Michelle Obama embraces First Lady role

Washington: Michelle Obama would rather see herself as a "mom-in-chief," not a first lady, but she’s a critical part of her husband’s presidency and his close-fought bid for a second term in the White House.. Michelle Obama, a Chicago, Illinois, native, was born on January 17, 1964 to a middle-class family: her father, Fraser Robinson, was a water plant employee and her mother, Marian, was a homemaker. . A gifted student, Obama attended a Chicago magnet school, a public school that has special curricula. There, she studied French, became the student council’s treasurer, and graduated the second-highest in her class. She then went on to attend Princeton University, where she majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies, and graduated in 1985 with honors. Obama also earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, making her the third First Lady with a post-graduate degree. . Michelle worked at the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin, now Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. There, she met Barack Obama, who was there as a summer intern. The Obamas married in 1992 and have two daughters, Malia, born in 1998, and Sasha, born in 2001. . Michelle worked in local Chicago government, holding the positions of Assistant to the Mayor and Assistant Commissioner of Urban Planning. She also worked for the University of Chicago, becoming the executive director for community affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals in 2002 and their Vice President for Community and External Affairs in 2005. . When Michelle initially began campaigning on her husband’s behalf when he ran for the US Senate in 2000, she reportedly did not enjoy it, telling her University of Chicago boss that the only thing she found enjoyable about campaigning was that entering so many people’s homes gave her new decorating ideas. Despite this initial reluctance, Michelle has been an important part of her husband’s campaigns both this year and in 2008. . Perhaps a highlight of her campaigning efforts was the rousing speech she gave at the Democratic National Convention held in North Carolina in September. There, she made a point of describing her and her husband’s middle class roots and the difficulties they faced in their early years of marriage. Despite the fact that she never mentioned Republican challenger Mitt Romney or his family, many commentators and analysts said that she was clearly differentiating herself and her family from theirs, and implying that the Obamas relate to and better understand the plight of middle class and lower-income families in the US. . As First Lady, Michelle has focused on the problem of rising childhood obesity in the United States, starting a program called Let’s Move! that aims to eliminate the problem within a generation by reaching out to teachers, parents and community leaders. . Michelle, together with Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, also started a program to support the families of military personnel. The program, called Joining Forces, aims to address the specific needs of military families and work with businesses to help employ and train veterans.. In an indication of changing times, Michelle is also the first First Lady to tweet. Her twitter handle is @MichelleObama and tweets written by her are signed –mo. Her speech at the DNC generated over 28,000 tweets, with an article on Mashable.com commenting that her speech was full of short sound bites easily transcribed in 140 characters or less. . Two-thirds of Americans think favorably of Barack Obama’s partner of 20-plus years, according to Gallup polls, easily outpacing him in terms of popularity in the most prominent unelected position in the United States.. "She’s a very popular first lady," said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush and now teaches at American University in Washington.. "She’s been very effective at using her platform, using her voice, in attempting to make a difference in the issues she’s engaged with," McBride told AFP in the run-up to Tuesday’s election.. One prime example is Let’s Move, an initiative to combat childhood obesity that she launched soon after moving into the White House - and which dovetails perfectly with the president’s landmark health care reforms.. In a media-savvy act, Obama planted the first White House garden since World War II, growing fresh fruits and vegetables while encouraging an increasingly overweight nation to ease up on junk food.. She has also championed the interests of military families, promoted a better work-life balance for women and encouraged arts education.. "She seems emblematic of a generation of couples, willing to put one career - not necessarily that of the woman - on hold and to work together to advance the career of the other," said historian Betty Boyd Caroli, author of "First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama.". Her time as the first African-American first lady has not been without controversy.. In 2010, she stirred national outrage when she took her daughters, plus an entire Secret Service detail, on a seaside holiday in Spain just as unemployment in the United States was creeping higher.. The year before, she raised eyebrows when, at a Buckingham Palace reception, she affectionately put her arm around the back of Queen Elizabeth II, in what sticklers called a shocking breach of protocol.. But overall, rather than reshape the role of first lady, Obama "has used the job much as Laura Bush did," said Caroli, staying clear of hot-button issues and from giving the impression she has overt influence over the president.. "Every problem in the world comes to the desk of the American president, but the first lady gets to pick and choose," McBride added. "They can really make a difference and I think that it extraordinarily empowering for them.. Away from politics, Obama has been a pillar of support for the US fashion industry, wearing a Jason Wu gown for the January 2009 inaugural ball and a Michael Kors sheath dress for her first official White House portrait.. "She looks amazing in our things - and in everybody else’s things, for that matter," said African-American designer Tracy Reese after Obama picked out one of her pink sleeveless dresses for her Democratic convention address.. The fashion industry loves her back, with Vogue magazine - whose influential editor Anna Wintour is an Obama campaign fund-raiser - putting her on its hallowed cover just two months after she moved into the White House.. - With inputs from AFP