Michelle Robinson Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs. Obama started her career as an attorney at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama. She later worked in the Chicago mayor’s office, at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Mrs. Obama also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organization that prepares young people for careers in public service.Her new book is Becoming.
From the transcript of Obama's interview with CBS's Gayle King:
KING: You've had a complicated relationship, it seems, with politics.--Marshal Zeringue
OBAMA: Mmm-hmm. Every time Barack came to me with the idea of running for an office, I was just like, "Please don't do this. Pick another career. You're gifted. Y'all went to college. You got a law degree. Can't you do anything else besides this?" There's so many ways to save the world. But every time I had to think to myself, that approach is selfish. Because I knew I was married to someone who was gifted and someone who could contribute. And but for the fact that I was married to him... it would be hard on me-- I would want him to run.
KING: Yeah. But he was always a different kind of guy.
OBAMA: He's a different guy--
KING: He's a different kind of dude. There's a great story in the book where you said, you wake up one night, and he's staring into space. Is he thinking about his dad? Or is something bothering him?
OBAMA: (LAUGH) Right.
KING: And what was he thinking about?
OBAMA: Like...[read on]