Michelle: The woman beside the man

Michelle Obama will bring the skills of a corporate lawyer to the White House, but she says her priority will be her role as “mom-in-chief” to the couple’s daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

Michelle Obama will bring the skills of a corporate lawyer to the White House, but she says her priority will be her role as “mom-in-chief” to the couple’s daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

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Democrat Barack Obama became the first black US president and his wife the first black first lady.

Michelle 44, is a passionate advocate for her husband’s candidacy, but she says she would not want a direct policy role in an Obama administration.

Michelle, who grew up in a blue-collar neighbourhood on the south side of Chicago and went to public school, often talks about her father — who worked for the city’s public water system — and the values instilled by her parents.

After winning scholarships to the elite universities of Princeton and Harvard law school, she worked for a law firm and in the Chicago mayor’s office. Her most recent job was vice president of the University of Chicago hospitals, where she earned more than her husband.

In a widely praised speech at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle shared details of the couple’s life together and said her husband represented typical American values. Reuters