Michelle Obama’s life after the White House
The former first lady spoke to Oprah about her work, her kids and still being in love with Barack
PICTURE this: Michelle Obama as president of the United States and Oprah Winfrey as her deputy, or vice-versa . . . Although both women have spelt it out time and again that there’s zero chance of this ever happening, many fans can’t help but hope.
So when it was announced that the talk-show queen would be criss-crossing America for Oprah’s 2020 Vision wellness-promoting tour and that Michelle (56) would be joining her on the New York leg, it sent the rumour mill into overdrive. Would they be using this as an opportunity to make their big announcement?
As Michelle arrived on stage she was greeted with deafening cries of “President!” and “White House!” – but it took less than five minutes for her to shatter the dream. Sitting next to Oprah (66) in an eye-catching blue Elie Saab outfit, she talked about everything under the sun except politics – her daughters, her marriage, how much she enjoys doing yoga and her favourite TV shows.
Despite her more laidback approach, it’s not like she’s spent the past three years sitting around twiddling her thumbs. In fact, life after the White House seems to be busier than ever.
She spent most of last year touring the globe to promote her autobiography, Becoming, and it’s paying huge dividends – with sales of more than 10 million, it’s well on track to becoming the top-selling memoir of all time.
In addition to putting her on the map as a bestselling author, the book also earned her a Grammy – she won the award for best spoken-word album at this year’s ceremony for the audio adaptation of the book, which she narrated.
And a few weeks later she was making waves in the world of showbiz again when Higher Ground, the production company she and husband Barack set up, won its first Academy Award for American Factory, a documentary directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, which was made for streaming service Netflix.
The doccie, which focuses on the culture clashes that rock a town in Ohio after a
Chinese billionaire takes over a shuttered General Motors assembly plant and hires 2 000 Americans to run it, scooped the Oscar for best feature-length documentary – much to Michelle’s delight.
“Congrats to Julia, Steven, and the whole crew on winning best documentary for # AmericanFactory, Higher Ground’s first release,” she tweeted. “So glad to see their heart and honesty recognised.”
WHILE many fans are disappointed she isn’t running for office, Michelle believes there are other ways to make a difference. In recent months she’s been throwing heart and soul into the Global Girls Alliance, a project she set up via her and Barack’s Obama Foundation which aims to uplift girls through education.
“I want to empower young people,” she told Oprah of the project, which saw her touring Vietnam in December with actress Julia Roberts and Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former president George W Bush, to promote access to learning.
“I want to empower the next generation of politicians, and community activists, and teachers and doctors and lawyers. I want to be a part of laying out a set of values and principles that we can all be proud of, of this country.”
Michelle insists the White House years weren’t the be-all and end-all of their lives.
“The house didn’t define us,” she says.
“It’s the values that defined us. I’m Michelle from the South Side of Chicago. That didn’t change because we moved to a different house.”
And now having put in all the hard work in instilling good old-fashioned values into her daughters, the Obamas are having to sit back and watch them make their own way in the world.
Malia (21) is in the second year of her undergraduate degree at Harvard, while Sasha (18), finished high school last year and is now enrolled at the University of Michigan.
Michelle admits it was hard letting the girls go, but adds her husband finds it more of a struggle than she does.
“You know Barack has that ugly, loud cry. He did that at Malia’s graduation”, she told Oprah.
Although she was sad to leave her daughters, she says it was also a relief.
“Parenting takes up a lot of emotional space,” she says. “I put a lot of time and energy into parenting these girls in the White House because we were trying to make their lives normal.”
Now it’s just her, Barack (58) and their two beloved dogs, Bo and Sunny, at home.
“We’re coming back to that point where we see each other again because some of the hardest times in our lives, we just escaped it. We just survived it.
“Now we’re out on the other end and I can look at him and I still recognise my husband. He’s still the man I fell in love with. He has been who he promised he’d be to me.”
WHEN they’re not travelling, the two divide their time between their homes in Chicago, Washington and Cape Cod – and it’s a lifestyle that suits Michelle to a tee.
She’s looking more toned than ever, something she puts down to all the yoga she’s been doing in recent months.
She told Oprah she loves binge-watching series such as Black-ish, Schitt’s Creek and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
“I love watching TV. I probably watch a little too much ,” she says.
It all sounds so normal. And yet Michelle insists that her life is anything but.
“I don’t live a normal life. I used to,” she said in an interview with comedian Conan O’Brien last year.
She still misses the anonymity of the pre-presidency days when she could walk into a grocery store unnoticed.
Still, the pros of being a former first couple far outweigh the cons.
The Obamas are rumoured to have pocketed $65 million (R975m) from their his-and-her book deal – Barack’s memoir is due out this year. He also reportedly charges as much as $400 000 (R6m) per speaking engagement – that’s the equivalent of his annual salary as president.
Given all this, Michelle knows it would be silly to complain.
“We’re happy people but why wouldn’t we be?” she says. “We have our health. We have each other. We have a sense of purpose.”
No wonder she has no desire to run for president. S