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The New York Times

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/o/michelle_obama/index.html

January 20, 2009

USA - New First Lady - Michelle Obama

Jeffrey D. Nicholls/The Post-Tribune, via Associated Press

Michelle Obama has said she disliked politics, but over the course of a grueling, two-year campaign, the wife of the President-elect emerged as a political presence all her own. An Ivy League-educated lawyer and a mother of two, she has been a powerful advocate for and humanizer of Barack Obama, though she has not been immune from the pressures and criticisms of a national campaign.

She is a product of Chicago's historically black South Side, the daughter of a city pump operator. By the time she met Mr. Obama, she was one of just a handful of blacks at a prestigious law firm in the city, Sidley Austin. She founded the Chicago office of Public Allies, a nonprofit program that nurtures young leaders. Later she was vice president of community relations at the University of Chicago Medical Center; she is now on leave from her more-than-$300,000-a-year job.

Mrs. Obama was hesitant at first about her husband's candidacy for the White House, fearing the impact on their daughters. But after pressing advisers for a blueprint of an Obama victory, she gave her approval after seeing a concrete plan — and after insisting Mr. Obama quit smoking.

During the campaign, she spent much of her time on the trail, often away from her husband. Her nickname inside the campaign became "the closer" because she was skilled at persuading undecided voters to sign pledge cards. She was a passionate and commanding speaker out on the hustings who could connect with average voters and offer a background familiar to African-Americans, though she was sometimes criticized as condescending.

She has said that she sees the role of first lady as a full-time job — but reserves the right to change her mind when she gets there.

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