First Lady of the People

An Open Letter to Michelle Obama

By Kallie Mathis

America has a new first lady, and so far, Michelle Obama seems to be rewriting the role of the president’s spouse. In November, Americans witnessed one of this nation’s most historic moments, the election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama. In the ominous shadows of economic devastation and national feelings of uncertainty, then-candidate Obama sailed to victory on his platform of change, and change and hope are what this country is desperate for right now. Homes are being foreclosed, plans for higher education are being postponed, and pink slips are being doled out by the thousands. The trust we bestow on our leaders has been severely shaken over these last eight years, and we need the new administration to help us find that trust again.

When asked to comment on her role in the new administration, Michelle Obama has dubbed herself “First Mom-in-Chief.” While this is a role of great importance, Obama has captured the attention of the entire country and must serve as a role model for all Americans. Obama has an obligation in this moment in our nation’s history to serve as an agent of change alongside her newly elected husband.

The role of the president’s spouse is a strange one. After all, the first lady has not been elected or sworn-in to a formal office. It is understandable that Michelle Obama may feel a bit reluctant to take any real public role in the president’s administration. But the theme of change should be exhibited in every aspect of this new administration. For the past eight years, Laura Bush’s role as first lady has epitomized domesticity in all its neat and tidy, dinner party-hosting glory. Mild-mannered and soft-spoken Laura Bush chose to be a behind-the-scenes first lady. Americans rarely were allowed a glimpse of her when she was not clinging to President Bush’s arm or posing for a photo-op at an elementary school.

So far, Michelle Obama is different. In the opening days of her husband’s administration, Obama has been very busy making her new home in Washington, D.C. She has visited several government departments, including the Department of Agriculture and Department of Transportation, hosted an African American history event at the White House and helped her two young daughters transition into their new life in the East Wing. Americans are pleased to see their first lady in the public eye, and many hope she will continue to use her influence to effect changes in this new era of American politics. Dr. Betty Jean Craige, professor of comparative literature and director of the Wlilson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia, hopes Obama will focus on the education problems that face our country.

“She should help lead the way to bring educational opportunities to all of America’s young people,” Craige said. Remarking on Michelle Obama’s articulate speech and Ivy League educational background, Craige believes that Obama can make education and intellectual achievement fashionable, a trend that, in the long term, could help bring America out of its current recession.

Others feel that Michelle Obama should focus on whatever project she chooses as long as it does not harm the president’s chances of re-election in four years. Dr. Janice Hume, associate professor of journalism for UGA’s Grady College, teaches a class called History of Mass Media in the United States in which she discusses how the press helps form the expectations Americans place on their first ladies and other political leaders. She notes that, traditionally, the first lady has filled four roles: escort to the president, fashion and social leader, charity fund raiser and sometimes (though not as often) policy maker in the case of Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt.

“Since her ‘position’ is neither elected nor paid, I think she should do exactly what she wants to do,” Hume said. “It will be fun to watch.”

Whatever Michelle Obama chooses to do, she will have to walk a fine line in the media and in American public opinion. If she pursues a more active policy role, she will come up against harsher criticism than if she chooses to focus on more neutral issues such as supporting the military families, a goal she has placed high on her list of priorities.

Before engaging in any real policy making, Obama may want to examine Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s roller-coaster ride of a relationship with the media and public opinion when she was first lady during President Clinton’s administration. Perhaps her most controversial goal during her term as first lady was to remake America’s health care system. The name Hillary Clinton has become synonymous with health care reform, and Clinton made it obvious from the early days of the Clinton administration that health care was her number one issue.

In her book “Public Opinion, the First Ladyship and Hillary Rodham Clinton,” Barbara C. Burrell discusses Clinton’s turbulent relationship with public opinion polls. The more that the public saw Clinton’s health care plan as “her” plan, the lower public opinion ratings sunk. The issue that voters took with Hillary Clinton was not her active role, but rather the perception that the health care plan she promoted was more about her than the American people. This opinion may not have been correct, but this is the message voters got from her aggressive promotion of her plan. To keep the American people in her corner, Michelle Obama, like all officials and political figures, will need to reassure the public that she has the country’s best interest in mind in everything she does.

So this, Michelle Obama, is an appeal from the American public. Please continue to take a public, active role in this administration. Yes, you are beautiful, graceful and well-dressed and everything that Americans demand from their first lady, but you are more than that. Your ability to connect with your warm smile and your gift to speak in polished prose while still maintaining your approachability are qualities that have endeared you to the American people. You may not have the power to enact new policies or write an executive order, but your position is one of great influence. In this fragile social and political time, you could be the first lady to change the role of the president’s spouse from faithful sidekick to proactive leader. During the 2008 campaign and the opening months of the Obama administration, the American people have gotten a glimpse of what it could be like for the next four, possibly eight, years to have an intelligent, charismatic, warm couple in the White House, and it is a welcomed new experience. You’re funny; you’re smart; you’re candid. Please continue to be an agent of change, both in Washington as well as the rest of the nation.