Michelle Obama Biography

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is a former First Lady of the United States who served from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to hold this post in the United States. She is the wife of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.

Obama was born and brought up on Chicago's South Side and attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She was employed at the law firm Sidley Austin in her initial legal career, wherein she met Barack Obama. She went on to work in NGOs and at the University of Chicago, where she was the associate principal of Student Services and the vice president for Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Michelle and Barack got married in 1992 and have two daughters together. The significant information and achievements of Michelle are discussed in this Barack Obama Wife Biography.

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Quick Facts on Michelle Obama

Full Name- Michelle LaVaughn Robinson

Born- January 17, 1964 (age 57)

Spouse(s)- Barack Obama ​(m. 1992)​

Children- Malia, Sasha

Parents- Fraser Robinson III (father) and Marian Shields (mother)

Relatives- Obama family (by marriage), Craig Robinson (brother)

Early Life and Ancestry

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. Fraser Robinson, Michelle's father, had been a city-pump operator and Democratic precinct captain. Marian, Michelle's mother, worked at Spiegel's as a secretary but eventually stayed at home to nurture Michelle and her older brother, Craig. Craig and Michelle were sometimes mistaken for twins because they were only 21 months apart in age.

On Chicago's South Side, the Robinson family lived in a modest home. Michelle and Craig shared a room, resting in the living room with something like a sheet as a makeshift partition. They were a close-knit family who spent most of their time together eating, reading, and playing games. 

Michelle Obama Education and Early Career

Robinson was motivated by her brother to attend Princeton University, which she did in 1981. She specialized in sociology and minored in African-American studies, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1985 after writing a 99-page final thesis under the direction of Walter Wallace titled "Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community."

Robinson recounts that several of her high school instructors tried to persuade her not to apply and that she was told not to "raise my eyes too high." She thought her brother's position as an alumnus, who graduated in 1983 before going on to coach basketball at Oregon State University and Brown University, would have assisted her in getting in, even though she was determined to prove her own merit. She has admitted to feeling overwhelmed during her freshman year, blaming it on the reality that none of her parents had graduated from college and she had never visited a college campus.

According to reports, the mother of a white roommate attempted (unsuccessfully) to get her daughter relocated due to Michelle's colour. Robinson noted that being at Princeton was the very first time she became much more conscious of her ethnicity and that she still experienced "like a visitor on campus" despite her peers and teachers' attempts to reach out to her. There were also concerns about social class. "I remember being astounded by college students driving BMWs," she recalls. I didn't even know anyone whose parents drove BMWs.".

Family Life

Marian Robinson, Michelle's mother, was a stay-at-home mom. Fraser C. Robinson III, her father, was employed at the city's water treatment plant. Fraser Robinson, Robinson's father, died in March 1991 as a result of complications from his sickness. Despite the "hole in my heart" and "loss in my scar," she would subsequently declare that the memories of her father have inspired her every day since. 

Suzanne Alele, a friend of hers, died of cancer around the same time. These losses prompted her to reflect on her role in society and also how effectively she was impacting the world after her first job following law school, a legal firm. This was a watershed moment for her. Robinson met Barack Obama at their law company, Sidley Austin LLP, where they were both being one of the few African Americans. While he was a summer associate, she was supposed to supervise him. Their relationship began with a business lunch and then a community group meeting, where he wowed her for the first time.

The couple went to see Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing on their first date (1989). Barack Obama has remarked that the couple's first attraction to one another was based on "opposites attract," because Michelle had stability from her two-parent family while he was "adventurous." On October 3, 1992, they tied the knot. Michelle underwent in vitro fertilisation to conceive their daughters Malia Ann (born 1998) and Natasha (born 1998) after experiencing a miscarriage.

First Lady of the United States (2009-2017)

Obama visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens in her first months as First Lady. She did send representatives to schools and encouraged people to volunteer in the community.

By advocating bills that support her husband's policy interests, Obama lobbied for them. In honour of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, she addressed a White House reception for women's rights campaigners. During trips to the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Education, she expressed support for the economic stimulus plan.

Some people praised her legislative efforts, whereas others suggested she need to be less politically involved. As per her representatives, she planned to visit all Cabinet-level departments in the United States in order to familiarise herself with the city. Barbara Walters selected Obama the Most Fascinating Person of the Year in 2009. Let's Move!, Let Girls Learn, Reach Higher, and Joining Forces were Obama's four main projects as First Lady, according to her memoir, Becoming.

Michelle Obama's projects included lobbying for military families, assisting working women in balancing job and family life, supporting national service, and encouraging the arts and arts education. Obama made it a personal goal to assist military families and spouses, and he grew closer to them. Michelle Cottle's essay in Politico in November 2013, blaming Obama of being a "feminist nightmare" for not including and making use of her position and education to campaign for women's causes, was widely panned.

In May 2014, Obama joined a campaign to reunite schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria with their families. The first lady posted a photo of herself carrying a banner with the caption #bringbackourgirls. Obama describes how she enlisted aid for her Let Girls Learn project to develop and sing the song "This is for My Girls" in her book.

Fashion Icon

Michelle was widely renowned for her no-nonsense campaign style and also her taste of dress after her husband's political involvement thrust her family into the spotlight.

She was named one of "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women" by Essence magazine in May 2006. Michelle was named number 58 in "The Harvard 100," a yearly selection of the school's most prominent alumni, by 02138 magazine in September 2007.

She also featured on the cover of Vogue twice and was named to the Vanity Fair and People magazines' best-dressed lists two years in a row. Michelle and her daughters gained notice for their wardrobe selections, which included J. Crew, Thom Browne, and Kate Spade, at her husband's second term inauguration ceremony on January 21, 2013. Michelle was highly praised for the crimson Jason Wu gown she wore to the following occasions.