Michelle Obama: The next first lady?

Jun 8 2008 Annette Witheridge In New York

HE may be on the verge of making history as America's first black president but the only leader in Barack Obama's home life is his beautiful wife Michelle.

The Democratic hopeful says she runs their life with a "general's efficiency" and constantly reminds him he is a mere mortal whose snoring drives her crazy.

She gives him hell for dropping his dirty socks on the bedroom floor and failing to put the rubbish out.

In many ways, the pretty 44-year-old seems too good to be true. She is feisty, opinionated and - aside from a couple of sarcastic comments about her husband's smelly breath when he wakes up - has yet to put a foot wrong.

And Obama clearly adores her. Last week, when it was clear he had won the Democratic nomination against rival Hillary Clinton, the first person he turned to was Michelle.

They hugged and kissed then did a funny little dance that culminated in them bumping their fists together. Political pundits were quick to point out that it showed they were genuinely affectionate - as well as quite hip.

Michelle is often portrayed as a reluctant political wife because she refused to move their daughters Malia, nine, and Sasha, six, to Washington when he became a senator.

But the truth is Obama refuses to make a move unless it is sanctioned by the woman he calls his closest advisor.

When Obama was first approached four years ago to seek the presidency, it was Michelle who closely questioned whether he stood a chance against the Clinton juggernaut.

She simply does not tolerate losers. Even as a child she threw temper tantrums when older brother Craig beat her at Monopoly.

Winning was - and still is - everything to Michelle.

She grew up in near poverty in Chicago. Her dad Frasier worked for the city water plant and mum Marian was a secretary.

Michelle and Craig shared a tiny bedroom in a partitioned-off area of the family living room.

Both won accolades as gifted pupils and Craig became one of the country's top college sports coaches.

Michelle, thin and 5ft 11in tall, won scholarships to Princeton and Harvard, America's most prestigious universities.

She was one of only a handful of black students on campus and campaigned for civil rights.

After graduation she took a job as a junior lawyer at a Chicago law firm and was rising through the ranks when she was asked to take care of a summer intern.

She expected someone "nerdy, strange and off-putting"

so she was pleasantly surprised by dashing Barack. As the only African-Americans in the firm, they instantly bonded. Michelle thought he was such a catch she tried to fix him up with her single girlfriends.

But Obama only had eyes for Michelle and pestered her for dates.

Like Tony and Cherie Blair, who met as junior barristers in the same London chambers, she eventually agreed to go to the cinema with him.

Their first date was to see Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee's film about racial conflict in a multi-ethnic community in New York.

But unlike Cherie, who recently revealed she slept with Tony on their first date, Michelle merely says: "He charmed me, swept me off my feet."

Three years later she read him the riot act over his reluctance to get married. As she ranted about whether he was serious or not, a waiter delivered a dessert plate with a small box on it. Inside was an engagement ring.

"That kind of shuts you up, doesn't it," Obama said as she burst out laughing.

Fifteen years on the couple still appear to be madly in love. Explaining how their relationship works, he says: "She's gorgeous. She's strong and smart and grounded. She's brutally honest, which is good for keeping my head on straight."

Asked why people should vote for him, Michelle said: "I've got a loud mouth. I tease my husband. He's incredibly smart and he is very able to deal with a strong woman, which is one of the reasons why he can be president.

Because he can deal with me."

Former Clinton aide and Obama pal Avis LaVelle says: "Every high-flying kite needs somebody with their feet on the ground and that's Michelle. She's smart, successful and popular."

There have been no ex-lovers or former friends coming out of the woodwork to slate her. Rumours that an audio tape of Michelle making racial comments about "whiteys" have come to nothing.

Michelle has said older African-Americans tell her they worry about her family's safety but she believes this era is different from that of Martin Luther King. She said: "Fear is a useless emotion."

Obama's candidacy was confirmed yesterday when Clinton conceded defeat and pledged her support for him in the presidential election against Republican John McCain.

The Obamas have been compared to JFK and his style-icon wife Jackie Onassis and America has become mesmerised by the so-called black Kennedys. Michelle - orMiche as she is known to her er friends - shares a love of chic suits and pearl necklaces with Jackie. But that's where the similarities end. She has more in common with Cherie Blair, the real wage-earner in the former rime minister's household.

Even though Michelle quit private law to work for Chicago's legendary Mayor Richard Daley and jokes that every career move she has made has led to a downsize in salary, she is still the family breadwinner.

Until recently she earned more than £150,000 a year - double her husband's senatorial salary - as a vice president for community and external affairs for the University of Chicago go Hospital.

She went part-time to care for her daughters but refused to spend more than two days a week on the campaign trail when her husband first made his bid for president.

Obama's advisors recently realised her firebrand, shoot-from-the-heart speeches were the perfect opening act for her husband so she now jets around the US on his behalf. Her mother, who refuses to leave the one-bed flat in crime-ridden south Chicago where Michelle grew up, now cares for her grandchildren.

But Michelle insists if her husband becomes president her first priority will be to settle the girls into the White House.

She has learned from Hillary Clinton, who tried and failed to reform health care when her husband Bill became president.

Michelle says she will wait to see what budget she has and what needs to be done before she decides what to do as first lady.

But unlike the present incumbent Laura Bush, a librarian turned compliant Stepford Wife, she won't be agreeing with everything her husband does.

As she tells him when he gets too big for his boots: "You're a goodman but are still a man."

A WEEK after the assassination of another young star JFK, his wife Jackie said his presidency was "one brief shining moment known as Camelot...there'll be great presidents again but there'll never be another Camelot".

Robin Givhan, fashion editor of The Washington Post, has described Michelle's look as "Camelot with a tan".

She said she mirrored Jackie's pearls, shift dresses, flipped-out bob and bold colours.

OBAMA McCAIN

AGE

Born Barack Hussein Obama in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, his boyish looks make him seem younger than his 46 years.

Born John Sidney McCain in 1936 in Panama, where his military family were stationed at a US base. He is 71 years old.

BACKGROUND

His Kenyan dad met his Kansas-born mum in Hawaii. They divorced and his mum wed again. Moved to Indonesia where he livedwith half-sister Maya until he was 10.

His dad and grandad were four-star admirals in the US Navy. With his older sister Sandy and younger brother Joe, they lived on naval bases and attended up to 20 different schools.

EDUCATION & CAREER

Studied political science at Columbia University, New York, then went to Harvard Law School. Worked as a lawyer in Chicago, fighting discrimination cases.

Graduated from US Naval Academy in 1958. Won 17 awards and decorations.

Held as a POW in Vietnam for five years, two in solitary confinement, where he was tortured.

FAMILY

Met his wife Michelle Robinson in 1989 when he got a job at the law firm where she worked. Married in 1992 and has two daughters, Malia, nine, and Sasha, six.

Wed model Carol Shepp in 1965, adopted her two kids and had a daughter.

Divorced in 1980. Married heiress Cindy Hensley, had three kids and adopted a Bangladeshi girl, now 17.

SOUNDBITES

'I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse.'

'There is not a black, white, Latino and Asian America - there is the United States of America.'

'Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war.'

'I'm older than dirt, I've got more scars than Frankenstein but I've learned a few things on the way.'

POLITICS

Was elected to Illinois state senate in 1997 and became the senator for Illinois in 2005.

Retired from the Navy in 1981. Elected to the House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982.

POLICIES

Priorities include ending the war in Iraq, providing affordable health care for all and tackling illegal immigration.

Tough stand on the Iraq war, vowing to keep troops there as long as necessary. Supports tax cuts.

HOBBIES

Basketball fanatic - he plays every morning. He also loves jogging.

Loves barbecues, baseball, hiking and fishing. Was an amateur boxer.

FLAWS

He was a smoker but claims he has quit. He wears nicotine patches to curb the urges. He also plays poker.

His age and previous health problems, such as skin cancer. Felt obliged to make his medical records public, showing he is now healthy.

SUPPORTERS

Oprah, George Clooney, Jon Bon Jovi, Jennifer Aniston and Bruce Springsteen are fans.

Celebrity backers include Tom Selleck, Sylvester Stallone and Burt Bacharach.

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