Run for the presidency, who happened to be a man. Donald trump wins the presidency. And the man won. If that isnt blatant sexism in this country, i dont know what else is. Its a shocking defeat. More americans vote for Hillary Clinton than any other losing president ial candidate in history. She is one of the most important women in our nations history. She helped move the ball forward, in unbelievable ways, against incredible odds. I know we have, still, not shattered that highest and hardest Glass Ceiling. But someday, someone will and, hopefully, sooner than we might think, right now. Hillary clinton planted the seeds for that. She just was, as always, 10 or 15 years ahead of her time. Hillary was a trailblazer. She blew up the idea of what a first lady is supposed to be. The impact that shes made goes beyond what a president could have done. And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world, to pursue and achieve your own dreams. There are a few first ladies, who really are milestones. Cultural milestones. Who help us understand whats going on in larger society. It took me some time to be doing a little dreaming to be standing here today. She hadnt forgotten that journey and the challenges that she faced. In this great country, where a girl from the sougth side of chicago can go to college and law school. And the son of a single mother from hawaii can go all the way to the white house. Its the idea that you can break through. That, much more is possible than you might have thought. Michelle still carries that forward. Every time she walks into a room. When youve worked hard and done well and walk through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. No. You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed. From the moment they enter into the white house, it becomes historic. But, this is, also, a representation of americans better selves. That is the story of this country. The story that has brought me to this stage, tonight. The story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation. But, who kept on striving and hoping, and doing what needed to be done. [ cheers and applause ] so, dont let anyone, ever, tell you that this country isnt great. That, somehow, we need to make it great, again, because this, right now, is the greatest country on earth. When you were little, did you ever want to be the first lady . No, i didnt. I didnt know i could be the first lady. Sometimes, you can only be what you know exists in the world, and no one like me was ever the first lady of the United States. All first ladies are thrust into the spotlight. But Michelle Obama would be scrutinized more intensely than any of her predecessors. We talk about civil rights history. We talk about all of these series of firsts. This is within our lifetime. Are you prepared to take the oath, senator . I am. It took my breath away. And i thought, oh, my gosh, this is really happening. I stand here, today, humbled by the task before us. The sea of humanity spread, as far as the eye could see. Mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. The reality of what they were about to embark on must have been very, very vivid for her, at that moment. Michelle traveled farther and overcame more on her journey to the white house than any first lady before her. She knew that she was making history, and that her movements would be scrutinized ten times, a hundred times, more than any other first lady. Everything Michelle Obama has been doing in her life has really been preparing her to walk this tightrope. Michelle was integral to Barack Obamas president ial campaign from the beginning. So, were looking forward to the first day of school. Welcome back. I know that all the parents out here are happy to have their kids out of their house. You can admit it. Lets give a cheer for that. 15 months before the election, polls show barack obama trailing Hillary Clinton, by double digits. We got two beautiful, little girls, and we have a wonderful life. Nothing wouldve been more disruptive than a decision to run for the president of the United States. She knew enough about race in america, about breaking barriers, to know what that would mean for her. That she would face constant criticism, constant scrutiny. You know, who would raise their hand, enthusiastically, and say, sign me up for that . But, you know, the reason i said yes was because i am tired of being afraid. The game of politics is to make you afraid so that you dont think. We have a chance to make Something Real happen. Think about that and help us. In schools, church halls, and county fairs, across iowa, michelle tells their story to voters, month after month after month. For someone who avoided politics, for much of her life, she had to take a crash course in it. His political career was always very separate from her. Michelle has never publicly engaged in any of her husbands previous, political campaigns, but she was influential behind the scenes. My first Meaningful Exchange with michelle was when we were filming our first ad. Im barack obama. Im running for the United States senate, and i approve this message to say, yes, we can. Is that too corny . And he turned to michelle and said, mish, what do you think . She just kind of, not corny. So, right away, i understood where i stood in the pantheon of strategic. She was actually the breadwinner in the family. Vice president of Community Affairs and outreach at the university of chicago and that is a big job, and it is a job that she loved. It all changed, of course, when he decided to run for president. Im not giving up my career for my husband. Im giving up my career because i am passionate about this. Michelle was such an impressive person, and we thought she is going to kill out there. Let me tell you a little about Michelle Obama. Im a southside girl. Very simple. My parents were workingclass folks. What we saw, in my household, was hard work and sacrifice, firsthand. She just told them her story, and her story is not that different than half the people she would meet in iowa. She talked about her parents, and how she was raised. My father had multiple sclerosis, but he went to work every single day. He was never late, and he never made excuses. And then, she moved into the barack obama years. Mixed guy named barack obama, who grew up in hawaii. Thats what i learned about him, on paper. I thought, this guys got to be weird. Probably seems as unorthodox to her audiences as he did back in 1989. Michelle was involved in recruiting a prominent law firm in chicago. And across her desk comes the resume of this hotshot from harvard, who is being brought in as a summer associate. The firm asked if she would be his mentor. She meets him on the first day. He shows up late, but they really hit it off. At a certain point, barack is interested in something more. He wants to go on a date. She agrees. I learned that he became a community organizer. I was impressed that this guy could have been making money, but hes working on the far south side with a bunch of churches. The entrance of barack obama into her life really shifted where she was headed. I met mrs. Obama in the summer of 1991 when she was michelle robinson. And her resume was sent to me. Said, you know, brilliant, young lawyer, exploring opportunities of public service. I gave her a job offer, on the spot. And then, a few days later, she said, ive got bad news. My fiance doesnt think its a good idea. And i said well who is your fiance . And why do we care what he thinks . When i look back on it, i think they were very mature for their time. Theres not a step in his career that he took without her sitting there as well. It is a true partnership. In her memoir becoming, michelle describes their wedding in october, 1992. We stood there, with our future still unwritten. Whatever was out there, wed step into it, together. 15 years later, their shared future takes a dramatic turn. Obama surges from behind to win iowa. Michelles months on the stump pay off. But now, the couple must confront a new kind of challenge. There were concerns about his security, that were very real and very dark. Barack obama is given a security detail, earlier than any other president ial candidate, in history. There was a resignation in the black community, that you cannot rise up without being chopped down. Weve seen what has happened to iconic, black leaders in america. Medgar evers. Malcolm x. Dr. King. If you come from the black community, almost every hero you read about was killed. And only michelle, who certainly had more to lose than the rest of us, in the risk he was taking, could reassure people that it was worth the risk. We need a barack obama presidency, right now she would go in a room, and she wouldnt leave the room until every Single Person in that room was committed. But, because she was so effective, she came under attack. Hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and, for the first time in my adult lifetime, im really proud of my country. And not just because barack has done well. But because i think people are hungry for change. It is an unfortunate statement. I dont think it came out the way she intended. Shes got some splaining to do. Everybody knew exactly what michelle meant. This has been a tough country to be black. To say that we are on the verge, now, of maybe putting some of that behind us. She got smacked down, hard, for it. I just want to make the statement that i have and always will be proud of my country. A conversation i didnt think wed need to have but, apparently, we do. This, ladies and gentlemen, is called a fist pound. The reaction to the fist bump was ridiculous. Could they even be jihadists . Thats what one person suggested on fox news. One Television Network referred to her as Barack Obamas bay by mama. Magnified by a million. And i think there were forces that felt that, if they humiliated her enough, if they insulted her enough, maybe she and her entire family would just go away. But they didnt. I called her in to show her what people were seeing. And i turned the sound down and just let her see herself. She got it, immediately. She was out on the campaign trail, getting more and more passionate. And shed been so effective, that i didnt see that it was being perceived as angry. The easy trope of the angry, black woman. When, in fact, what she was displaying was passion. Nobody had taken the time to flag for her, sooner, that she has to stop and pause and smile. Or she has to use her hand gestures, in a different way. She felt like she had failed, and she wasnt used to failing. She had a choice to make. Go back home, and pick up life with her children and her highpowered job. Or, does she just try to figure it out . In her memoir, michelle remembers the impact of that moment. This was a turnaround point. No one, i realized, was going to look out for me, unless i pushed for it. Ah sugar, ah honey honey you are my candy girl and youve got me wanting you applebees 2 for 20. Its date night in the neighborhood. So now that medicare annual enrollment is here, its time for a plan that gives you more for your medicare dollar an aarp Medicare Advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. Call unitedhealthcare today to get 0 copays for all primary care doctor visits, 0 copays on preventive dental, and 0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions. 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Her favorable rate jumped 20 points, overnight. And lets stand together to elect barack obama president of the United States of america. Thank you. That was a real, watershed event in her public life. Michelle has survived a political trial by fire and emerges a star. Sasha, how do you think mom did . I think she did good. Boosting her husbands popularity, as well as her own. I think so, too. And here we are. Now cnn can project at 11 00 eastern time, that barack obama is the next president of the United States, the first africanamerican president in u. S. History. It feels like Something Really big and bold has happened here. Like nothing ever in our lifetimes did we expect this to happen. I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years. In her memoir, michelle describes that night. The love of my life it felt like her family got launched out of a cannon and into some strange underwater universe. The nations next first lady, Michelle Obama. [ cheers ] i still get verklempt thinking about what it meant, that image of this splendid africanamerican family, now the first family of the country. The next day, headlines said change has come to america. And i remember thinking at the time, people will interpret that headline in very different ways. On inauguration day, everyone was celebrating, but there was in the back of everyones mind, the fact in the morning, we were going to come in to face an Epic Financial crisis, two wars, and more pressures than any president had faced probably since franklin roosevelt. And michelle, the gods honest truth is i dont think she knew what she was going to make of the position. It took her some time to figure it out. There is, as michelle puts it, no handbook for incoming first ladies. The role of the first lady is a throwback. We set up the white house as a royal court in a way. And i think for Michelle Obama, a modern woman, a career woman, to suddenly be the great mans wife was an adjustment. She describes the role as a strange kind of sidecar to the presidency. The first lady is not a job. I mean Hillary Clinton learned that when she turned it into a job. We dont want that. Thats going too far. She said the one that she took the greatest inspiration from was laura bush. After a bruising campaign, michelle is determined to control her own message. She starts with a simple statement, deeper than it first appears. How would you define your role as first lady . You know, i joke that my first job is going to be mom in chief because with little kids i have to make sure that their feet are on the ground. Obviously shes going to be mom in chief. Shes not shy about being the mom in chief. Sort of define her role more as first lady. She was concerned about her daughters but was also just a savvy way of saying, dont worry. This isnt a twofer. You know, im not here to make policy despite my executive experience. If i want to play the traditional first lady role, i can play the traditional first lady role, but dont be fooled. In a country that consistently demonizes black mothers, welfare queens, drug addicts, because of the decline of the black family. A statement as simple as, im first mom and thats my priority, is something that is profound because its something thats been denied to black women for so long. She decided that in creating her role as first lady, that she was always going to keep in mind the young Michelle Obama. She says in her memoir, i grew up to the sound of striving. And thats what the south side of chicago was, one of the biggest receptacles for people who were leaving alabama and mississippi. Michelles great aunt and great uncle bought a house on the south shore and invited michelles mother and father, and of course michelle and craig, who were then toddlers, to move in with them. She grew up with cousins around the corner and grandparents around the corner. Her parents and grandparents were ambitious, they were smart but there were obstacles every step of the way. I grew up playing basketball with michelles older brother craig. They were shaped by the community. They were forged by the community. And i think she acutely felt the inequity in resources, the inequity in education opportunity. In many ways, chicago is the place to create Michelle Obama. Its a place that is undergirded by a lot of the racial tensions and inequality that will shape her viewpoint in the world. This is where dr. King went and was defeated. The poverty and the racism in chicago is so profound that even dr. King cant move it an inch. I have never seen even in mississippi and alabama a mob as hostile and as hatefilled as i am seeing in chicago. Chicago is a place where politicians are corrupt and idealists go to get defeated. She grew up in the middle of all that. It had been a very lon