Since the first announcement of a forthcoming book by former first lady Michelle Obama, its release has been greatly anticipated. In the month leading to the publication of Becoming, Mrs. Obama ran the gauntlet of TV interviews from Robin Roberts to Ellen DeGeneres to The View along with appearances at sold-out rock concert-style events around the country promoting her book.
Having seen most of the interviews and the accounts of her public appearances, I assumed that I had heard all of her story and there was little more to learn from reading the book. I was also reluctant to spend the $20 for its purchase only to be able to exercise a certain amount of literary snobbery by saying, “I’ve already read it.” To my great delight, I was completely mistaken. While at first glance the book looks ominous with its 400-plus pages, it’s a page tuner that most readers will devour in a few days. The book allows Michelle Obama to give new meaning to the term “First Lady,” while telling a story that mirrors the lives of many American women, be they black, white, Asian or Hispanic, in their struggle to succeed in a male-dominated world. Women around the globe will relate to the challenges she faced in getting ahead, be it in elementary school or in the big leagues of corporate America or in finding a life partner.
Her revelations of the intimate details of the growth of her relationship with Barack are particularly insightful and give the reader a new perspective on the handsome couple seen in the media and the Barack Obama that we came to know as president. If the reader didn’t know that the friendship-turned-romance would blossom to marriage, many would wonder if this unlikely pair made up of a totally regimented, organized woman could succeed when the other half is a free-spirited, rootless, cigarette-smoking law student who showed up late for his first appointment for a summer job at her prestigious Chicago law firm.
As her story evolves from the south side of Chicago — where her whole family lived on their aunt’s third floor — to living in what she describes as the bubble of life in the White House, she gives an honest and often self-deprecating perspective of her life. At the heart of her story is the internal challenge that she faced from an early age, constantly asking herself, “Am I good enough?”
As she tells her story, it’s easy to see how this smart, assertive and forceful woman was good enough to set the norm for generations of First Ladies to come. She made an indelible mark on the White House and the role of the First Lady— a mark that will not easily be erased, even as White House groundskeepers plow under the garden that she planted to show the importance of fresh vegetables in the American diet and especially that of children.
Although Martha Washington, the wife of our first president, George Washington, deserves the honor of being our FIRST First Lady, the term was not used at the beginning of the republic. The language used to describe the White House matriarch for much of the 19th century varied from “Lady,” “First Lady of the Land,” “the President’s wife” to “Mrs. President.” Martha was sometimes called Lady Washington.
For baby boomers, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Kennedy set the norm for First Ladies. While previous presidential wives had been satisfied to stay at home, plan parties, pick out presidential china or raise children, Eleanor Roosevelt quickly developed her own agenda, one that was sometimes at odds with FDR. She created a national stage for herself, writing a daily newspaper column, holding press conferences, giving public lectures and appearing on radio shows while at the same time expressing support for civil rights, women’s equality and New Deal Programs.
Jackie Kennedy’s style and youth brought in a new era to the White House after eight years of the Eisenhower Administration, and her grace in the wake of her husband’s assassination captured the hearts of the world.
Current First Lady and former model Melania Trump tends to stay out of the political realm. As the third wife of our current president and only the second presidential spouse not born in the United States, she is creating her own image. Future historians will determine her place in history.
Michelle Obama tells how she was forced to evolve into a political wife. It was not her first choice. She made Barack promise that if he lost his bid for the U.S. Senate, he would end his political career. When he ran for President, she, like many Americans, black and white, had major trepidations about his presidential bid. Could a biracial Hawaiian with an African name who was serving his first term in the Senate win the highest office in the land? As she shook hands with farmers in Iowa, she became a believer.
First Ladies are the subject of enormous amounts of media attention. Michelle Obama got more than her share. When she wore dresses with no sleeves, there was a major uproar. When she and the President went on a date night in New York they were soundly criticized. When she declared herself mother-in-chief, there were some snide remarks. But it is clear thoughout the book that she never abandoned her role as supermom, making sure to the best of her abilities that her daughters Malia and Sasha had as normal a life as possible. Protecting them was and continues to be a major priority.
With the end of the Obama era, Michelle can kick back. She loved her years in the White House but realized it was time to move on.
She spends the final chapter of the book describing her post-White House existence. Like Eleanor Roosevelt’s post-White House years, I’m sure we have not heard the last of Michelle Obama. She makes it clear that she has absolutely no desire to run for public office. But based on her life thus far, the reader comes away from Becoming assured that Michelle Robinson Obama, the little girl from the south side of Chicago who made it to Princeton and Harvard and beyond, has many more successful ventures ahead of her.
She will not remain silent as the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania continues to lie to the American people and undermine the basic institutions of our government. She will undoubtedly be an advocate for the next Democratic candidate for president, no matter who he or she is. She will continue to work to make America a better place. Millions of women and girls here in America and around the world can look to a brighter future because Michelle Obama was the first lady.
If you take the time to read Becoming, I’m sure you will agree.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and treasurer of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.