WP, pg1: The Future First Lady, Finding Her Home in History

[DeepModem Mom]

The Future First Lady, Finding Her Home in History
By Richard Leiby and Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; A01


Laura Bush and Michelle Obama in the private residence of the White House. A spokeswoman said the two discussed raising daughters in the executive mansion. (Joyce N. Boghosia/The White House)

After Michelle Obama crossed the threshold of her new home yesterday to meet with its outgoing occupants, she was briefed on what would convey: certain pieces of furniture, the carpeting and the drapes -- if these met her tastes -- and, of course, a tremendous sense of history. Meeting privately with Laura Bush while her husband conferred with the president in the Oval Office, the incoming first lady was participating in a century-old Washington ritual that represents the softer side of the serious business of a presidential transition.

It's a tradition that may not rank with the passing of secret nuclear-launch codes, but the White House visit by Michelle and Barack Obama was no less freighted with significance. "They will literally become living symbols of the country to the world, for all of history," said Carl Sferrazza Anthony, who has written several books about first ladies. "It will redefine their identities."

Michelle Obama had already made clear that her first priority will be smoothly settling her daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, into this new life. She squeezed the White House visit in between trips to the private Georgetown Day School and Sidwell Friends School....

***

As is customary during transitions, the outgoing first lady led her successor on a White House tour that focused primarily on the upstairs private residence, including three bedroom suites and three living areas. These areas, along with the Oval Office, are subject to redecoration, as opposed to the public rooms....Michelle Obama and Laura Bush also spent time discussing "raising daughters in the White House," Stephanie Cutter, the Obama transition spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Mrs. Obama was honored to finally meet the First Lady, who was a gracious hostess." It was Michelle's second visit to the White House -- she was there once before with Malia and Sasha around the time of her husband's swearing-in to the Senate....

As a woman who has juggled work and family, Michelle, 44, will continue to be a "role model for so many women who are struggling in our country to make that balance work," said Valerie Jarrett, a close friend of the Obamas and co-chair of the transition team.

Another great interest of Michelle's is volunteerism, Jarrett said on Sunday to the Trotter Group, an organization of black journalists. She said Michelle -- like her husband, a Harvard-educated lawyer -- had expressed a desire to figure out more broadly "what can we do as Americans to volunteer and give back to our community."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111003260_pf.html

[Waiting For Everyman]

1. A good article, thanks!

She's going to be a terrific First Lady. :)

[TheDoorbellRang]

2. I'd pick Georgetown Day just so Malia could be friends with Nicolo

I like this kid's style:

The transition team and staff at both schools in the District refused to discuss the visits. So it fell to a 10-year-old boy, Nicolo Pisoni, to offer on-the-record confirmation of her trip to Georgetown Day's campus on MacArthur Boulevard.

"I thought it was awesome because I saw the future first lady," the fourth-grader said. "I got really excited, but we weren't supposed to get excited. Not out loud. Our teachers told us not to get excited but to show Michelle it was a regular school day and that we aren't crazy kids. They didn't want us asking her for her autograph."