January 12, 2009. Copyright 2009, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Barack and Michelle Obama: personal challenges that go hand in hand with the presidency
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, January 12, Graphic News:  Few first couples have generated as much excitement as Barack and Michelle Obama. For injecting youth and glamour into U.S. politics, the good-looking couple has drawn inevitable comparisons with John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie. However, their partnership and likely expectations of life in the White House bring challenges that are entirely unprecedented.
 
During the campaign the Obamas gave the public a glimpse into their 16-year union: she lost points for talking about his stale "morning breath" and habits such as dropping clothes on the floor, but regained them in a keynote speech presenting her family as the embodiment of the American dream. He returned her compliments in his victory speech and hinted that in their household it is she who wears the trousers.
 
Now the first black president of the United States and his wife -- the self-designated "Mom-in-chief" -- face the world's scrutiny as they set up home in the White House. Images of Barack Obama taking his daughters to school with secret servicemen were a reminder that from now on such simple family duties can never be carried out privately. Obama, who has said that his own childhood without a father made him determined to be there as much as possible for his girls, will struggle to fulfill that pledge.
 
Michelle, who turns 45 on January 17, won't find it easy either. As a Harvard-trained lawyer who gave up her career to focus on her family, she is certainly capable of advising her husband on policy matters but (like former First Lady Hillary Clinton) she has not been elected to a political position and is therefore not entitled to.
 
She will need a thick skin to put up with criticism of her every move, and to protect her girls from the world's constant fascination and occasional cruelty. A native of Chicago from an ordinary background, she clearly does not relish the dog-eat-dog aspect of a life in politics. Apart from tasks such as choosing the decor for their new home, there is no script for a First Lady -- especially the first Afro-American one.
 
To some extent, the main challenge facing the first couple may be that while they might see themselves as "post-race" and even "post feminist", the rest of the world has yet catch up. Then again, they have already written an entirely new script by claiming the presidency, and this is just the start of its next chapter.
/ENDS