You come into this house and there is so much to do with so much coming at you that there is no time to think or reflect. Hi everyone, we are here digging up soil because we are about to plant a garden. I wont be satisfied nor will my husband until every single veteran in Military Spouse who wants a job has one. At the end of the day my most important title is still mom and mom in chief. In 2008 barack obama was elected as our 44th president and he and First Lady Michelle Obama went into the history books as the first African American first couple now one year into a second obama turned the first lady continues were focused on child will be city support for military families and access to education. Good evening, and welcome well tonight is the final installment in our yearlong series first ladies influence an image, and we finish appropriately with the current first lady, Michelle Obama. For the next 90 minutes we will learn more about her biography and how she as approach the job in her six years in the office so far. Let me introduce you to our two guests who will be here with us about that time and they are both journalists who have covered the first lady that biographer of Michelle Obama her 2008 book was calle michelle. And Krissa Thompson is a washingto post journalist who cover the first lady as her beat thanks for coming both of yo thanks for coming both of yo tonigh well were going to star our program with a clip an this is from 2008; Michell Obama in a campaign speec talking about her ow personal story. White house out on th campaign trail. I think that some of th rough edges have definitel been polished off. Machine politics, a city tha had not been politically jus or fair to its africa american residents. That would have to be made. But you know, but the im told you know once sh signed on she was all in. Calls along the way. We hope theyll be les about politics tonight an more about biography as the have been throughout th series. You can find us on twitter and heres how you ca join in. Said a neighbors of said that they remember the white family started moving away when families like the robinsons removing in and they would have been aware of that. They wouldve been aware that opportunities were opening up for better neighborhoods, better schools, but at the same time there was a white flag going on that they would have in some way been aware it was happening. Father frazier robinson, born in 1930, five he died in 1981, and mother Marion Robinson who we all know because she lives at the white house and we dont see her too often, but she certainly part of the first family. We have a clip about Michelle Obama talking about her father if you watched the Democratic Convention in 2012, you may remember the speech. Lets listen. In my father was a pump operator at the city water plant and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when my brother and i were young. And even as a kid, i knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain and i knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed. But every morning i watched my father wake up with a smile. Grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink and slowly shave and button is uniform. And when he returned home after a long days work my brother and i would stand at the top of the stairs of our little apartment patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he reached down to lift one leg and then the other to slowly climb his way into our arms. But despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work. He and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of. And when my brother and i finally made it to college nearly all of our tuition came from Student Loans and grants but my dad still had to pay tiny portion of that tuition himself. And every semester he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short. He was so proud to be sending his kids to college and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late. You see for my dad thats what it meant to be a man. So lets follow up with here, lets start with her father and his influence on her life. If you look at the obamas is a, couple the interesting comparison is that barack obama really didnt know his father at all. And it seems from what we see there that for Michelle Obama, her father was a very important influence in her life. Her father was a central figure, and really both for parents. Her brother describes their childhood is being kind of of a shangrila of chicag where their parents spent lots of time with them, they werent leaving the kids with babysitters often when they went out for entertainment, they did it together, they built the kid selfesteem they. Made it seem like they were wonderful people to be around in that kind of confidence sort of infused in their lives they. Played more games, took family trips. There was a much broader robinson clan in town and so they knew other relatives and went to visit and just describe a really warm family centered childhood and you know their dad who was at the heart of that. Now she describes him as the pump operator but he was also part of their precincts democratic precinct arrangement in the city of chicago, highly political city. So what was his job and how did that influence the families understanding of politics and what he can do . He was a precinct captain. And so you, know he would go around and in some ways he was a Community Organizer like rock a bomb, out you dont get people out, get people to vote. And the neighbors said that he was a joking man and he had a very good sense of humor, that he was an extrovert. And so it may be that he genuinely enjoyed being a precinct captain, it may also be that it was necessary to be a precinct captain in order to get the operators job, because that was a way back with the city machine that you would get a city job would be through your political help. And the other thought i had about both of her parents was was having a good city job meant for them that michel obamas mom could stay home, with the children in a way that many women in their community were not able to do. African american women have a much longer tradition of having to go out to work. And so i think that when she had children, she asked herself, should i be home with my daughters the way that my mother was home with me . But i think it probably made her fathers job seems all the more valuable to have. Can i just add to that . I think thats an important point about her mom. She was a stay at home mom but she also had a couple of years of teachers college. And so she was able to kind of home school her children for home schooling was popular in the way that we think about it. Both of them skipped early grades in elementary school. And so you see things happening in this family really early that are different. So both children went to princeton and michel went on to harvard law school. Where did that emphasis on education come from . Her parents. They were just really clear that this was the road to get ahead. And her brother in his book writes about, his mom teaching them to read at home and doing math tables and that kind of thing. So when they got to school even as early as first and second grades, they were already steps ahead of everyone else and that just kind of continues along with their own hard work of course, through high school. But theyre excelling really early on. And were michel about got into a Magnet School that was in a completely different part of chicago at a pretty early, age she had to take several modes of transportation to get to her high school and leave really early in the morning in the chicago winter. Our long bus to school in each direction, shes talked about to get to the school. Now during the 2008, here newspaper Washington Post wrote a big story about the genealogy of michel obamas family, tracing it back to the sleeve in Georgetown South carolina. Question for both of you, because you both written about this, the arc of the Robinson Family life is the arc of black history in america in ways that Barack Obamas life is not. So can you comment about that and what we see in the Robinson Family and part of the great migration in the forties and fifties etc and how that we should understand their experience . You want to go first . You go, lies what you may know little bit more about the family from South Carolina on to chicago and just that arc. We do know that for African Americans the fact that her story is rooted in relatives that were enslaved has been very important and connective to just her relationship with the community in general. I mean, when you look back since 2008 there were some questions early on about, is barack obama black enough . And you never heard that sort of thing about michel a bomb of course, and i think part of that is rooted in the more traditional African American experience. And so in that way she kind of serves as a validator for him in many ways. She definitely served as a validator in chicago. Politics that was important. So what do you want to add about the Robinson Family . History just as you say. Her familys history is quintessential its in that some of her family stayed in georgetown and she has relatives who are still there. There was a train depot very close to town at least one of her male and sisters, i think it wouldve been, her grandfather, her greatgrandfather travel to chicago because thats where the trains went and was able to settle in the south side where there were the packing plants in the stock yards and all of that industry. Labor there was still a lot of racism, theres two different wage scales for white black black men and white men but it was better than the south. In the Robinson Family was able to establish a very broad and rooted family in chicago so that when she and barack obama were first going out, that was his, that was a real epiphany for him. I mean an experience to be in such a rooted family where your uncles were coming around and people were visiting with each other, it was just a different family life than he had. Experienced before we leave her childhood years, adrian wilbur on twitter asks, mrs. Obama isnt to having children exercise size more wonder shes played any sports when she was younger. She did ballet in high school. She danced. Her brother writes a little bit about this in his book, describing his sisters being very competitive. She wanted to win board games and foot races in that kind of thing. And if my recollection is right, part of the reason she can continue, let me pause. She said that she didnt do any sports in high school and beyond because like liza said, she was taking the bus back and forth and it wouldve kept or at school to be too late to be able to do some of those after school extracurricular programs. Because craig went to a different high school. A more pro preschool where he was able to play. Basketball and i thought she said at one point she resisted putting basketball because she was tall and people thought that should be likely to play basketball. That sounds racist. And not being able to be your brother at. It first lady is 5 11 do you know once you reach that height . I have a photo of my book that was in the yearbook over her in violating berlin she looked pretty tall. Let me take a couple of calls and then learn about her days at princeton and then law school and meeting the future president. Kathy is in aurora, colorado. Hi. Kathy good evening, thank you so much for your program. Ive been watching it from Martha Washington till now. Will perfect, thanks. My comment is that im kind of a real romantic for sure. I see some of the president s and their wives, they seem to to really show a lot of love and all. This in for instance path and Richard Nixon tint, they didnt seem, i think he loved or but he just didnt show it. And i can see it with michelle and president obama but they really do love one another, its not phony. I think they really do care for one another and they enjoy each others company. And that was just my comments, and i think that this is so important for the people of the United States or any country to say hey, these two people do love one another. And i dont care what, if youre republican or democrat i think its so important that they do show that they do care and they dont put on a show. Thank you so much. Thank, you. Kathy also, since weve been moving through history with the series, have societies sanders changed who were more welcoming of seeing the emotional, personal emotional side of the people in the white house than we might have been . I think so, in part just because of reality television, if nothing else, right . We are so intimately involved with people that we dont know well and in some ways people feel like they know the obamas and their relationship because its on public display in something of the same way. I mean you know we catch a win when theyre on date, night we know that last weekend they had an early valentines day dinner in that kind of thing. And the fact that this is out in public and people see them, warmly touching each other and hugging. And even his campaign at one point sent out a hot photo of them together hugging one another both embracing one another and that just went viral. And then there were pieces in newspapers thinking about what it means to see a kind of modern marriage in the white house and considering those ideas. And the other later to that, a modern marriage in the white house and an African American couple youre right and one of your articles ticles of valeri jared who s been with the first lady si ce her days at the mayor aleys office said theyre co nizant of this role model imp rtance that they hav would your comments about then how much of this is a conscious effort . I think its very conscious and i think its not just for young people who have been a focus of both the president and first lady but also for families. There is so much talk now about how you do family well in this country and they understand the people are hungry for that information how. Do you raise well adjusted teenagers and still have a woman doing that in the white house and kind of giving Parenting Tips to the other day she gives Parenting Tips to Justin Biebers mother, people want that kind of information and i think it also provides some of that personal connection that this white house has done. I would say really well and helping people to feel like the white house is the peoples house, and this is a family that could be the family next door. That you can relate. To it is really the first fully social media white house. They have advantages on social media that past president s did not. So we have seen lots of them in lots of different forms then we have a really president s and first. Ladies john is in houston, hi john, youre on the air. Hi this show is great. And i called during hell and tough show about what, my questions are after they killed osama bin laden, when they saw the pictures, what was his reaction what was her reaction and will they ever release them . And how can they never least . Them thank you. Thank you very much. To either of you know whether or not she had a reaction about osama . No idea. If im remembering correctly that night, he was, was the White House Correspondent . Stutter and i think she went out to dinner with his his sister, maybe. So we dont know anything about their private reaction to those photos. We do know the we do know they were not in the white house. Yes. Keith in green up, illinois. Hi keith. Hi, thank you for taking my call first of. All its obvious that michel and barack obama are really good, parents and i was appalled with that ad campaign that came out this last election, that was talking about their kids was getting special treatment and this and that and they should have, theyre the president s children. But how did that affect michelle and how did she maintain and not just go viral on tv after that was done . Thank you. I think i know what hes referring to, i believe it was the nra, it couldve been another organization when we were in the midst of the gun rights debate. Right. I think it was a web ad and not an ad for television that asked some questions about the president s daughters being guarded by secret service and men who are carrying guns and why shouldnt other young people have armed guards in their schools . And i believe the president himself reacted and said that he didnt think those sorts of ads were appropriate. But this brings up an interesting point about just how protective this white house has been of the obama daughters and you do see some very fine lines there were some companies that try to create some dolls name session maleah early on, and the white house quickly shut that down. And so this sort of thing that the daughters are off limits has been pretty true to form. And also interesting, and i have to move the story along, here but further back in history there were some president s with really embraced having the children be available, making advertisements out of them in the like. So this one another storyline as our series is progress that weve seen over the wine evolve or the. White house other first ladies have also handed down advice. Like Jackie Kennedy handed down advice illiterate clinton had hidden advice initially bomb about how to raise little kids in the white house. But were dancing the story because we have heard not yet a princeton. So shes a successful student at princeton and at a time when there were about 90 African Americans on campus to 1000 and 1100 i think. One of the things that has stayed with her one of the things that he stayed with her in politics is a thesis because she was sociology major insulin on the subject of black princeton alumni. Would you talk about that thesis and how i