In a story published on NBC, the impact America’s first black First Lady has had on the psyche of the country keeps reverberating as writers and journalist try to capture what this unique and towering figure in American history has meant for the people.
“As her time in the White House draws to a close, historians note that she leaves behind an unprecedented legacy, not just as the nation’s first black first lady and fierce defender of her husband’s policies, but as a champion for a healthier nation and access to educational opportunity.
“What strikes me about Michelle Obama is how much she made the position her own,” Allida Black, the first ladies’ historian at the White House Historical Association, told NBC News. “She not only became increasingly comfortable but also increasingly influential as first lady in ways that really were her own, and they were ways that were different.”
As you read through the story, you could not help laugh at the absurdity of the political class in Washington and the American press who has once labeled her a potential liability during her husband’s first campaign. Today she will leave Washington as the country’s most popular public figure and a wet dream of Democrats clamoring for her to run for president.
Tracing her reticence at playing a role that now many can not just fathom without her in it, the story indicated that:
In 2008, after her husband’s landmark victory, Obama came to the role “somewhat reluctantly and somewhat unsure” of how it would affect her family, said Anita McBride, former chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush and director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University.
On the trail, when asked what kind of first lady she would be, she gave little indication as to the mold she might attempt to fit. Obama’s answer was most often, “I won’t know until I get there.”
On the trail, when asked what kind of first lady she would be, she gave little indication as to the mold she might attempt to fit. Obama’s answer was most often, “I won’t know until I get there.”
Her primary concern was conserving a private life for herself and her two young daughters, Sasha and Malia, McBride said. That was one thing that never changed as she found her footing on the national stage.
“I think she would consider that one of her most important duties and legacy — that she was able to maintain a private family life for herself and her girls,” she added.
Black said that Obama was able to balance “really making a home” for her family at the White House, “while at the same time trying to figure out and mastering what she wanted to do.”
During the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the first lady declared that her “most important title is still ‘mom-in-chief.'” And indeed, from her earliest initiatives she largely focused on programs dedicated to improving the lives of children. continue reading
