Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. He idea that you cant get outside this bubble, shes found ways to do that. Including famously from time to time visiting places like target in the washington, d. C. , suburbs. Is she alone in first ladies to do things like that . Are they able to visit incognito . Probably visiting a target. Sometimes for her in terms of being alone with her family and free it also means leaving washington. It means going to camp david or going some place where she can sort of walk around and not be the target of peoples attention. Modern first ladies have done similar things. Laura bush went antiquing in georgetown to check out the shops there and that kind of thing, and so the idea that you have to, you know, find some way to, you know, maintain a life outside of the structures of the white house. And bill clinton also famously would go running. Not so much Hillary Clinton, but i feel like the clintons had a presence in washington, as well, actually. So the media has covered the the first lady, tensivelextensi. There were lots of books coming out about Michelle Obama in various parts of her life and the like. Is this the way it will be for first ladies from this time forward . Is there Something Special about first ladies . There was intense interest from the beginning and a willingness to engage the public outside of the Traditional Press corps and the magazine covers, i think, are one example of that. It means everything from vogue from better homes and gardens to amtrak qwe magazine and essence, its such a Broad Spectrum and youre speaking to the audiences of those magazines in a very personal way. In the same way shes on univision and shes on urban radio and talking to people directly and in some ways social media who removes some filters and shes able to connect that way. Thats one thing i want to ask both of you because this is all pretty soft stuff. The covers of womens magazines, and using social media. Youre both journalists who want to cover this woman and this white house. How accessible have they been to you in that role . To be part of that is bypassing the traditional media and going to soft outlets which, of course, are very eager to cover her. When i was writing my book, not accessible and they were being very, very careful about her public image. It was after the does she like her country episode, and so they were being very careful about her public image and not making her accessible. She was not being accessible, and i had to find other ways to report the story and thats still the case. Heres another clip that demonstrates the obama administrations approach to the entertainment media, to leave us with an impression of the first family. Lets watch. [ applause ] thank you, jack, and welcome to the white house, everyone. I am honored to introduce this years nominee for best picture. This is my midlife crisis, the bangs. I didnt buy a sports car. Youre the boss of the hair. [ cheers and applause ] eating the right foods can help you make a better athlete. In your face oh i was wondering if you could do more pushups than i could do. You know, it depends on how your back is. I know youve got these back issues. No, no. [ cheers and applause ] 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. So it has been fascinating during the series since it arrived in the 1950s. You mentioned Jacqueline Kennedy and her tour of the white house to watch how the political campaigns, the white houses have used this medium to communicate with the public and to portray an image. How is this white house doing and how has the public been receiving it . Its fascinating to look at the ways she especially has sort of collapsed the space between pop culture and politics in the public in the ways that she has operated in that, you know, creating these videos that go viral on youtube. Shes on instagram, but shes not just on instagram. Shes posting Throwback Thursday photos and just really engaging in a way that captures the public imagination and not throughing that through the filter of the Mainstream Press and so youre constantly cultivating an image and being very present in the lives of everyday people and shes a popular figure. I dont know everyones poll numbers now, but she is probably one of the most. Lar figures within the Democratic Party and to have her be such a public presence with a team like the miami heat and that basketball thing that got shared around, you know, so much is a really interesting and strategic way to look at the public image. Id like to put a slide about the key some of the key events that have happened during the president s term so far, but then also we have a graphic from Pugh Research which compares to the president s Approval Ratings and the first ladys. Lets take a look at key events which included the 2008 financial crisis and the stimulus package and the per mutations thereof. The iraq and afghanistan wars and the passage of that. The passage of the healthcare act. The 2010 election which had the republicans and the standoff relations with congress and so many aspects to that story including the closing of the government and the debt ceiling, osama bin ladens killing, and of course, the 2012 reelection campaign. Some of those. Along the way this is hugh Pugh Research has tracked the president and first ladys Approval Ratings. You can see that the president s story has been one of coming down over time and the first lady has been higher and consistent along the way. The president from 79 now in the area to 45, Michelle Obama, 79, 77, 76, fairly consistent along the way. To what did we owe that . The management intending of her public image, the very strategic approach to social media as well as to print media. The mom in chief. The family does seem to be flourishing and it is in remains a very appealing family tableau, and the issues that shes chosen. Theyre not hard issues and the mold breaking issues in the campaign. Theyre in the lines with literacy and sort of traditional first lady programs like that. Mel is in jacksonville, florida. Go,a head. The question i have for you is for mrs. Obama and dr. Biden. They seem to be recognizable and they work so well together as political and wise, but do they ever go out and socialize the two of them together if theyre allowed to go outside the white house and put together. Thats an interesting question. I wrote a piece about dr. Biden during the 2012 campaign and got to talk with some of her staff, and she made the point that they worked well together. Theyre friendly, but they both have very busy lives and so the idea that theyre socializing and hanging out very regularly just doesnt happen. In addition to being the Vice President s wife comes with some official duties. Joe biden continues to teach at a local community college. Hes an english professor and so often when she was traveling during the campaign she had her papers with her and shed be grading papers and that kind of thing, and i think that, you know, that idea that theyre just, you know, enjoying one anothers company doesnt happen very often. Its a lesson that the second lady can continue to pursue her career, something that so far the first lady hasnt been able to do. Laura bush talked to us about it during the series. She chose somewhat ni noncontroversial issues with the eat well campaign. From some facek about comments it is controversial. We have another clip with her talking to young people at the white house. These were students who were brought in from washington, d. C. , and it happened from a cspan event from our student cam competition. One of the students did a documentary about the lets move concept and mrs. Obama met with students to talk about it at the white house. Well watch a little bit of that. Having the platform of the white house is really helpful getting attention to stuff. A lot of times when i do stuff cameras show up and they write about it and sometimes they write more about what im wearing, so i think its my job to help shine the light on things that are already working. So thats one of the reasons why i chose this as my initiative. I also think that one of the ways they think we can move this effort and one of the reasons why i think we can be successful is that it doesnt require, i dont believe, and others may have struggled a bit more. It doesnt require wholescale changes in your life. The beauty about kids, you guys is youre young. Your metabolisms are really healthy that essentially means that once you start moving and eating right youre going to you guys change really quickly. You are growing and everything is working right. So if we make some little changes, get you guys moving more. A little more movement, a little less tv, we take out sugary drinks, if we can make School Lunches better. If we get you guys educated and your families about what to eat these are all things we can control and it doesnt take millions of dollars and a whole bunch of legislation to get it done. We dont have to count on people passing stuff, thank god, to move this problem along. But to your point, calling sugary drinks a problem for people and also the school lunch debate. There is a lot of money tied up in the food industry, and theres also some strategy in how you address these issues. Food politics for those who are involved in it, you know, are very contentious and you see some of this in the debate, you know, this idea that shes a part of the nanny state in telling kids what they cant eat and you know, in the video she talked about not needing to pass legislation to get some of these, but she very much was supportive of the legislation that changed School Lunches which in some corners has been a bit controversial you know. Theyre pretty big changes than teenagers making videos complaining about not having as much junk food at lunch. People are trying to figure out how to implement these things and theres some support in some corners and not so much in others. Eliza, we have a photograph of the organic garden at the white house. It has become a permanent part of the white house grounds. Like is it an eternal garden . As the first lady wrote her gardening book which made the New York Times bestseller list in the beginning, the proceeds of the book were going to a foundation supportive of the garden. Theres money there to continue to tend it even after the obamas are no longer in the white house. Thats very much in keeps of the tradition with the white house, right . There used to be animals grazing so they can bring in some urban chickens at some point. I think left by the wilson administration. The other part that we dont see, the influence that shes had on the president. What is known about how shes been able to move him in the direction of causes that matter to her from a policy perspective. She talks about this, and especially on social issues, shes pretty progressive and their family talked about samesex marriage before he came out in support of gay marriage, and she was for it and it was a family conversation, and even in her 2012 film speech before the Vice President came out for samesex marriage, before the president came out for samesex marriage she was talking about not discriminating against people because of who they love she made clear on where she stood on that issue and somewhere earlier in her time in the white house theres this moment where shes with the first lady of mexico. Theyre in a school in the washington, d. C. , i think they were in the suburbs and there is a young girl who is in the audience. Theyre just having a conversation probably about something related to Healthy Eating and she raises her hands and she says what should i do . My mom doesnt have papers to the first ladies who were there . That was a very gripping moment and its hard to imagine there werent conversations about this encounter about immigration. Hi, youre on the air. Susan, thank you for the program. Ive been enjoying it. Id like to ask your guests howish innel obama interacted or felt about her inlaws. I know family seems to be very important to them and how much did they meet with each other and did she have a fond affection for her inlaws. Did Michelle Obama ever meet the president s mother . If yes, what was the relationship . Thats a really good question, and i cant answer it at length. They did meet. Of course, she would not have met Barack Obamas father. We have a picture and she was at the wedding. Right. I dont know a great deal about their relationship. I dont think that it was close, do you . I dont know, and you know the president talked about his mothers passing when he talked about health care, and im not sure how much time that they did have to spend together. Tomorrow night theres going to be a state dinner at the white house. You mentioned earlier that they used the state dinner. Weve asked in each program about the first ladies job as a steward of the white house. How has mrs. Obama approached life in the white house . What has she done for the mansion and how has she used it different than first ladies . . We talked about the garden and that has been her part of her signature stamp on the place and it seems to be the part that shes most excited about. We see her regularly going out for the ceremonial plantings and she refers to it as the peoples house. This idea of people who never come to the white house should be welcomed in and what are ways to do that and the kind of bringing in folks who have never been there before. So you see lots of schoolchildren coming through coming through work shops when there is a celebrity who is giving a musical performance and there will be a work shop early in the day and this idea that you can use it as a third space or in some ways a community center, and it is fresh and different. We must remember that for a number of years in the beginning of their administration it was closed to public tours because of the financial downturn and restrictions were happening at that point. So they had different public interface with the white house in previous administrations. We have 15 minutes left and a lot to cover in this parttime. You mentioned once the election was won and the first lady got together with strategists to talk about issues she would get more involved in. One of which will clearly be education. We have Buoy State University where the first lady talks about education and its importance. Lets listen. For generations in many parts of this country it was illegal for black people to get an education. Slaves caught reading or writing could be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Anyone, black or white who dared to teach them could be fined or thrown into jail and yet, just two years after the emancipation proclamation was signed, the school was founded not just to educate africanamericans, but to teach them how to educate others. It was, in many ways an act of defiance an eloquent rebuttal that black people couldnt or shouldnt be educated, but today more than 150 years after the emancipation proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of separate, but equal, when it comes to getting an education too many of our young people just cant be bothered. Today instead of walking miles every day to school theyre sitting on couches for hours playing video games, watching tv instead of dremiaming of being teacher, business, a leader theyre fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper. What can we expect from Michelle Obama on this issue in the years ahead . Its interesting. I was there when she gave that speech and i dont know if you could hear the applause there and it was very well received and in holding those meetings and in thinking of what she would spend her time doing in addition to the Healthy Eating and military families, the sort of connectivity that you can see that she had with these audiences where she was talking about issues around education became clear to her staff and so they, you know, planned to develop this issue of education as one that she will be focused most closely on students, working with the department of education to just reinforce to High School Students particularly those who are, you know, still early in their High School Years that they need to be preparing themselves for college, going through the very minutia of it. Last week she was at a seminar where they were talking about the importance of filling out Financial Aid forms. Shes done a video where she shared some of her experience when she first got to princeton and didnt have sheets that were long enough for her bed. Shes kinds of things and the idea that she knows what it feels like not to be completely prepared for this process so that you can go through it anyway and you can be successful and really, again, this idea of role modeling these things and saying that theres no magic here. Thats her message in this education. Kelvin in portland, oregon. Go ahead, please. Thank you very much. I want to say this is kelvin from portland, oregon. You all are my family, my mother is enjoying the show. Thank you. Have a quick question, former Texas Governor ann richards and Barbara Jordan said women always are dubbed with a double standard and you have to know your own purpose and Michelle Obama exemplifies knowing her purpose. Is there a consideration for Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2016 . Thank you very much. Weve had a number of people wondering if the first lady had political ambitions of her own . They draw the parallel between her and Hillary Clinton because theyre both lawyers and i i always say i would be interested to hear what kristen thinks. I dont think shell run for political office. Hillary clinton had an interest in policy from early on, but you may disagree. Its interesting. She has said emphatically many times that should is not something that shes interested in. Some politicians say that and you kind of know in the back of their minds that theres a sneaking suspicion that theyll run, but shes expansive about it, you know . She talks about not having the personality for it and shed be too impatient for running for office and you get the sense especially in the way we were talking about messaging and the way she enjoys connecting with the public that going through the rigors of going through the press is something that she would enjoy, and i think shell beic mai be making an impact. Shell stay in public life. Definitely. How is michelle changing the role of future first ladies that future first ladies will emulate or model . I think the way she has engaged with entertainment and pop culture has been some some ways ground breaking. When i saw her at the oscars it was like a head you know, a headturning kind of moment, like whats the first lady doing on the oscars . And talking her staff talked about it later. You know, she loves the movies and the idea that she could do it and that there was anni invitation and maybe some of the folks in hollywood would support her programs to help kids and so just really getting outside of the structures of politics. I think that thats a trail that shes blazed that we may see some other first ladies follow. In the time we have left we looked at her high Approval Ratings and higher than her husbands for much of the time, but shes had some criticism and we talked about some that she engendered through the phrases that shes used as a surrogate for her husband, but also there have been things like trips and vacations that shes taken which shes gotten criticized for. What is your opinion, and wearing expensive sneakers into a super kitchen. She has cultivated the public image of being fashionable and shes quite interested in her clothes, as well. So i think every now and then there has been a misstep in terms of taking expensive vacations at a time when country is really suffering. You know, there has been and she hasnt had to do much to animate folks true. Who dont like her. Theyre we looked at the poll numbers earlier. The favorable rate has stayed pretty steady and so has the unfavorable rate. There is a quarter of the American Public that doesnt like this first lady and thats not uncommon and you hear from them on even issues like the Healthy Eating and when she shows up on the oscars there are tweets and folks that are kind of, like, shes everywhere. Why is she everywhere . And so, you know, it hasnt been a universal lovefest, thats for sure. You write in your book and this is behind the scenes and how she organizes the staff around her and shes had some turnover in her taf in the years shes been at the white house and shes a better boss than an employee, and she does not like her time to be wasted and she is forceful and could be intimidating. What is the americanel obamiche the public doesnt see. We dont see that person, i would say, a lot. She does have a forceful, and i think charismatic personality. What you also dont see, interestingly, when she was in high school she was terrified of public speaking and she had to work up to giving a public speech when running for office and she has grown into a role of being so comfortable, having fun and giving speeches and really, you know, shes found the spotlight and is very comfortable in it. Lets take a call from jackie who is watching us in clearmore, texas. Hi, how are you . Thank you very much for taking my phone call. I have two questions. The first one is which first lady do you think that Michelle Obama is most similar to, and my next question is if you could arrange for Michelle Obama to have dinner with any other first ladies which one would it be and why . Those are great comments as we not only close the Michelle Obama xdprogram, but also close out the series. Do you have responses to her . She gets compared to Hillary Clinton. I dont think shes like Hillary Clinton. She gets compared to Jackie Onassis and in some ways business wi, with the fwlamor and tglamour and thf a comparison there. There is a little bit of the jackie o with the cultivation of the image and the family and you can see a little bit of laura bush in the kind of being able to maintain that popularity, being very popular with the base and she was also a popular fundraiser within her party. You know, Hillary Clinton is a more difficult comparison, but i think that Michelle Obama is ambitious in her own way just as Hillary Clinton clearly is. So you can sort of take slices of the modern first ladies, and i think Michelle Obama told cspan that she is the modern first lady that she relates to much more than the other first ladies who seem sort of like pages of a history book. Lets listen to the first lady talk about her role once more. This is about her interview with cspan. I think it is all an evolutionary process. You grow into this role and my sense is that you never get comfortable if youre always pushing for change and growth, not just in yourself, but in the issues you care about. Youre never done. So theres never a point in time when you feel like, there, i am now here and i can do this every time. It is always changing and the change is giving the state of the issues of the country and you never know what those are going to be from one day to the next, and you have to be flexible and fluid and open to evolve. And on the evolution again, were coming full circle in her three years that she has left, what can we expect . What would you say . Think the Education Initiative is going to be paramount. Its interesting because 2013 felt, you know, like a continuation of the first term. So this idea of whether things will be much different in the next few years. Weve already seen her be very busy about building this new program, but shes also said, you know, shes going to continue what shes been doing so we may have seen the Michelle Obama that well see in the next three years. I dont think that shell stray very far from course. Theyll also be sending their daughters to college in the next three years which is a significant transition as a family. I dont know that well see much of that, but that is a significant transition. In terms of the bubble around their kids during their years in the white house. Shell be 16, the older daughter at a time many children learn to drive and how do you learn to drive. I think you reported on Chris Thompson about her life after the white house. I will be in my early 50s when i leave and i have so much more that i will do as a mother, professional or as a mentor to other kids. I think shes also representative of many women and we may see that women in general that are Career Trajectories are a little different than mens and that womens careers may peak later than men because of that child rearing period. In addition to being first lady shes been in intensity child rearing period and when she comes out of all of this, she will reenter the workforce, if you will, in a very significant way. If marriage is about taking turns and this has been his turn, maybe well see his turn come up next. So we end it from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, our yearlong series on the lives of the early ladies. One of the earlier callers mentioned the White House Historical association, i want to put up the book, the biographies of the first ladies and to help make this special Edition Available to you throughout the year. Theyve provided so much as many other historical organizations did of the materials and research that we did to produce the series and as we close out here, i want to say thank you to them and the good folks along the way and interested in preserving the history and to our two guests tonight, thank you for helping us understand more about the life of Michelle Obama. Thank you. Thank you, susan. If you enjoyed watching first ladies, pick up a cope of the book first ladies influence and image featuring profiles of the first ladies with top historians. Now available in paperback, hard cover or as an ebook. Tonight on American History tv our series landmark cases produced in cooperation with the National Constitution center, we explore the issues, people and places involved in some of the most Significant Supreme Court cases in our nations history. At 8 00 eastern we begin with the 1803 case marbury versus madison establishing the basis for judicial review in which federal courts have powered to invalidate acts with other branches of government when they violate the constitution and then at 9 30, scott versus sanford, an 1857 case that declared that dread scott and other people could not be u. S. Citizens and congress lacked the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. Watch landmark cases tonight on cspan3 and any time at cspan. Org. After Michelle Obama left the white house she wrote her autobiograp autobiography becoming, the American Library association asked her to speak
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