want to run for president! Life was comfortable! It was safe! Nobody was takin’ pictures of us!

  Salon.com, November 28, 2007

  Barack’s not promising the moon. He’s said all along, “This election is not about me. It’s about all of us.” Change doesn’t happen from the top down; it happens from the bottom up. It requires everyone to work.

  Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 14, 2008

  I survive this stuff by not getting too far ahead.

  USA Today, May 11, 2007

  You know, there are two races in a presidential race. There’s the race in the press, which has felt so very different from what I see on the ground. If I were just looking at the papers and not spending so much time in Iowa, I would have never predicted the outcome in Iowa.

  Tell Me More, NPR, January 25, 2008

  The game of politics is the thing I hate the most about this whole process.

  Reno Gazette-Journal (NV), August 10, 2007

  When I was a little girl, the thought of a woman or an African American being president was the furthest thing from what could be possible. So it’s only now that I am seeing, in this race, these two phenomenal candidates that I know, as some have said, that we now can move beyond those issues and we can go for who we think is the best candidate.

  Larry King Live, February 11, 2008

  Our lives are so close to normal, if there is such a thing when you’re running for President. When I’m off the road, I’m going to Target to get the toilet paper, I’m standing on soccer fields, and I think there’s just a level of connection that gets lost the further you get into being a candidate.

  New Yorker, March 10, 2008

  It was never going to be easy.

  Madison Capital Times (WI), September 22, 2008

  ON PUBLIC EDUCATION

  You can’t just talk about improving education without talking about improving pay for teachers or making sure that parents are doing their part. People have to change their behavior in addition to systems and institutions changing.

  Chicago Tribune, April 22, 2007

  When you’re talking about ensuring that your kids have a decent public school to go to, what’s more important than that? How do you ensure that the federal government is going to invest enough resources to ensure that every single child in this country has access to a decent education?

  CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, February 15, 2008

  ON PUBLIC LIFE

  Barack is special, and I’m willing to share him. I’m willing to share the girls. If we can have better schools and health care and help moms who are struggling and get back on track internationally, then all this? Big deal. I can handle it.

  People, June 18, 2007

  Being public figures was not something we planned for. This is an oddity. You just have to say, this is interesting. Being able to travel and connect with people, it’s been very positive and a real blessing.

  The Telegraph (UK), July 26, 2008

  Our challenges get publicized, and I see that as a gift to let people know there is no magic to this.

  Essence, September 2007

  ON PUERTO RICO’S FUTURE

  That’s an issue that should be decided by the voters [in Puerto Rico]. Self-determination is a critical part of democracy.

  Charleston Gazette (WV), May 15, 2008

  ON RACISM

  I think race is a reality of our society. . . . We’ve made great strides, but we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. You know I can go to my neighborhood and see race played out. It still exists. It wouldn’t be fair to say that people are making too much of it because it is still a factor.

  Chicago Sun-Times, August 5, 2007

  This stuff is deep and we haven’t touched it as a nation. We don’t deal with pain that has been caused by racism and division. We don’t deal with it. And then we’re surprised when it rears its head among whites and blacks. We haven’t dealt with it and it’s hurting all of us. It’s hurting all of us. We can’t afford to have generations of children of any race believing they can’t be exactly who they think they should be.

  MSNBC, November 13, 2007

  We’re still playing around with the question of, “Is he black enough?” That’s nonsense. Stop it! If a man like Barack isn’t black enough, then who is?

  Jet, September 2007

  Race resonates all throughout the comments about my upbringing, my childhood, my access to college. It is there. Because it is me.

  Los Angeles Times, August 22, 2007

  ON REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT

  Your pastor is like your grandfather, right? There are plenty of things he says that I don’t agree with, that Barack doesn’t agree with. When it comes to absolute doctrinal adherence, I don’t know that there would be a church in this country that I would be involved in. So, you know, you make choices, and you can’t disown yourself from your family because they’ve got things wrong. You try to be a part of expanding the conversation.

  New Yorker, March 10, 2008

  The conversation Barack and I had was, This is the opportunity, this is the reason why you’re here. This is why you’re in this race, because there is a perspective, a voice that you can bring to this conversation that is needed and that no one else can do or say.

  New York Amsterdam News, April 17, 2008

  ON BEING A ROLE MODEL

  We have to make sure that young men and women, boys and girls growing up, if they don’t see that type of stability in their own home then they can look at some model out there, something that gives them the vision for what life can be for them. . . . The hope is that [Barack and I] offer a model.

  Chicago Defender, November 5, 2007

  ON THE ROLE OF FIRST LADY

  People have notions of what a wife’s role should be in this process, and it’s been a traditional one of blind adoration. My model is a little different—I think most real marriages are.

  Glamour, September 2007

  Both Barack and I believe that we can have an impact in the D.C. area, you know, in terms of making sure we’re contributing to the community that we immediately live in.

  60 Minutes, November 16, 2008

  The job depends on the time, it depends on the person, it depends on where they are in their life.

  USA Today, May 11, 2007

  Wow, what an opportunity. What a platform I’ll have, potentially, to talk about a whole range of issues that could affect the country. What a privilege it will be to have the opportunity to speak to people’s hearts, to be a part of moving this country in a different direction.

  Larry King Live, February 11, 2008

  There are a ton of things. It’s endless what you can do in the White House. But until I get there and know what kind of resources I’ll have and how much time and what’s the agenda of the country, I think, truthfully, I don’t know which of these many things I can focus on.

  Newsweek, February 25, 2008

  I don’t think I can h
onestly emulate somebody else. I think I can only be who I can be in this role. And that’s going to come with all the pluses and minuses and baggage and insecurities and all the things that I’ll bring into it, plus my hopes and dreams along with it.

  Newsweek, March 3, 2008

  My first job in all honesty is going to continue to be mom-in-chief, making sure that in this transition, which will be even more of a transition for the girls, that they are settled and that they know they will continue to be the center of our universe.

  Ebony, September 2008

  It does me no good to spend my time as first lady pretending to be something other than who I am. Let’s talk honestly about the challenges that we face. So that’s what I bring that’s unique from any other first lady. I mean, I don’t know them well enough to know—I can’t make that comparison but I know that this is who I am.

  MSNBC, November 13, 2007

  You know, I think the more that I learn about the position, there are a lot of things to do. Fortunately, I’m a great multitasker so I start sort of getting my list in order and creating order out of my life. But it’s not as much overwhelming. I try not to focus on that. Because things sort of fall into place, you know? I think about the opportunity. I think about, OK, what can I do that is useful with this role?

  Larry King Live, October 8, 2008

  If the country needs a more traditional first lady, well I can do that. It would not emasculate me. But it wouldn’t look like everybody else’s; it would have a Michelle Obama flair to it, right? Because I am who I am.

  Essence, September 2007

  Barack and I have always been professionally independent, and I like it like that. I don’t want to do my husband’s job, and I don’t want him to do mine. So we’re focused on our day-to-day life and existence and making sure that we stay whole. And I would say that in that respect, that’s where I’m his biggest adviser.

  Good Morning America, May 22, 2007

  I think that every First Lady in the history of this nation has brought something uniquely different and has moved that role in a fundamentally different direction. I think it has been an evolution that has gotten us to this point where I can be here, potentially to become the next First Lady, with all of my outspokenness and my approach to life and the things that I say. I think it’s been an evolution in this country because of the many First Ladies that have come before.

  CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, February 15, 2008

  I’m going to try to be honest, funny, and open, and share important parts of me with people, hopefully in a way that will help them think about their lives and avoid the mistakes we may have made in our lifetime. What you see on the trail is probably who I will be as First Lady, because that’s really who I am.

  Vanity Fair, December 2007

  I come to this with a lot of interesting talents. I need to be prepared to do what the country needs me to do at the time. Whether that’s baking cookies or serving as a wonderful hostess, that’s my job. I have to be prepared to do what’s necessary. And we won’t know what that’s going to be until we get there. I will be staunchly invested. It is a joint project.

  Associated Press (AP), May 28, 2007

  Given the many skills that I have on so many different levels, I will be what I have to be at the time. And it really will depend on what the country needs, what my family needs, what Barack needs. So I want to remain flexible enough so whatever is needed of me, that’s what I will do.

  Good Morning America, May 22, 2007

  I think that, you know, everyone who assumes the role of first lady brings something very unique to it. And it changes over time, and it’s going to be affected by the situations of our time—of our generation. It impacts what the first lady’s role will be. So I don’t want to speculate because I don’t want to box myself in and say, Well, you said you were gonna do this and now you’re doing that. You know how that works. I’m not doing that.

  MSNBC, November 13, 2007

  I don’t think in this modern society that the first lady role would be traditional because women like me are already breaking the mold.

  Chicago Defender, January 30, 2008

  I mean, come on. I’m an idea person. There are tons of things that I can think about doing. But I’m also a practical person. So what can you really accomplish? How much time do you have? What kind of resources do you have? What kind of staff do you have to do it? Because this stuff isn’t just going to happen because you say it. How do you structure it? And what will be my other responsibilities, the things that I’ll have to do?

  Newsweek, March 3, 2008

  I think the role of first lady is a full-time job. And my immediate priority will be to make the White House a home for our daughters. It’s going to be a big change for them and they are going to need my full attention.

  London Sunday Telegraph, February 10, 2008

  My God, who can sit here and say, I’m ready to be president and first lady?

  New York Times, May 18, 2007

  ON SARAH PALIN

  Governor Palin has a compelling life story, and she’s certainly accomplished a great deal while also balancing raising a family. She’s a working mom, so we have that in common.

  Marie Claire, October 2008

  A V.P. pick, it’s like being shot out of a cannon. All of a sudden you’re at the center of attention, and you want to look good. You’re living in your home, minding your business, and all of a sudden you’re on the national stage and everyone’s watching.

  Associated Press (AP), October 28, 2008

  I think she provides an excellent example of all the different roles that women can and should play. You know, I’m a mother with kids and I’ve had a career and I’ve had to juggle. She’s doing publicly what so many women are doing on their own privately. And what we’re fighting for is to make sure that all women have the choices that Sarah Palin and I have to make these decisions and do it without hurting their families. So what Sarah Palin and I have that all women deserve is the choices and the resources to make their choices work.

  Larry King Live, October 8, 2008

  ON THE SECRET SERVICE

  It’s very funny watching [our] kids with the Secret Service, because these guys are really trying to be secret. And we go to places where they’re trying to not look, and Sasha’s like, Look, there’s one. I see you. It’s one of the secret people.

  Campaign speech, July 8, 2007

  They give us our space.

  Chicago Sun-Times, July 1, 2008

  ON HER SENSE OF HUMOR

  I’m kind of sarcastic, and I’ve felt that my sense of humor had to be subjugated on some level. My husband loves my sense of humor, and we tease each other mercilessly. But if somebody doesn’t get the joke, then you become a caricature of what the joke was. So it’s like, Well, jeez—let me not joke, then, if it’s going to be all that problematic. People get real worked up about some things I felt were really minor, funny, harmless observations about who we are as people.

  Vanity Fair, December 2007

  I’m really funny and fun to be around. I’m very sarcastic, it works wonders in a room when you see the movement in my face or intonation in my voice. But sarcasm doesn’t translate in print. I’ve cut back on it, because I don’t want that to be the story.

  Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008

  I try to give people a broader variety of who I am so that my joke doesn’t interfere with the broader point. I don’t want the point to be lost because the point isn’t my humor. It’s not the joke. It’s the actual point behind the joke. So yeah, there are times when I cut back and think about how is this gonna be perceived on paper, so that the point isn’t lost.

  CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, February 15, 2008

  ON HER TALENTS

  I can give people a perspective into Barack’s character like no other person can. I mean, I’m married to the guy. I know his strengths and weaknesses, but I can also speak to his character.

&nbsp
; Chicago Defender, January 30, 2008

  I know how blessed my gifts are, because I know too many kids in my family and other communities whose futures are different because of one slip, one mess up, one thing that just didn’t work out right.

  Essence, September 2008

  The reason I think people can connect with me when they see me and get to know me, is that I’m just not that different.