Barack Obama
Related: About this forumMichelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady
Michelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady
By JODI KANTOR
Michelle Obama was privately fuming, not only at the presidents team, but also at her husband.
In the days after the Democrats lost Edward Kennedys Senate seat in January 2010, Barack Obama was even-keeled as usual in meetings, refusing to dwell on the failure or lash out at his staff. The first lady, however, could not fathom how the White House had allowed the crucial seat, needed to help pass the presidents health care legislation and the rest of his agenda, to slip away, several current and former aides said.
To her, the loss was more evidence of what she had been saying for a long time: Mr. Obamas advisers were too insular and not strategic enough. She cherished the idea of her husband as a transformational figure, but thanks in part to the health care deals the administration had cut, many voters were beginning to view him as an ordinary politician.
The first lady never confronted the advisers directly that was not her way but they found out about her displeasure from the president. She feels as if our rudder isnt set right, Mr. Obama confided, according to aides.
The Michelle Obama of January 2012 is an expert motivator and charmer, a champion of safe causes like helping military families and ending childhood obesity, an increasingly canny political player eager to pour her popularity into her husbands re-election campaign. But interviews with more than 30 current and former aides, as well as some of the first couples closest friends, conducted for The Obamas, a new book, show that she has been an unrecognized force in her husbands administration and that her story has been one first of struggle, then turnaround and greater fulfillment.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/us/politics/michelle-obamas-evolution-as-first-lady.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all?src=tp
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Last edited Sat Jan 7, 2012, 04:12 AM - Edit history (1)
White House Reacts Swiftly, Dismissively To New Book, 'The Obamas'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/white-house-reacts-the-obamas_n_1190854.html
Weird how people write books and don't talk to the major players.
Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)My fainting couch! Where is my fainting couch?