1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:05,240 [cheering] 2 00:00:09,081 --> 00:00:11,030 [Michele Norris] There are a few first ladies 3 00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:14,210 who really are milestones, cultural milestones, 4 00:00:15,161 --> 00:00:19,091 who help us understand what's going on in larger society. 5 00:00:20,091 --> 00:00:22,071 [Michelle Obama] It took me some time 6 00:00:22,170 --> 00:00:25,251 doing a little dreaming to be standing right here today. 7 00:00:26,220 --> 00:00:28,181 [David Axelrod] She hadn't forgotten that journey 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,251 and the challenges that she faced. 9 00:00:31,071 --> 00:00:32,191 [Michelle] In this great country, 10 00:00:32,210 --> 00:00:35,100 where a girl from the South Side of Chicago 11 00:00:35,121 --> 00:00:37,070 can go to college and law school, 12 00:00:37,091 --> 00:00:39,191 and the son of a single mother from Hawaii 13 00:00:39,210 --> 00:00:41,240 can go all the way to the White House... 14 00:00:42,030 --> 00:00:44,121 [Van Jones] It's the idea that you can break through, 15 00:00:45,021 --> 00:00:47,111 that much more is possible than you might have thought. 16 00:00:48,091 --> 00:00:50,130 Michelle still carries that forward 17 00:00:51,021 --> 00:00:52,210 every time she walks into a room. 18 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:55,081 [Michelle] When you've worked hard and done well 19 00:00:55,210 --> 00:00:58,161 and walked through that doorway of opportunity, 20 00:00:59,021 --> 00:01:01,111 you do not slam it shut behind you. 21 00:01:01,130 --> 00:01:03,021 -No, you reach back... -[applause and cheering] 22 00:01:03,041 --> 00:01:04,061 ...and you give other folks 23 00:01:04,081 --> 00:01:06,210 the same chances that helped you succeed. 24 00:01:07,141 --> 00:01:09,210 [Leah Rigueur] From the moment they enter into the White House 25 00:01:09,231 --> 00:01:11,060 it becomes historic, 26 00:01:11,191 --> 00:01:14,031 but this is also a representation 27 00:01:14,051 --> 00:01:16,120 of Americans' better selves. 28 00:01:16,231 --> 00:01:19,191 [Michelle] That is the story of this country, 29 00:01:20,060 --> 00:01:22,251 the story that has brought me to this stage tonight. 30 00:01:24,031 --> 00:01:25,221 The story of generations of people 31 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,221 who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, 32 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,221 the sting of segregation, 33 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,171 but who kept on striving and hoping 34 00:01:34,191 --> 00:01:36,201 and doing what needed to be done. 35 00:01:36,221 --> 00:01:38,030 [applause] 36 00:01:38,051 --> 00:01:41,100 So don't let anyone ever tell you 37 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,021 that this country isn't great, 38 00:01:43,090 --> 00:01:46,120 that somehow, we need to make it great again. 39 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,210 Because this right now is the greatest country on earth! 40 00:01:51,060 --> 00:01:53,060 [applause and cheering] 41 00:01:55,161 --> 00:01:57,150 [theme music plays] 42 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,131 When you were little, did you ever want 43 00:02:21,150 --> 00:02:22,250 to be the First Lady? 44 00:02:23,030 --> 00:02:24,150 No, I didn't. 45 00:02:24,171 --> 00:02:26,041 -I didn't-- I didn't know... -[laughter] 46 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:27,100 ...I could be the First Lady! 47 00:02:27,201 --> 00:02:32,191 Sometimes you can only be what you know exists in the world, 48 00:02:32,210 --> 00:02:34,071 and no one like me was ever 49 00:02:34,090 --> 00:02:36,041 the First Lady of the United States. 50 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,131 [crowd shouting] 51 00:02:40,171 --> 00:02:42,120 [cheering] 52 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,041 [narrator] All first ladies are thrust into the spotlight, 53 00:02:46,060 --> 00:02:49,150 but Michelle Obama will be scrutinized more intensely 54 00:02:49,171 --> 00:02:51,030 than any of her predecessors. 55 00:02:51,131 --> 00:02:53,180 [Michele Norris] We talk about civil rights history, 56 00:02:53,201 --> 00:02:56,051 we talk about all of these series of firsts, 57 00:02:56,201 --> 00:02:58,071 this is within our lifetime. 58 00:02:58,090 --> 00:03:00,071 [CJ Roberts] Are you prepared to take the oath, Senator? 59 00:03:00,090 --> 00:03:01,090 I am. 60 00:03:01,180 --> 00:03:02,240 [Valerie Jarrett] It took my breath away, 61 00:03:03,060 --> 00:03:04,141 and I thought, "Oh, my gosh, this is really happening." 62 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,111 [Barack Obama] I stand here today 63 00:03:06,131 --> 00:03:08,171 humbled by the task before us... 64 00:03:09,101 --> 00:03:10,250 [David Axelrod] The sea of humanity 65 00:03:11,101 --> 00:03:13,141 spread as far as the eye could see. 66 00:03:14,021 --> 00:03:18,071 ...mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. 67 00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:20,131 [David Axelrod] The reality of what 68 00:03:20,150 --> 00:03:22,150 they were about to embark on 69 00:03:22,210 --> 00:03:26,150 must have been very, very vivid for her at that moment. 70 00:03:27,081 --> 00:03:28,160 [narrator] Michelle travelled farther 71 00:03:28,180 --> 00:03:31,081 and overcame more on her journey to the White House 72 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:33,090 than any first lady before her. 73 00:03:33,111 --> 00:03:34,210 [cheering] 74 00:03:34,231 --> 00:03:36,191 [Kati Marton] She knew that she was making history, 75 00:03:37,030 --> 00:03:40,060 and that her movements would be scrutinized ten times, 76 00:03:40,081 --> 00:03:42,250 a hundred times more than any other first lady. 77 00:03:44,021 --> 00:03:46,030 [Leah Rigueur] Everything that Michelle Obama 78 00:03:46,051 --> 00:03:47,131 has been doing in her life 79 00:03:47,150 --> 00:03:51,160 has really been preparing her to walk this tightrope. 80 00:03:51,250 --> 00:03:54,030 [cheering] 81 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:55,191 [narrator] Michelle was integral 82 00:03:56,051 --> 00:03:59,051 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign from the beginning. 83 00:03:59,071 --> 00:04:00,120 [Michelle] So we're looking forward 84 00:04:00,141 --> 00:04:02,071 to the first day of school, welcome back, 85 00:04:02,090 --> 00:04:04,041 I know that all the parents out here are happy 86 00:04:04,060 --> 00:04:06,190 to have their kids out of their house. 87 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:07,210 [laughter] 88 00:04:08,041 --> 00:04:10,141 You can admit it. Let's give a cheer for that. 89 00:04:11,131 --> 00:04:13,141 [narrator] Fifteen months before the election, 90 00:04:13,231 --> 00:04:15,111 polls show Barack Obama 91 00:04:15,180 --> 00:04:17,230 trailing Hillary Clinton by double digits. 92 00:04:18,071 --> 00:04:20,181 We've got two beautiful little girls, 93 00:04:21,100 --> 00:04:22,191 and we have a wonderful life. 94 00:04:23,220 --> 00:04:25,220 Nothing would have been more disruptive 95 00:04:26,110 --> 00:04:29,071 than a decision to run for President of the United States. 96 00:04:29,090 --> 00:04:30,100 [laughter] 97 00:04:30,230 --> 00:04:32,201 [Michele Norris] She knew enough about race in America, 98 00:04:33,050 --> 00:04:34,160 about breaking barriers, 99 00:04:34,230 --> 00:04:36,191 to know what that would mean for her: 100 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:39,210 that she would face constant criticism, 101 00:04:39,230 --> 00:04:40,230 constant scrutiny. 102 00:04:41,111 --> 00:04:43,090 You know, who would raise their hand enthusiastically 103 00:04:43,111 --> 00:04:44,150 and say, "Sign me up for that"? 104 00:04:45,030 --> 00:04:47,111 But, you know, the reason why I said yes, 105 00:04:47,251 --> 00:04:52,021 was because I am tired of being afraid. 106 00:04:53,081 --> 00:04:56,210 The game of politics is to make you afraid, 107 00:04:57,111 --> 00:04:58,160 so that you don't think. 108 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,251 We have a chance to make something real happen. 109 00:05:04,191 --> 00:05:05,220 Think about that... 110 00:05:06,201 --> 00:05:07,241 and help us. 111 00:05:09,030 --> 00:05:10,150 [narrator] In schools, church-halls 112 00:05:10,170 --> 00:05:12,081 and county fairs across Iowa, 113 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,150 Michelle tells their story to voters 114 00:05:14,210 --> 00:05:16,170 month after month after month. 115 00:05:17,181 --> 00:05:20,071 [David Axelrod] For someone who avoided politics 116 00:05:20,090 --> 00:05:22,021 -for much of her life... -[applause] 117 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:23,191 ...she had to take a crash course in it. 118 00:05:24,050 --> 00:05:27,081 His political career was always very separate from her. 119 00:05:28,030 --> 00:05:29,220 [narrator] Michelle has never publicly engaged 120 00:05:29,241 --> 00:05:32,180 in any of her husband's previous political campaigns, 121 00:05:33,030 --> 00:05:35,180 but she was influential behind the scenes. 122 00:05:35,201 --> 00:05:37,191 [David Axelrod] My first meaningful exchange 123 00:05:37,210 --> 00:05:41,090 with Michelle was when we were filming our first ad. 124 00:05:41,150 --> 00:05:42,131 I'm Barack Obama. 125 00:05:42,210 --> 00:05:44,071 I'm running for the United States Senate, 126 00:05:44,090 --> 00:05:46,241 and I approve this message to say, “Yes, we can.” 127 00:05:47,021 --> 00:05:48,121 [David Axelrod] He turned to me and said, 128 00:05:48,141 --> 00:05:50,150 “Yes we can, yes we can. Is that too corny?” 129 00:05:50,170 --> 00:05:52,210 And he turned to Michelle, he said, 130 00:05:53,050 --> 00:05:54,090 “Miche, what do you think?” 131 00:05:55,050 --> 00:05:57,141 She just kind of... “Not corny.” 132 00:05:58,061 --> 00:06:00,040 So right away I saw where I stood 133 00:06:00,061 --> 00:06:03,040 in the pantheon of strategic advisers, 134 00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:04,251 but other than that, she was happy 135 00:06:05,030 --> 00:06:06,210 to keep her distance from all of it. 136 00:06:07,230 --> 00:06:09,090 [Melissa Winter] What many people don't know, 137 00:06:09,110 --> 00:06:11,131 she was actually the breadwinner in the family. 138 00:06:11,230 --> 00:06:14,030 Vice President of Community Affairs and Outreach 139 00:06:14,100 --> 00:06:17,040 at the University of Chicago, and that is a big job 140 00:06:17,061 --> 00:06:18,170 and it is a job that she loved. 141 00:06:18,191 --> 00:06:20,040 [David Axelrod] It all changed, of course, 142 00:06:20,061 --> 00:06:21,210 when he decided to run for President. 143 00:06:22,061 --> 00:06:24,040 I'd say I'm not giving up my career 144 00:06:24,061 --> 00:06:25,241 for my husband, I'm giving up my career 145 00:06:26,021 --> 00:06:27,160 because I'm passionate about this. 146 00:06:28,061 --> 00:06:29,100 [David Axelrod] When we started, 147 00:06:29,121 --> 00:06:30,230 we were pretty casual about it 148 00:06:30,251 --> 00:06:33,111 because Michelle was such an impressive person, 149 00:06:33,131 --> 00:06:35,100 and we thought, she's gonna kill out there. 150 00:06:35,191 --> 00:06:37,230 Let me tell you a little about Michelle Obama. 151 00:06:38,121 --> 00:06:40,121 I'm a Southside girl, very simple. 152 00:06:40,220 --> 00:06:42,150 My parents were working class folks... 153 00:06:42,170 --> 00:06:44,241 [Michelle] What we saw in my household 154 00:06:45,021 --> 00:06:48,220 was hard work and sacrifice firsthand. 155 00:06:49,100 --> 00:06:51,061 [Melissa Winter] She just told them her story, 156 00:06:51,081 --> 00:06:54,061 and her story is not that different 157 00:06:54,081 --> 00:06:55,191 than half the people she would meet in Iowa. 158 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,191 She talked about her parents, and how she was raised. 159 00:06:59,210 --> 00:07:01,251 [Michelle] My father had multiple sclerosis, 160 00:07:02,081 --> 00:07:04,100 but he went to work every single day, 161 00:07:04,121 --> 00:07:07,121 he was never late and he never made excuses. 162 00:07:07,141 --> 00:07:08,170 [Melissa Winter] And then she moved 163 00:07:08,191 --> 00:07:09,251 into the Barack Obama years... 164 00:07:10,030 --> 00:07:11,251 [Michelle] Mixed guy named Barack Obama, 165 00:07:12,030 --> 00:07:13,090 who grew up in Hawaii, 166 00:07:13,110 --> 00:07:15,021 that's what I learned about him on paper, 167 00:07:15,090 --> 00:07:17,061 I thought, this guy's gotta be weird. 168 00:07:17,081 --> 00:07:18,071 [laughter] 169 00:07:18,150 --> 00:07:19,181 [narrator] Michelle knows that her husband 170 00:07:19,241 --> 00:07:22,081 probably seems as unorthodox to her audiences 171 00:07:22,220 --> 00:07:25,100 as he did to her back in 1989. 172 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:28,241 [Peter Slevin] Michelle was involved in recruiting 173 00:07:29,021 --> 00:07:30,251 at a prominent law firm in Chicago, 174 00:07:31,030 --> 00:07:33,121 and across her desk comes the résumé 175 00:07:33,141 --> 00:07:34,251 of this hot shot from Harvard 176 00:07:35,030 --> 00:07:37,230 who's being brought in as a summer associate. 177 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:40,111 The firm asked if she would be his mentor. 178 00:07:40,210 --> 00:07:43,050 She meets him on the first day, he shows up late, 179 00:07:43,141 --> 00:07:44,220 but they really hit it off. 180 00:07:44,241 --> 00:07:47,040 At a certain point, Barack is interested 181 00:07:47,061 --> 00:07:49,141 in something more, wants to go out on a date. 182 00:07:50,061 --> 00:07:50,251 She agrees. 183 00:07:51,210 --> 00:07:53,191 [Michelle] I learned that he became a community organizer. 184 00:07:54,081 --> 00:07:56,170 I was impressed that this guy could've been making money, 185 00:07:56,191 --> 00:07:58,191 but he's working on the far South Side 186 00:07:58,210 --> 00:07:59,210 with a bunch of churches! 187 00:08:00,121 --> 00:08:03,131 [Peter Slevin] The entrance of Barack Obama into her life 188 00:08:03,150 --> 00:08:05,210 really shifted where she was headed. 189 00:08:06,071 --> 00:08:07,150 I met Mrs. Obama 190 00:08:07,170 --> 00:08:09,241 in the summer of 1991 when she was Michelle Robinson, 191 00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:11,241 and her résumé was sent to me, 192 00:08:12,021 --> 00:08:13,121 it said, you know, brilliant young lawyer 193 00:08:13,201 --> 00:08:16,021 exploring opportunities of public service. 194 00:08:16,121 --> 00:08:18,040 I gave her a job offer on the spot, 195 00:08:18,141 --> 00:08:20,061 and then a few days later she said, 196 00:08:20,081 --> 00:08:21,071 "I've got bad news, 197 00:08:21,181 --> 00:08:23,100 my fiancé doesn't think it's such a good idea." 198 00:08:23,181 --> 00:08:25,030 And I said, "Well, who's your fiancé, 199 00:08:25,050 --> 00:08:26,160 and why do we care what he thinks?" 200 00:08:27,131 --> 00:08:28,141 When I look back on it, 201 00:08:28,251 --> 00:08:30,191 I think they were very mature before their time. 202 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,021 There's not a step in his career that he took 203 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,030 without her sitting right there as well. 204 00:08:35,131 --> 00:08:36,221 It is a true partnership. 205 00:08:37,211 --> 00:08:39,060 [narrator] In her memoir, Becoming, 206 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,251 Michelle describes their wedding in October, 1992: 207 00:08:43,170 --> 00:08:46,050 “We stood there with our future still unwritten, 208 00:08:46,211 --> 00:08:49,231 whatever was out there, we'd step into it together." 209 00:08:49,251 --> 00:08:53,131 [crowd chanting] Yes we can! Yes we can! 210 00:08:54,091 --> 00:08:55,150 [narrator] Fifteen years later, 211 00:08:55,170 --> 00:08:57,231 their shared future takes a dramatic turn... 212 00:08:58,121 --> 00:09:01,131 Obama surges from behind to win Iowa. 213 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,111 Michelle's months on the stump pay off. 214 00:09:05,221 --> 00:09:09,050 But now the couple must confront a new kind of challenge. 215 00:09:09,180 --> 00:09:11,200 [David Axelrod] There were concerns about his security 216 00:09:12,060 --> 00:09:14,121 that were very real, and very dark. 217 00:09:14,190 --> 00:09:17,141 [narrator] Barack Obama is given a security detail 218 00:09:17,211 --> 00:09:18,241 earlier than any other 219 00:09:19,021 --> 00:09:20,221 presidential candidate in history. 220 00:09:21,231 --> 00:09:23,121 There was a resignation 221 00:09:23,221 --> 00:09:24,221 in the black community, 222 00:09:25,111 --> 00:09:28,231 that you cannot rise up without being shot down. 223 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:31,231 [Michele Norris] We've seen what has happened 224 00:09:31,251 --> 00:09:34,190 to iconic black leaders in America. 225 00:09:35,150 --> 00:09:39,160 [Van Jones] Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Dr. King. 226 00:09:40,021 --> 00:09:41,150 If you come from the black community, 227 00:09:42,101 --> 00:09:46,101 almost every hero you read about was killed, 228 00:09:46,190 --> 00:09:50,080 and only Michelle, who certainly had more to lose 229 00:09:50,101 --> 00:09:52,251 than the of rest of us in the risk he was taking, 230 00:09:53,150 --> 00:09:56,080 could reassure people that it was worth the risk. 231 00:09:57,030 --> 00:10:01,050 We need a Barack Obama presidency right now! 232 00:10:01,111 --> 00:10:02,241 [cheering] 233 00:10:03,021 --> 00:10:04,101 [Valerie Jarrett] She would go in a room 234 00:10:04,121 --> 00:10:05,101 and she wouldn't leave the room 235 00:10:05,231 --> 00:10:07,211 until every single person in that room was committed. 236 00:10:08,251 --> 00:10:10,231 But because she was so effective, 237 00:10:11,121 --> 00:10:12,180 she came under attack. 238 00:10:13,231 --> 00:10:14,241 [Michelle] Hope is making a comeback! 239 00:10:15,070 --> 00:10:16,160 -It is making a comeback... -[applause] 240 00:10:16,251 --> 00:10:20,200 ...and for the first time in my adult lifetime, 241 00:10:20,221 --> 00:10:22,121 I'm really proud of my country, 242 00:10:22,190 --> 00:10:25,091 -and not just because... -[scattered applause] 243 00:10:25,111 --> 00:10:26,221 ...Barack has done well, 244 00:10:26,241 --> 00:10:30,050 but because I think people are hungry for change. 245 00:10:30,221 --> 00:10:32,070 [Bill Schneider] It is an unfortunate statement. 246 00:10:32,131 --> 00:10:34,170 I don't think it came out the way she intended. 247 00:10:34,190 --> 00:10:36,021 In the words of Desi Arnaz, 248 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:37,160 "She's got some splainin' to do." 249 00:10:37,180 --> 00:10:40,200 [Van Jones] Everybody knew exactly what Michelle meant. 250 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,221 This has been a tough country to be black, 251 00:10:43,121 --> 00:10:45,101 to say that, we're on the verge now-- 252 00:10:45,170 --> 00:10:47,060 maybe putting some of that behind us, 253 00:10:47,190 --> 00:10:49,111 she got smacked down hard for it. 254 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,180 I just wanted to make this statement that I am-- 255 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,121 have and always will be proud of my country. 256 00:10:53,141 --> 00:10:54,111 [cameras click] 257 00:10:54,241 --> 00:10:56,060 A conversation that I didn't think we needed to have, 258 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:57,160 but apparently, we do. 259 00:10:57,180 --> 00:11:01,060 This, ladies and gentlemen, is called a fist pound. 260 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,070 The reaction to the fist bump was ridiculous. 261 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,101 [newscaster] Could they even be jihadists? 262 00:11:06,121 --> 00:11:07,141 [laughter] 263 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:08,200 That's what one person suggested 264 00:11:08,221 --> 00:11:10,060 -on Fox News. -[woman] What! 265 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,150 One television network referred to her as 266 00:11:12,170 --> 00:11:13,221 "Barack Obama's baby mama." 267 00:11:14,091 --> 00:11:16,111 [Marcia Chatelain] Michelle Obama was met 268 00:11:16,131 --> 00:11:18,150 with every single negative stereotype 269 00:11:18,170 --> 00:11:21,221 about African American women, magnified by a million, 270 00:11:22,131 --> 00:11:24,050 and I think that there were forces 271 00:11:24,070 --> 00:11:27,050 that felt that if they humiliated her enough, 272 00:11:27,070 --> 00:11:28,121 if they insulted her enough, 273 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,190 maybe she and her entire family would just go away. 274 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:33,080 But they didn't. 275 00:11:34,050 --> 00:11:37,021 [David Axelrod] I called her in to show her 276 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:38,150 what people were seeing, 277 00:11:38,170 --> 00:11:43,050 and I turned the sound down and just let her see herself... 278 00:11:43,131 --> 00:11:47,170 ...live in a country and a world based on fear. 279 00:11:49,060 --> 00:11:50,150 That is... 280 00:11:50,170 --> 00:11:51,211 [inaudible] 281 00:11:51,231 --> 00:11:54,150 [David Axelrod] She got it, immediately. 282 00:11:56,180 --> 00:11:58,040 [Valerie Jarrett] She was out on the campaign trail 283 00:11:58,060 --> 00:11:59,131 getting more and more passionate, 284 00:11:59,211 --> 00:12:01,251 and she'd been so effective that I didn't see 285 00:12:02,030 --> 00:12:04,030 that it was being perceived as angry. 286 00:12:05,131 --> 00:12:08,150 [Michele Norris] The easy trope of the angry black woman, 287 00:12:09,141 --> 00:12:12,200 when in fact what she was displaying was passion. 288 00:12:14,030 --> 00:12:15,221 [Melissa Winter] Nobody had taken the time 289 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:17,221 to flag for her sooner, 290 00:12:17,241 --> 00:12:22,021 that she has to stop and pause and smile, 291 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,141 or she has to use her hand gestures in a different way. 292 00:12:26,141 --> 00:12:27,241 [David Axelrod] She felt like she had failed, 293 00:12:28,021 --> 00:12:29,251 and she wasn't used to failing. 294 00:12:31,021 --> 00:12:32,080 [Valerie Jarrett] She had a choice to make: 295 00:12:32,150 --> 00:12:34,241 Go back home and pick up life with her children 296 00:12:35,021 --> 00:12:36,070 and her high-powered job, 297 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,251 or did she just try to figure it out. 298 00:12:40,060 --> 00:12:42,170 [narrator] In her memoir, Michelle remembers the impact 299 00:12:42,190 --> 00:12:44,070 of that moment: 300 00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:46,040 “This was a turnaround point. 301 00:12:47,050 --> 00:12:50,111 No one, I realized, was going to look out for me 302 00:12:50,170 --> 00:12:52,030 unless I pushed for it." 303 00:12:58,111 --> 00:12:59,211 [narrator] After a year and a half 304 00:12:59,231 --> 00:13:01,030 on the campaign trail, 305 00:13:01,091 --> 00:13:03,190 Michelle prepares for her national debut. 306 00:13:04,091 --> 00:13:05,160 [David Axelrod] She was going to be watched 307 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:06,241 by tens of millions of people, 308 00:13:07,021 --> 00:13:08,050 and this would be their first chance 309 00:13:08,070 --> 00:13:09,180 to really get to know her. 310 00:13:10,021 --> 00:13:11,060 [applause and cheering] 311 00:13:11,121 --> 00:13:13,241 And I come here as a mom, 312 00:13:14,021 --> 00:13:15,231 whose girls are the heart of my heart 313 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:17,170 and the center of my world. 314 00:13:17,190 --> 00:13:21,121 She practiced her stump over and over and over again. 315 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,150 And that's who she is, she prepares. 316 00:13:24,170 --> 00:13:26,121 [Michelle] And Barack and I were raised 317 00:13:26,141 --> 00:13:29,060 with so many of the same values, 318 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,040 -that you treat people... -[cheering] 319 00:13:31,111 --> 00:13:35,080 ...with dignity and respect even if you don't know them, 320 00:13:35,170 --> 00:13:37,101 and even if you don't agree with them. 321 00:13:37,121 --> 00:13:38,190 [applause and cheering] 322 00:13:38,211 --> 00:13:42,091 Her favorable rate jumped 20 points overnight. 323 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:44,040 [Michelle] And let's stand together 324 00:13:44,121 --> 00:13:45,231 to elect Barack Obama 325 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,150 President of the United States of America. 326 00:13:50,101 --> 00:13:51,080 Thank you. 327 00:13:51,211 --> 00:13:55,150 That was a real watershed event in her public life. 328 00:13:56,190 --> 00:13:59,190 [narrator] Michelle has survived the political trial by fire, 329 00:13:59,211 --> 00:14:00,190 and emerges a star... 330 00:14:01,060 --> 00:14:03,231 Malia, Sasha, how-- how do you think Mom did? 331 00:14:04,170 --> 00:14:05,251 I think she did good. 332 00:14:06,091 --> 00:14:08,121 [narrator] ...boosting her husband's popularity 333 00:14:08,141 --> 00:14:09,150 as well as her own. 334 00:14:09,170 --> 00:14:11,050 [Barack Obama] I think so too. 335 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:13,111 [cheering] 336 00:14:14,030 --> 00:14:16,060 [newscaster] And here we are, and now CNN can project 337 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,060 at 11 o'clock Eastern Time, that Barack Obama 338 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,060 is the next president of the United States, 339 00:14:21,170 --> 00:14:25,160 the first African American president in US history. 340 00:14:26,050 --> 00:14:29,060 [Oprah Winfrey] It feels like something really big and bold 341 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:33,131 has happened here, like nothing ever in our lifetime 342 00:14:33,150 --> 00:14:34,211 did we expect this to happen! 343 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,221 [Barack Obama] And I would not be standing here tonight 344 00:14:37,241 --> 00:14:40,040 without the unyielding support 345 00:14:40,241 --> 00:14:44,101 of my best friend for the last 16 years... 346 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,091 [narrator] In her memoir, Michelle describes that night... 347 00:14:48,111 --> 00:14:50,060 [Barack Obama] ...the rock of our family, 348 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:52,070 the love of my life... 349 00:14:53,050 --> 00:14:54,180 [narrator] "I felt like our family 350 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,040 got launched out of a cannon 351 00:14:56,060 --> 00:14:58,121 and into some strange underwater universe.” 352 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,150 ...the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama. 353 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:05,170 [cheering] 354 00:15:06,221 --> 00:15:08,091 [David Axelrod] I still get verklempt 355 00:15:08,111 --> 00:15:09,241 thinking about what it meant, 356 00:15:11,131 --> 00:15:15,121 that image of this splendid African American family, 357 00:15:15,141 --> 00:15:17,070 now the first family of the country. 358 00:15:17,091 --> 00:15:18,150 [cheering] 359 00:15:18,170 --> 00:15:20,190 [Michele Norris] The next day, headlines said, 360 00:15:21,050 --> 00:15:22,251 “Change has come to America.” 361 00:15:24,221 --> 00:15:26,190 And I remember thinking at the time, 362 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,050 people will interpret that headline 363 00:15:29,070 --> 00:15:30,200 in very different ways. 364 00:15:33,121 --> 00:15:34,160 [David Axelrod] On inauguration day, 365 00:15:34,180 --> 00:15:35,231 everyone was celebrating, 366 00:15:36,070 --> 00:15:38,211 but there was in the back of everyone's mind 367 00:15:38,231 --> 00:15:40,101 the fact that in the morning, 368 00:15:41,021 --> 00:15:46,030 we were going to come into face a epic financial crisis, 369 00:15:46,050 --> 00:15:50,080 two wars, and more pressures than any president had faced 370 00:15:50,101 --> 00:15:52,080 probably since Franklin Roosevelt. 371 00:15:52,180 --> 00:15:55,131 And Michelle, the God's honest truth is, 372 00:15:55,150 --> 00:15:56,221 I don't think she knew 373 00:15:56,241 --> 00:15:58,121 what she was going to make of the position, 374 00:15:58,141 --> 00:16:02,080 and it took her some time to figure it out. 375 00:16:05,221 --> 00:16:07,150 [narrator] There is, as Michelle puts it, 376 00:16:07,241 --> 00:16:10,180 "No handbook for incoming first ladies." 377 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:11,190 [reporters clamor] 378 00:16:12,050 --> 00:16:13,180 [Kati Marton] The role of the first lady 379 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,170 is a throwback. 380 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,221 We set up the White House as-- as a royal court in a way, 381 00:16:19,060 --> 00:16:24,021 and I think for Michelle Obama, a modern woman, a career woman, 382 00:16:24,121 --> 00:16:28,080 to suddenly be the great man's wife 383 00:16:28,180 --> 00:16:30,091 was an adjustment. 384 00:16:31,070 --> 00:16:32,180 [narrator] She describes the role as, 385 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,021 “A strange kind of sidecar to the presidency.” 386 00:16:36,101 --> 00:16:38,021 [Kati Marton] The first lady is not a job. 387 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,060 I mean, Hillary Clinton learned that 388 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:41,160 when she turned it into a job. 389 00:16:42,111 --> 00:16:45,050 We don't want that, that's going too far. 390 00:16:46,021 --> 00:16:47,251 [Robin Givhan] She said the one that she took 391 00:16:48,091 --> 00:16:51,021 the greatest inspiration from was Laura Bush. 392 00:16:51,170 --> 00:16:53,070 [narrator] After a bruising campaign, 393 00:16:53,091 --> 00:16:56,030 Michelle is determined to control her own message. 394 00:16:56,251 --> 00:16:58,170 She starts with a simple statement, 395 00:16:59,091 --> 00:17:00,180 deeper than it first appears. 396 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,251 [reporter] How would you define your role as First Lady? 397 00:17:04,030 --> 00:17:06,181 You know, I-- I joke, uh, that my first job 398 00:17:06,201 --> 00:17:08,040 is going to be “Mom in Chief," 399 00:17:08,130 --> 00:17:09,251 uh... because with little kids, 400 00:17:10,030 --> 00:17:12,241 I have to make sure that their feet are on the ground. 401 00:17:13,060 --> 00:17:15,030 Obviously, she's going to be "Mom in Chief." 402 00:17:15,050 --> 00:17:17,040 [reporter] She's not shy about being the "Mom in Chief." 403 00:17:17,060 --> 00:17:19,161 Just sort of define her role more as First Lady... 404 00:17:20,030 --> 00:17:21,171 [Robin Givhan] She was concerned about her daughters, 405 00:17:22,030 --> 00:17:26,201 but it was also just a very savvy way of saying, 406 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:28,231 "Don't worry, this isn't a twofer." 407 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,100 You know, I'm not here to make policy, 408 00:17:31,191 --> 00:17:33,241 despite my executive experience. 409 00:17:35,021 --> 00:17:38,130 [Leah Rigueur] If I want to play the traditional first lady role, 410 00:17:38,191 --> 00:17:41,030 I can play the traditional first lady role, 411 00:17:41,050 --> 00:17:42,021 but don't be fooled. 412 00:17:42,181 --> 00:17:46,100 In a country that consistently demonizes black mothers, 413 00:17:46,201 --> 00:17:49,130 black women as welfare queens, black women as drug addicts, 414 00:17:49,151 --> 00:17:50,241 black women as the cause 415 00:17:51,021 --> 00:17:52,201 of the decline of the black family, 416 00:17:53,100 --> 00:17:54,120 a statement as simple as, 417 00:17:54,221 --> 00:17:56,221 "I'm first mom and that's my priority," 418 00:17:57,060 --> 00:17:59,100 is something that is profound because... 419 00:18:00,030 --> 00:18:01,140 [exhales] it's something that's been denied 420 00:18:01,161 --> 00:18:02,221 to black women for so long. 421 00:18:03,221 --> 00:18:07,040 [Michele Norris] She decided that in creating her role 422 00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:08,021 as First Lady, 423 00:18:08,161 --> 00:18:11,060 that she was always going to keep in mind 424 00:18:11,151 --> 00:18:13,021 the young Michelle Obama. 425 00:18:15,050 --> 00:18:16,211 [Michele Norris] She says in her memoir, 426 00:18:16,231 --> 00:18:19,030 "I grew up to the sound of striving," 427 00:18:19,191 --> 00:18:22,251 and that's what the South Side of Chicago was. 428 00:18:23,030 --> 00:18:24,130 One of the biggest receptacles 429 00:18:24,151 --> 00:18:27,171 for people who were leaving Alabama and Mississippi. 430 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,021 [Peter Slevin] Michelle's great aunt and great uncle 431 00:18:30,130 --> 00:18:32,191 bought a house in the neighborhood of South Shore, 432 00:18:32,211 --> 00:18:36,040 and invited Michelle's mother and father 433 00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:37,110 and, of course, Michelle and Craig, 434 00:18:37,130 --> 00:18:39,231 who were then toddlers, to move in with them. 435 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,140 [Michele Norris] She grew up with cousins around the corner 436 00:18:42,161 --> 00:18:43,251 and grandparents around the corner. 437 00:18:44,110 --> 00:18:47,060 [Peter Slevin] Her parents and grandparents were ambitious, 438 00:18:47,171 --> 00:18:48,140 they were smart, 439 00:18:48,241 --> 00:18:50,161 but there were obstacles every step of the way. 440 00:18:50,251 --> 00:18:52,090 [Arne Duncan] I grew up playing basketball 441 00:18:52,110 --> 00:18:54,120 with Michelle's older brother, Craig. 442 00:18:54,140 --> 00:18:56,050 They were shaped by the community, 443 00:18:56,070 --> 00:18:57,151 they were forged by the community, 444 00:18:57,231 --> 00:19:02,100 and I think she acutely felt the inequity; 445 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:04,090 the inequity in resources, 446 00:19:04,110 --> 00:19:06,110 the inequity in education and opportunity. 447 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,021 [indistinct shouting] 448 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,181 In many ways, Chicago is the place 449 00:19:12,201 --> 00:19:14,070 to create Michelle Obama. 450 00:19:14,211 --> 00:19:15,151 [police sirens] 451 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,221 It's a place that is undergirded by a lot of the racial tensions 452 00:19:18,241 --> 00:19:22,211 and inequality that will shape her viewpoint in the world. 453 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,110 [Van Jones] This is where Dr. King went and was defeated. 454 00:19:29,231 --> 00:19:31,080 [shouting] 455 00:19:32,140 --> 00:19:33,161 [Van Jones] The poverty 456 00:19:33,251 --> 00:19:36,110 and the racism in Chicago is so profound, 457 00:19:36,201 --> 00:19:40,080 that even Dr. King can't move it an inch. 458 00:19:41,090 --> 00:19:44,171 I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, 459 00:19:44,231 --> 00:19:48,110 mobs as hostile and as hate-filled 460 00:19:48,130 --> 00:19:49,231 as I've seen in Chicago. 461 00:19:50,151 --> 00:19:53,021 Chicago is a place where politicians are corrupt 462 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,021 and idealists go to get defeated. 463 00:19:56,110 --> 00:19:58,090 She grew up in the middle of all of that. 464 00:19:59,070 --> 00:20:00,130 It had been a very long time 465 00:20:00,211 --> 00:20:03,120 since politics had been a source of inspiration for anybody. 466 00:20:03,140 --> 00:20:05,050 [cameras clicking] 467 00:20:05,161 --> 00:20:07,221 [narrator] For many, the Obamas represent the triumph 468 00:20:07,241 --> 00:20:09,040 of inspirational politics, 469 00:20:09,211 --> 00:20:11,130 but Michelle's optimism is tempered 470 00:20:11,151 --> 00:20:15,100 by what she calls, “The ugly red-versus-blue dynamic,” 471 00:20:15,191 --> 00:20:17,090 which has taken over Washington. 472 00:20:17,251 --> 00:20:19,211 [Tim Naftali] She goes to watch her husband 473 00:20:20,060 --> 00:20:23,241 give his first speech to a joint session of Congress. 474 00:20:24,021 --> 00:20:25,090 [Barack Obama] Members of Congress, 475 00:20:25,161 --> 00:20:27,060 the First Lady of the United States. 476 00:20:28,161 --> 00:20:31,191 [Tim Naftali] She's looking over this sea-- as she describes it, 477 00:20:31,211 --> 00:20:34,040 sea of whiteness and maleness. 478 00:20:35,060 --> 00:20:36,161 This is ceremonial. 479 00:20:37,110 --> 00:20:39,050 But it's more than that, it's symbolic. 480 00:20:39,201 --> 00:20:42,120 Now is the time to act boldly and wisely... 481 00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:45,110 [Tim Naftali] And she is very aware of the body language 482 00:20:46,021 --> 00:20:49,100 and the expressions of many Republicans, 483 00:20:49,221 --> 00:20:51,201 the way that their arms are crossed. 484 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,070 [narrator] In her memoir, Michelle recalls 485 00:20:54,090 --> 00:20:55,201 that Republican members of Congress 486 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,070 looked obstinate and angry. 487 00:20:59,030 --> 00:21:01,080 The American people expect us to build common ground. 488 00:21:01,161 --> 00:21:03,100 [narrator] "More than anything," she adds, 489 00:21:03,161 --> 00:21:06,040 "it seemed they just wanted Barack to fail." 490 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,181 Thank you, God bless you, 491 00:21:08,030 --> 00:21:10,070 and may God bless the United States of America! 492 00:21:10,090 --> 00:21:11,130 [narrator] Michelle watches 493 00:21:11,151 --> 00:21:13,060 as all the Republicans remain seated. 494 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,070 But the First Lady is being watched as well. 495 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,100 The next day, she gets a lesson about life in the spotlight. 496 00:21:20,171 --> 00:21:21,191 [newscaster] This may have been 497 00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:24,030 one of the most talked about moments from last night. 498 00:21:24,130 --> 00:21:26,201 Michelle Obama and her sleeveless dress. 499 00:21:26,221 --> 00:21:28,090 [Tim Naftali] It's style over substance. 500 00:21:28,251 --> 00:21:29,231 It's always unfair, 501 00:21:30,130 --> 00:21:33,090 but it was especially unfair for Michelle Obama 502 00:21:33,201 --> 00:21:36,251 because Jackie Kennedy wasn't criticized 503 00:21:37,161 --> 00:21:40,201 for completely changing the look of the first lady. 504 00:21:40,221 --> 00:21:42,221 [reporter] With Michelle Obama showing a liking 505 00:21:42,241 --> 00:21:45,050 for the sleeveless look, even in winter, 506 00:21:45,070 --> 00:21:48,181 "bearing arms" has a whole new meaning inside the beltway. 507 00:21:49,050 --> 00:21:51,070 [Robin Givhan] People zeroed in on her arms 508 00:21:51,090 --> 00:21:54,040 because they were not the arms 509 00:21:54,060 --> 00:21:58,050 of a fragile damsel who was white. 510 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:02,241 Non-white Americans have for years looked 511 00:22:03,021 --> 00:22:04,241 at a white first lady 512 00:22:05,021 --> 00:22:08,110 and were still able to say that she represented them. 513 00:22:09,050 --> 00:22:12,140 But I think it becomes much more challenging 514 00:22:12,221 --> 00:22:17,161 for some white Americans to look at a black first lady 515 00:22:18,030 --> 00:22:19,130 and see themselves in her. 516 00:22:20,090 --> 00:22:24,251 Instead, they simply saw her as an alien. 517 00:22:33,050 --> 00:22:35,130 [narrator] Four months into the Obamas' first term, 518 00:22:35,191 --> 00:22:38,070 Michelle takes her first official trip abroad 519 00:22:38,151 --> 00:22:42,021 accompanying her husband to London for the G20 summit. 520 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:44,090 [cameras click] 521 00:22:46,050 --> 00:22:47,130 [Tina Tchen] That level of scrutiny 522 00:22:47,151 --> 00:22:50,171 is unlike anything you have ever experienced 523 00:22:50,191 --> 00:22:51,231 and will ever experience. 524 00:22:51,251 --> 00:22:54,050 Everything that's going on camera 525 00:22:54,201 --> 00:22:57,191 could at any given point become a thing. 526 00:23:03,060 --> 00:23:04,100 [Michele Norris] The First Lady is a hugger, 527 00:23:04,171 --> 00:23:06,120 she hugs all kinds of people, and she hugged the Queen, 528 00:23:06,140 --> 00:23:08,090 and people clutched their pearls. 529 00:23:08,110 --> 00:23:10,040 [Charles Mosley] The big deal is that the Queen 530 00:23:10,060 --> 00:23:12,040 is an almost sacred person, 531 00:23:12,110 --> 00:23:14,040 which is perhaps not known in republics. 532 00:23:14,060 --> 00:23:15,201 [Michele Norris] The Queen seemed perfectly-- 533 00:23:15,221 --> 00:23:17,040 I think she hugged her back! 534 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:18,251 [Charles Mosley] But the Queen made the first move, 535 00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:21,191 and for all I know, this is a breach of White House protocol. 536 00:23:22,171 --> 00:23:23,251 [narrator] The next day, while her husband 537 00:23:24,090 --> 00:23:27,140 huddles with other G-20 leaders, the cameras follow Michelle 538 00:23:27,221 --> 00:23:29,151 as she meets with their spouses. 539 00:23:29,171 --> 00:23:31,251 [Melissa Winter] But she wasn't just going to go as a figurehead 540 00:23:32,030 --> 00:23:32,221 and just as a spouse. 541 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,211 She actually wanted to interact with real people. 542 00:23:36,060 --> 00:23:39,140 [narrator] And so Michelle makes a solo visit to a girls' school 543 00:23:39,161 --> 00:23:40,221 a few miles across London 544 00:23:41,060 --> 00:23:43,030 but worlds away from Buckingham Palace. 545 00:23:43,110 --> 00:23:45,211 [Winnie Mac] Everyone had rumors going around. 546 00:23:45,231 --> 00:23:47,060 Whispers in the playground. 547 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,130 [Latrishika Anthony] And I remember seeing snipers 548 00:23:49,151 --> 00:23:50,171 on the roof and thinking, 549 00:23:50,191 --> 00:23:53,201 "Okay, this is someone really important." 550 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,130 [teacher] We welcome to the stage, 551 00:23:56,030 --> 00:23:59,030 the First Lady of the United States of America. 552 00:23:59,050 --> 00:24:00,201 [cheering] 553 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,021 [narrator] Michelle writes that, "Looking at those London girls, 554 00:24:06,140 --> 00:24:10,241 I almost felt myself falling backwards into my own past.” 555 00:24:11,181 --> 00:24:13,151 [singing] 556 00:24:13,241 --> 00:24:16,100 [Michele Norris] She said, "I see myself in them." 557 00:24:17,110 --> 00:24:19,120 And I'm not sure that we've heard 558 00:24:19,140 --> 00:24:21,231 a first lady speak like that before. 559 00:24:23,211 --> 00:24:25,140 [Michele Norris] She grew up surrounded by a lot of people 560 00:24:25,161 --> 00:24:29,241 who weren't able to go as far as their talents would take them. 561 00:24:31,050 --> 00:24:32,110 They were placing all their hopes 562 00:24:32,130 --> 00:24:34,110 and their dreams in their children. 563 00:24:34,221 --> 00:24:36,040 [Leah Rigeuer] You have to be stronger, 564 00:24:36,060 --> 00:24:37,090 you have to be smarter, 565 00:24:37,191 --> 00:24:40,181 you have to be twice as good with half the resources. 566 00:24:41,050 --> 00:24:43,241 And this is something that Michelle's family, 567 00:24:44,021 --> 00:24:47,060 her community, her experiences really instill in her. 568 00:24:47,130 --> 00:24:49,090 [Michele Norris] There's a little bit of vertigo in that, 569 00:24:49,110 --> 00:24:50,110 in being told, 570 00:24:50,241 --> 00:24:52,060 "You're going to bust through that glass ceiling 571 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:53,140 or burst through that wall and take us forward." 572 00:24:54,140 --> 00:24:55,181 [Michelle] All of you are jewels, 573 00:24:56,021 --> 00:24:58,040 you are precious and you touch my heart. 574 00:24:58,181 --> 00:25:01,050 And it is important for the world 575 00:25:01,191 --> 00:25:04,100 to know that there are wonderful girls like you 576 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:05,090 all over the world. 577 00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:07,241 [Melissa Winter] She started reading her remarks, 578 00:25:08,090 --> 00:25:10,110 and then she stopped reading her remarks 579 00:25:10,130 --> 00:25:11,100 and she just talked. 580 00:25:11,241 --> 00:25:13,251 [Michelle] We are counting on every single one of you 581 00:25:14,030 --> 00:25:15,251 to be the very best that you can be, 582 00:25:16,221 --> 00:25:20,130 because the world is big and it's full of challenges, 583 00:25:20,221 --> 00:25:24,120 and we need strong, smart, confident young women 584 00:25:24,221 --> 00:25:26,171 to stand up and take the reins. 585 00:25:27,070 --> 00:25:29,060 We know you can do it. We love you. 586 00:25:29,161 --> 00:25:30,161 Thank you so much. 587 00:25:30,241 --> 00:25:32,151 [applause] 588 00:25:34,171 --> 00:25:35,241 [Michele Norris] That simple statement, 589 00:25:36,021 --> 00:25:38,140 "I see myself in them." 590 00:25:39,191 --> 00:25:42,201 There is so much in that and not just saying that 591 00:25:42,221 --> 00:25:45,171 but then figuring out how to act on that. 592 00:25:48,090 --> 00:25:51,211 My name is Alex Acosta, and I'm 12 years old. 593 00:25:51,231 --> 00:25:52,231 And I just wanted to ask, 594 00:25:52,251 --> 00:25:54,151 what is your job as the First Lady? 595 00:25:54,171 --> 00:25:55,151 [Michelle] What's my job? 596 00:25:55,221 --> 00:25:57,161 I don't know, that's a good question. 597 00:25:57,181 --> 00:25:58,161 [chortles] 598 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,151 [Tim Naftali] Every first lady is expected 599 00:26:01,171 --> 00:26:05,171 to have at least one crusade. Barbara Bush, literacy. 600 00:26:06,021 --> 00:26:07,181 Nancy Reagan, say no to drugs. 601 00:26:08,021 --> 00:26:11,231 What can I do that is useful with this role? 602 00:26:12,201 --> 00:26:15,030 [narrator] Michelle wants to focus on young people 603 00:26:15,231 --> 00:26:17,120 but that still leaves a lot of options. 604 00:26:17,221 --> 00:26:20,021 [Tina Tchen] Mrs. Obama sets some ground rules for us. 605 00:26:20,161 --> 00:26:22,241 One was that there's only one elected person in the building 606 00:26:23,021 --> 00:26:24,040 and that's the President, 607 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:28,120 and so whatever we do should be in service of his agenda, 608 00:26:28,211 --> 00:26:30,060 because, otherwise, why are we doing it? 609 00:26:30,151 --> 00:26:35,100 [Tim Naftali] Michelle's crusade was to empower children 610 00:26:35,191 --> 00:26:37,201 and their parents to eat better. 611 00:26:38,191 --> 00:26:40,040 [Michelle] The President and Congress 612 00:26:40,060 --> 00:26:42,201 are going to begin to address health care reform. 613 00:26:43,110 --> 00:26:45,251 Nearly a third of the children in this country 614 00:26:46,030 --> 00:26:48,171 are either overweight or obese. 615 00:26:50,070 --> 00:26:51,231 [Tim Naftali] There'll be less of a burden on healthcare 616 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:53,120 if people did eat better. 617 00:26:54,060 --> 00:26:55,181 [narrator] The scope of Michelle's initiative 618 00:26:55,201 --> 00:26:58,221 is strategically masked by her simple opening move, 619 00:26:59,201 --> 00:27:01,221 which she describes as, "A harmless 620 00:27:01,241 --> 00:27:05,021 and innocent undertaking by a lady with a spade." 621 00:27:05,090 --> 00:27:06,060 Oh, hi! 622 00:27:06,231 --> 00:27:09,241 Elmo and his friends are here with someone very, very special, 623 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,100 the First Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama! 624 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:14,140 Hi everyone! 625 00:27:14,161 --> 00:27:15,251 We're here digging up soil 626 00:27:16,030 --> 00:27:18,151 because we're about to plant a garden! 627 00:27:18,171 --> 00:27:19,241 Let's get up and get some shovels. 628 00:27:20,021 --> 00:27:22,021 Come on, let's go, let's go! 629 00:27:22,100 --> 00:27:24,030 [Sam Kass] I came to help do dinner, 630 00:27:24,130 --> 00:27:27,130 but also to help her develop a big health initiative. 631 00:27:27,231 --> 00:27:29,161 When you have one in three kids on track 632 00:27:29,181 --> 00:27:31,030 to have diabetes in their lifetime, like, 633 00:27:31,050 --> 00:27:32,100 doesn't matter what we do with healthcare 634 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:34,211 if we don't solve that side of the problem, 635 00:27:34,231 --> 00:27:36,080 and the garden was step one. 636 00:27:36,201 --> 00:27:38,100 When we were doing our first planting, 637 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,021 there's kids-- everybody's running around 638 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,241 and you can just hear all the cameras clicking constantly... 639 00:27:42,021 --> 00:27:42,241 [cameras clicking] 640 00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:45,130 ...she just looked at me, she's like, "This better work." 641 00:27:45,151 --> 00:27:46,100 [chuckles] 642 00:27:47,070 --> 00:27:48,171 [Campbell Brown] There they are, it's all pretty cute, of course, 643 00:27:48,241 --> 00:27:51,060 we're all in favor of healthy eating. 644 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:52,211 But is this really the best way 645 00:27:52,231 --> 00:27:56,181 for the First Lady to use her considerable influence? 646 00:27:56,201 --> 00:27:58,110 Let's Move! Let's Move! 647 00:27:58,191 --> 00:28:00,110 [Wolf Blitzer] Now to the First Lady, Michelle Obama, 648 00:28:00,130 --> 00:28:02,161 she's out promoting her "Let's Move" campaign, 649 00:28:02,181 --> 00:28:03,241 and taking the motto to heart. 650 00:28:04,021 --> 00:28:05,080 [cheering] 651 00:28:05,100 --> 00:28:06,201 [Sam Kass] Every time we saw her jumping rope 652 00:28:06,221 --> 00:28:08,221 and playing football, or hula hooping, 653 00:28:08,241 --> 00:28:12,040 all those fun things were very strategic ways 654 00:28:12,060 --> 00:28:14,241 that we were working to weave in these values 655 00:28:15,021 --> 00:28:16,070 through our culture. 656 00:28:16,171 --> 00:28:17,191 [Michelle] Instead of just talking about this problem, 657 00:28:18,021 --> 00:28:19,171 and worrying and wringing our hands, 658 00:28:19,191 --> 00:28:22,110 it's time for us to get going and do something about this. 659 00:28:22,181 --> 00:28:25,030 [Van Jones] Helping kids get healthier, 660 00:28:25,110 --> 00:28:27,090 that seems like a solvable problem. 661 00:28:27,110 --> 00:28:31,231 The United States was entering a very partisan, 662 00:28:31,251 --> 00:28:33,181 very polarized environment, 663 00:28:34,030 --> 00:28:37,151 and even something as innocuous as eating better 664 00:28:38,070 --> 00:28:39,181 became politicized. 665 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,221 [narrator] Many of Michelle's actions have been symbolic, 666 00:28:43,070 --> 00:28:46,090 but when she openly supports a legislative agenda, 667 00:28:46,110 --> 00:28:48,161 the gloves come off and the attacks ramp up. 668 00:28:48,241 --> 00:28:51,021 [Michelle] Thirty-one million American children 669 00:28:51,130 --> 00:28:54,090 participate in the federal school meals program, 670 00:28:54,201 --> 00:28:55,241 and many of these kids consume 671 00:28:56,021 --> 00:28:58,060 as many as half of their calories 672 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,100 daily, uh, at school. 673 00:29:00,191 --> 00:29:02,130 [Van Jones] She has the audacity to say, 674 00:29:02,221 --> 00:29:05,181 "Maybe kids should eat good food." 675 00:29:06,060 --> 00:29:09,171 Now this strikes me as a non-controversial thing 676 00:29:09,191 --> 00:29:11,030 for a mom to say. 677 00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:13,110 We'll start by updating the law 678 00:29:13,130 --> 00:29:16,120 that sets nutrition standards for what our kids eat at school. 679 00:29:16,191 --> 00:29:21,040 And yet, you would have thought she was ushering in Stalinism 680 00:29:21,161 --> 00:29:22,231 through the lunchroom. 681 00:29:23,241 --> 00:29:25,201 Who should be making the decisions 682 00:29:25,221 --> 00:29:29,030 what you eat and school choice and everything else, 683 00:29:29,050 --> 00:29:30,221 should it be the government or should it be the parents? 684 00:29:30,241 --> 00:29:33,050 -It should be the parents! -[applause and cheering] 685 00:29:33,070 --> 00:29:34,130 [Tim Naftali] There are Conservatives 686 00:29:34,151 --> 00:29:37,181 and Republicans who always are looking for evidence 687 00:29:37,201 --> 00:29:39,040 that Democrats want to tell them how to live. 688 00:29:39,151 --> 00:29:42,070 -It is indeed the nanny state. -It is not a nanny state. 689 00:29:42,090 --> 00:29:44,130 [Tim Naftali] Some Republicans and Conservatives believe 690 00:29:44,151 --> 00:29:48,040 that Democrats would love the federal government 691 00:29:48,060 --> 00:29:50,021 to be involved in all aspects of your life. 692 00:29:50,191 --> 00:29:53,070 [reporter] It's no longer father knows best or mother knows best, 693 00:29:53,151 --> 00:29:55,060 it's what government knows best. 694 00:29:55,211 --> 00:29:58,181 [narrator] Despite the pushback, Michelle stays on message... 695 00:29:58,201 --> 00:30:01,080 What we were doing was creating a new normal for them, 696 00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:03,130 where there just wasn't junk food in their schools. 697 00:30:03,151 --> 00:30:04,120 [applause] 698 00:30:05,060 --> 00:30:06,140 [narrator] ...and 18 months after launching her garden, 699 00:30:06,161 --> 00:30:09,021 she enjoys her first legislative victory... 700 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:10,040 Hello, hello, hello. 701 00:30:10,161 --> 00:30:12,021 [narrator] ...the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act 702 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,181 passes through the White House with bipartisan support. 703 00:30:15,090 --> 00:30:18,171 In December 2010, the President signs it into law. 704 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,090 My husband worked very hard 705 00:30:20,110 --> 00:30:23,140 to make sure that this bill was a priority, 706 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,100 and I am grateful to you. 707 00:30:26,161 --> 00:30:28,120 Because I would have been sleeping on the couch! 708 00:30:28,140 --> 00:30:30,070 [laughter] 709 00:30:30,140 --> 00:30:34,050 But I am-- I am thrilled to be here... We won't go into that! 710 00:30:34,070 --> 00:30:35,080 [laughter] 711 00:30:35,100 --> 00:30:36,251 Let's just say, it got done! 712 00:30:37,251 --> 00:30:39,050 [narrator] It's a big win 713 00:30:39,070 --> 00:30:41,050 but the food industry fights back, 714 00:30:41,070 --> 00:30:42,221 doubling spending on lobbyists, 715 00:30:42,241 --> 00:30:45,040 to undermine the law's implementation. 716 00:30:45,060 --> 00:30:46,181 [reporter] Well now, one of the First Lady's 717 00:30:46,201 --> 00:30:49,110 major health initiatives is in jeopardy. 718 00:30:49,130 --> 00:30:50,231 [Ann Thomson] Congress says a slice of pizza 719 00:30:50,251 --> 00:30:53,120 qualifies as a vegetable because it has two tablespoons 720 00:30:53,140 --> 00:30:54,120 of tomato paste. 721 00:30:54,231 --> 00:30:56,130 [Sam Kass] There is a lot of money at stake 722 00:30:56,221 --> 00:30:59,070 in selling people a lot of really unhealthy food. 723 00:30:59,211 --> 00:31:02,080 But our top priority was to take these issues 724 00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:04,161 and put them directly in the mainstream of our culture, 725 00:31:04,231 --> 00:31:06,130 and that's what we did. 726 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,191 [narrator] Michelle knows how to handle the political fire 727 00:31:10,211 --> 00:31:12,181 that her nutrition campaign draws, 728 00:31:13,171 --> 00:31:15,191 but personal attacks are different. 729 00:31:16,030 --> 00:31:17,181 When people started to hit her, 730 00:31:18,021 --> 00:31:20,191 hit the family, hit him, it hurt her. 731 00:31:21,100 --> 00:31:23,221 [narrator] The more confident Michelle grows in her role, 732 00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:26,021 the more intense these attacks become. 733 00:31:26,181 --> 00:31:28,251 [David Axelrod] It was part of a strategy, it was a strategy 734 00:31:29,030 --> 00:31:31,110 that tapped into a kind of nativism 735 00:31:31,130 --> 00:31:33,040 that we see to this day. 736 00:31:38,201 --> 00:31:40,100 [Tim Naftali] In the beginning of his story, 737 00:31:40,221 --> 00:31:42,100 Barack Obama's the star, 738 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:44,040 she's in the sidecar. 739 00:31:44,211 --> 00:31:46,241 But at a certain point in the presidency, 740 00:31:47,181 --> 00:31:48,140 something changed. 741 00:31:48,221 --> 00:31:49,211 [announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, 742 00:31:49,231 --> 00:31:52,120 please welcome Michelle Obama! 743 00:31:52,140 --> 00:31:53,201 [applause and cheering] 744 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:55,151 [Anderson Cooper] I don't think there has been a first lady 745 00:31:55,171 --> 00:31:57,231 in recent memory who so many people are fascinated by. 746 00:31:58,181 --> 00:32:00,060 [Tim Naftali] What she is, who she is, 747 00:32:00,191 --> 00:32:02,050 her passions, they are real, 748 00:32:02,070 --> 00:32:03,130 at least they come across as real, 749 00:32:03,251 --> 00:32:07,070 and it makes her a star in her own right. 750 00:32:07,090 --> 00:32:08,080 [applause] 751 00:32:08,151 --> 00:32:09,251 [narrator] Michelle embraces pop culture 752 00:32:10,030 --> 00:32:13,050 in a way that no other first lady has ever done before. 753 00:32:13,070 --> 00:32:14,201 [Tina Tchen] She was not a creature of DC. 754 00:32:15,070 --> 00:32:19,120 She didn't consume cable news, she consumed HDTV and Ellen. 755 00:32:19,221 --> 00:32:22,100 [Tim Naftali] She takes to TV and TV takes to her. 756 00:32:23,181 --> 00:32:25,171 [narrator] Then two years into the first term, 757 00:32:25,191 --> 00:32:28,030 Michelle steps into a brave new world. 758 00:32:28,201 --> 00:32:32,040 So now I just press tweet? Do I press this? 759 00:32:32,060 --> 00:32:34,191 She is the first first lady 760 00:32:34,211 --> 00:32:36,191 in the age of social media, 761 00:32:37,060 --> 00:32:40,130 and-- and that too has transformed the landscape. 762 00:32:40,151 --> 00:32:42,211 -I did it! -Yay! 763 00:32:42,231 --> 00:32:43,171 [cheering] 764 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:45,080 [Michele Norris] I'm pretty certain 765 00:32:45,151 --> 00:32:46,221 that there was some consternation 766 00:32:46,241 --> 00:32:49,181 about the use of social media by the East Wing 767 00:32:49,201 --> 00:32:51,040 because it was not done. 768 00:32:51,060 --> 00:32:52,221 It was not in anybody's playbook. 769 00:32:52,241 --> 00:32:54,161 [Tim Naftali] There are all kinds of people 770 00:32:54,181 --> 00:32:57,040 in the White House, who are there to say, 771 00:32:57,110 --> 00:32:59,120 "No, don't do this. Don't take a risk. 772 00:32:59,201 --> 00:33:01,040 It's never been done before." 773 00:33:01,060 --> 00:33:03,251 Fairly or unfairly, people pay a lot of attention 774 00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:05,151 to what the First Lady looks like, 775 00:33:05,171 --> 00:33:07,221 what the First Lady is wearing, 776 00:33:07,241 --> 00:33:09,201 and, of course, what the First Lady says, 777 00:33:09,221 --> 00:33:11,191 and you could easily see how a phrase 778 00:33:11,211 --> 00:33:13,030 could be twisted around. 779 00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:16,080 [Tina Tchen] As a lawyer, I was one of the strong naysayers 780 00:33:16,100 --> 00:33:17,171 against the President or the First Lady 781 00:33:17,241 --> 00:33:20,110 ever having a Twitter account, because words matter. 782 00:33:20,171 --> 00:33:23,100 Every presidential statement is heavily vetted. 783 00:33:23,181 --> 00:33:24,130 That's it. 784 00:33:24,231 --> 00:33:26,130 [Melissa Winter] But we had a young staff 785 00:33:26,151 --> 00:33:30,040 who realized that social media was where a lot of the people 786 00:33:30,060 --> 00:33:32,110 that we were trying to reach were going. 787 00:33:32,130 --> 00:33:33,161 [Michelle] Don't waste your time 788 00:33:33,181 --> 00:33:36,090 trying to connect with your kids via email. 789 00:33:36,110 --> 00:33:37,120 [laughter] 790 00:33:37,211 --> 00:33:40,191 That antiquated method is as useless as Morse code. 791 00:33:41,130 --> 00:33:42,181 [laughs] If you really want to get 792 00:33:42,201 --> 00:33:44,110 their attention, use symbols! 793 00:33:44,130 --> 00:33:45,110 -Little symbols! -[laughter] 794 00:33:45,171 --> 00:33:46,241 -[Michelle] Aww! -You look good again. 795 00:33:47,090 --> 00:33:50,100 [Tim Naftali] The First Lady was in a sense the guinea pig. 796 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:51,151 -Can you guys do... -[laughter] 797 00:33:51,171 --> 00:33:54,021 ...a little Dougie? Oh yeah, there we go. 798 00:33:54,100 --> 00:33:55,241 [Michele Norris] The West Wing came to realize 799 00:33:56,021 --> 00:33:59,171 that there is an energy vortex over in the East Wing, 800 00:34:00,090 --> 00:34:02,171 that is a little bit different than they'd seen 801 00:34:02,191 --> 00:34:04,140 in previous administrations. 802 00:34:04,221 --> 00:34:06,211 [narrator] After seeing Michelle's success, 803 00:34:07,060 --> 00:34:09,031 the West Wing follows suit. 804 00:34:10,021 --> 00:34:12,031 There we go, my tweet has been posted, 805 00:34:12,111 --> 00:34:14,060 -that's what I'm talking about. -[laughter] 806 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,091 [Melissa Winter] They realized how incredibly effective 807 00:34:16,111 --> 00:34:20,131 a medium social media was for getting points across. 808 00:34:20,151 --> 00:34:21,140 That's going viral. 809 00:34:21,231 --> 00:34:23,160 Happy fourth of July everyone. 810 00:34:23,180 --> 00:34:25,231 [Tim Naftali] Social media is apparent transparency. 811 00:34:25,251 --> 00:34:28,021 It's constructed. Michelle Obama understood that. 812 00:34:28,140 --> 00:34:30,080 [narrator] Michelle now has a direct line 813 00:34:30,100 --> 00:34:32,100 to millions of people around the country, 814 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:33,180 eager to hear her message. 815 00:34:34,131 --> 00:34:36,211 But social media is a two-way street. 816 00:34:37,100 --> 00:34:38,060 Careful what you wish for. 817 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,200 [Michele Norris] Social media allows people to say things 818 00:34:41,220 --> 00:34:43,251 in a public square that they normally would share 819 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:45,171 with people at the lunch table. 820 00:34:45,191 --> 00:34:47,111 Now in so many cases, if I'm thinking it, 821 00:34:47,131 --> 00:34:49,131 I'm saying it, I'm going to type it out with my thumbs 822 00:34:49,151 --> 00:34:50,200 and I'm going to put it out there 823 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:53,140 for the whole world to read with the hashtag, "just saying." 824 00:34:53,211 --> 00:34:54,171 [whistle notification] 825 00:34:55,111 --> 00:34:57,120 [Kati Marton] There's so much anger and pure hate 826 00:34:57,140 --> 00:35:00,151 every time a public person says anything. 827 00:35:00,220 --> 00:35:02,251 [man] Did you see the picture of his wife yesterday? 828 00:35:03,031 --> 00:35:04,140 [caller] Like she's a little girl dressing up 829 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:05,191 in her mama's clothes. 830 00:35:06,051 --> 00:35:07,131 -[whistle notification] -[Peter Slevin] The trolling 831 00:35:07,151 --> 00:35:09,060 that happened anytime there was coverage of her 832 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:12,091 was unlike anything any first lady had faced before. 833 00:35:12,191 --> 00:35:14,160 Michelle faced racism. 834 00:35:14,180 --> 00:35:16,140 There's no other way to describe it. 835 00:35:17,031 --> 00:35:18,131 [Tina Tchen] She wasn't engaging in it 836 00:35:18,151 --> 00:35:20,071 which I think was the right thing to do. 837 00:35:20,211 --> 00:35:22,071 [Michele Norris] She would get up really, 838 00:35:22,091 --> 00:35:25,040 really early in the morning, and she would work out, 839 00:35:26,031 --> 00:35:30,040 and she uses that as a way to find the strength 840 00:35:30,060 --> 00:35:31,251 to take on life's challenges. 841 00:35:32,031 --> 00:35:33,160 [woman] That's who he's married to. 842 00:35:34,071 --> 00:35:35,131 -What does that tell you? -[man laughs] 843 00:35:35,151 --> 00:35:36,251 [male] Did you even see that picture, 844 00:35:37,031 --> 00:35:38,051 I mean, what is that? 845 00:35:38,071 --> 00:35:41,131 You could not go to a reputable website, 846 00:35:41,231 --> 00:35:44,220 The Washington Post, The New York Times, 847 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:47,080 and look at the comment section, 848 00:35:47,100 --> 00:35:49,151 and scroll down more than an inch 849 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,140 and not see N word, N word, N word, 850 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,091 monkey, monkey, monkey, 851 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,040 on any article about Michelle Obama. 852 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,220 [man] What Michelle Obama is trying to tell us... 853 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,120 [woman] ...into that weird fake accent. 854 00:36:03,140 --> 00:36:04,160 [Leah Rigueur] We're in this moment 855 00:36:04,251 --> 00:36:07,100 where a good portion of the American public declares 856 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,131 that we are in a post-racial America. 857 00:36:09,231 --> 00:36:13,251 And then to be hit with wave after wave after wave 858 00:36:14,031 --> 00:36:16,031 of just viciousness. 859 00:36:16,051 --> 00:36:18,191 I'm focused on what's in front of me. 860 00:36:18,211 --> 00:36:20,231 [Michelle] We've got trash in the White House. 861 00:36:20,251 --> 00:36:22,100 She didn't blink. 862 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:26,240 It is my responsibility to work with all Americans, 863 00:36:27,111 --> 00:36:29,200 -and I want to stay focused... -[Larry King] All right. 864 00:36:29,220 --> 00:36:32,160 ...on the work, rather than, you know... 865 00:36:34,021 --> 00:36:35,220 -[Larry King] Other things. -Other things. 866 00:36:37,191 --> 00:36:39,091 [Michele Norris] She tried to ignore most of it, 867 00:36:39,180 --> 00:36:41,051 but you can't ignore all of it. 868 00:36:41,211 --> 00:36:44,131 I feel strongly about the fact 869 00:36:44,231 --> 00:36:48,080 that Barack Obama should provide the public 870 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,220 with a birth certificate, and he should do it soon. 871 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,100 Look, his birth certificate... 872 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,151 The birther movement was an excellent example 873 00:36:56,220 --> 00:36:58,220 of where something was completely made up, 874 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,111 and then used to try to incite hate. 875 00:37:01,220 --> 00:37:04,240 [Mark Meadows] We're going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya 876 00:37:05,021 --> 00:37:06,211 or wherever it is, we're gonna do it. 877 00:37:06,231 --> 00:37:09,131 He's not even a citizen of the United States, 878 00:37:09,151 --> 00:37:10,120 and they're hiding that. 879 00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:11,171 More than one in four believe 880 00:37:11,191 --> 00:37:13,120 President Obama definitely or probably 881 00:37:13,140 --> 00:37:15,080 was not born in the United States. 882 00:37:15,100 --> 00:37:17,051 It was ludicrous but at the same time, 883 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,071 it was in keeping with something that was growing in the country. 884 00:37:20,140 --> 00:37:22,240 [Tim Naftali] It was more than just finding a reason 885 00:37:23,021 --> 00:37:25,021 to disqualify Barack Hussein Obama. 886 00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:30,140 It was about finding a reason to disqualify 887 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,180 more than ten percent of the American population. 888 00:37:33,021 --> 00:37:35,191 [narrator] In her memoir, Michelle describes these attacks 889 00:37:35,211 --> 00:37:40,051 as “Crazy and mean-spirited but also dangerous.” 890 00:37:40,171 --> 00:37:42,080 I have to say that every single day, 891 00:37:42,100 --> 00:37:44,021 it was in the back of my mind 892 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,211 that it just takes one crazy person. 893 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,040 [narrator] She adds: “What if someone 894 00:37:49,060 --> 00:37:52,160 with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington? 895 00:37:52,180 --> 00:37:55,111 What if that person went looking for our girls?" 896 00:37:55,180 --> 00:37:58,111 This was something that Michelle lived with 897 00:37:58,191 --> 00:38:00,151 in a really intense way. 898 00:38:01,131 --> 00:38:03,211 [narrator] “Donald Trump,” Michelle continues, 899 00:38:04,051 --> 00:38:06,080 “with his loud and reckless innuendos, 900 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,220 was putting my family's safety at risk, 901 00:38:09,071 --> 00:38:11,211 and for this, I could never forgive him." 902 00:38:12,151 --> 00:38:13,191 [Valerie Jarrett] She understood 903 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,131 that the consequences could be fatal for her husband, 904 00:38:16,151 --> 00:38:18,021 for her children, for herself. 905 00:38:27,051 --> 00:38:28,220 [narrator] One night in the first term, 906 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:30,111 Michelle has a dream. 907 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,111 A man leads her family to the South Lawn 908 00:38:34,131 --> 00:38:38,021 to see some animals he has gathered, for them to admire. 909 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,100 [growling] 910 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:42,111 Michelle is apprehensive. 911 00:38:45,191 --> 00:38:47,031 [growling intensifies] 912 00:38:47,180 --> 00:38:49,021 [gasps] 913 00:38:50,151 --> 00:38:51,231 [narrator] Michelle lives day and night 914 00:38:52,071 --> 00:38:54,251 knowing that her family is a target for violence. 915 00:38:57,240 --> 00:38:59,160 [helicopter whirring] 916 00:39:10,211 --> 00:39:12,091 [Melissa Winter] I think we were coming back 917 00:39:12,111 --> 00:39:13,180 from a trip to Hawaii, 918 00:39:14,140 --> 00:39:16,220 somebody had shot a rifle from Constitution Avenue 919 00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:20,160 into one of the windows in what is known as the Yellow Oval. 920 00:39:21,180 --> 00:39:23,160 [narrator] Seven bullets hit the White House, 921 00:39:24,100 --> 00:39:26,031 one smashing a window by the living room. 922 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,080 Sasha and Michelle's mother are inside. 923 00:39:38,151 --> 00:39:41,021 [narrator] The shooter proclaimed that President Obama 924 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:42,131 “had to be stopped.” 925 00:39:43,140 --> 00:39:44,180 [Valerie Jarrett] Her thought was, 926 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,021 they could have been out on the Truman balcony. 927 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:47,171 Her children played all over. 928 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:49,080 She'd been assured it was safe out there. 929 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,200 [Melissa Winter] You know, that wasn't the only incident, 930 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,180 but she put her head down, and she trusted the men 931 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,211 and women of the Secret Service to protect her children, 932 00:39:57,051 --> 00:40:02,051 because she was not going to let undisciplined people tell her 933 00:40:02,071 --> 00:40:05,031 how to lead her life, ever. 934 00:40:05,051 --> 00:40:06,131 [commotion] 935 00:40:06,211 --> 00:40:08,120 [Melissa Winter] She was the First Lady of the United States, 936 00:40:08,140 --> 00:40:10,151 she was the First Lady to all people of the United States 937 00:40:10,171 --> 00:40:12,060 whether they liked her or not. 938 00:40:12,180 --> 00:40:15,120 I now have the privilege of introducing 939 00:40:15,140 --> 00:40:18,051 the star of the show, Michelle Obama. 940 00:40:18,071 --> 00:40:19,120 [cheering] 941 00:40:19,140 --> 00:40:20,231 [narrator] Michelle writes in her memoir: 942 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:24,131 “I understood that it was better for all of us 943 00:40:24,151 --> 00:40:27,100 not to acknowledge the hate or dwell on the risk." 944 00:40:28,051 --> 00:40:31,131 [Michele Norris] She threw open the doors at the White House 945 00:40:31,151 --> 00:40:34,100 as a place where Americans were allowed to see themselves. 946 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,031 Tonight's event is really just another way 947 00:40:37,051 --> 00:40:38,200 for us to open up the White House 948 00:40:38,220 --> 00:40:40,251 and once again make it the people's house. 949 00:40:41,031 --> 00:40:43,080 [Tim Naftali] The idea of the People's House is not new. 950 00:40:43,100 --> 00:40:45,251 Andrew Jackson talked about the White House 951 00:40:46,031 --> 00:40:47,031 as the People's House. 952 00:40:47,151 --> 00:40:50,080 But after 9/11, the White House became a fortress... 953 00:40:50,100 --> 00:40:52,031 Have fun, be loose... 954 00:40:52,131 --> 00:40:53,231 [Tim Naftali] ...and Michelle Obama 955 00:40:53,251 --> 00:40:56,240 calling the White House the People's House was one element 956 00:40:57,021 --> 00:40:59,251 of a much larger effort to move us forward. 957 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,120 [Tina Tchen] Mrs. Obama said we want to make sure 958 00:41:02,140 --> 00:41:05,040 that people who have perhaps previously 959 00:41:05,060 --> 00:41:06,060 never been to the White House 960 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,180 have an opportunity to do so in a meaningful way. 961 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,040 [Michelle] Just get comfortable here, right? 962 00:41:11,100 --> 00:41:13,031 Get comfortable with a little greatness! 963 00:41:13,100 --> 00:41:14,240 We want to bring in diverse voices, 964 00:41:15,021 --> 00:41:18,140 diverse bodies, diverse people, diverse genders, like everybody, 965 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:19,220 we just said, "Come on in." 966 00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:21,180 If you feel like this day was special, 967 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,120 it's because we think you all are special. 968 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:25,191 [Deesha Dyer] Whether they're kids that have 969 00:41:25,211 --> 00:41:28,131 gotten in trouble before or whether it's college dropouts. 970 00:41:28,151 --> 00:41:30,171 So today, I want all of you to know that you belong 971 00:41:30,191 --> 00:41:32,060 right here in the White House. 972 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,080 [Deesha Dyer] That's a game changer 973 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,060 because then they could see themselves there in the future. 974 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:38,171 [Michelle] Remember this moment, 975 00:41:38,191 --> 00:41:41,021 and remember that the First Lady of the United States 976 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,251 told you that you can do anything you want to. 977 00:41:44,031 --> 00:41:46,151 [applause] 978 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,171 [narrator] The 2012 election is only a year away, 979 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:52,240 and the President's approval rating 980 00:41:53,021 --> 00:41:54,171 is worryingly low. 981 00:41:55,251 --> 00:41:58,100 But the First Lady's popularity is soaring. 982 00:41:58,251 --> 00:42:00,171 [David Axelrod] People responded to her. 983 00:42:01,031 --> 00:42:04,180 She became far more popular than the President himself. 984 00:42:04,251 --> 00:42:06,021 [cheering] 985 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:07,191 So I get speak first while he stands 986 00:42:07,211 --> 00:42:09,060 and watches, I love this. 987 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:10,151 [laughter] 988 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:13,180 -Look at me adoringly. -[laughter] 989 00:42:13,251 --> 00:42:16,180 One of the useful roles that she played 990 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,251 in the White House was to keep him grounded. 991 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:24,131 She was a part of a very contemporary marriage, 992 00:42:24,220 --> 00:42:27,140 not a marriage that served one man's ego, 993 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:29,220 the way so many other White House marriages have. 994 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,100 [narrator] Heading towards the election, 995 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,160 Americans are worried about the economy 996 00:42:34,180 --> 00:42:35,200 and unemployment, 997 00:42:36,031 --> 00:42:38,021 and frustrated by gridlock in Washington. 998 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,100 [Tim Naftali] Re-elections are the President's to lose. 999 00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:43,180 There is a power that comes from incumbency 1000 00:42:44,021 --> 00:42:45,240 that is hard to defeat in American history. 1001 00:42:46,100 --> 00:42:48,091 That was not how people looked 1002 00:42:48,151 --> 00:42:50,231 at Barack Obama's chances in 2012. 1003 00:42:51,151 --> 00:42:53,200 [narrator] Michelle's popularity is now essential 1004 00:42:53,220 --> 00:42:55,131 to his re-election campaign. 1005 00:42:55,151 --> 00:42:57,251 [David Axelrod] He genuinely viewed her as a friend 1006 00:42:58,031 --> 00:43:01,220 who had his interests at heart and deep, deep insights. 1007 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:03,171 [cheering] 1008 00:43:04,131 --> 00:43:07,171 [Michelle] Thank you so much. Thank you. 1009 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:12,120 Michelle was the President's lifeline 1010 00:43:12,251 --> 00:43:14,180 to humanity. 1011 00:43:15,051 --> 00:43:17,211 [Michelle] So many people had a hand in our success, 1012 00:43:18,111 --> 00:43:20,071 from the teachers who inspired us 1013 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,051 to the janitors who kept our school clean. 1014 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:26,191 [David Axelrod] She had an innate common-sensical quality 1015 00:43:27,051 --> 00:43:30,120 that helped ground these kind of lofty discussions. 1016 00:43:30,211 --> 00:43:33,180 [Michelle] Being president doesn't change who you are. 1017 00:43:34,071 --> 00:43:35,240 No, it-- it reveals who you are. 1018 00:43:36,100 --> 00:43:38,191 [David Axelrod] And that was enormously valuable. 1019 00:43:38,211 --> 00:43:40,160 [Michelle] Let me tell you today, 1020 00:43:40,180 --> 00:43:43,140 I love my husband even more than I did four years ago. 1021 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:45,231 Even more than I did 23 years ago, 1022 00:43:45,251 --> 00:43:47,051 when we first met. 1023 00:43:47,071 --> 00:43:49,180 [cheering] 1024 00:43:51,140 --> 00:43:57,160 [crowd chanting] Four more years! 1025 00:43:58,031 --> 00:44:00,200 [narrator] Barack Obama comes from behind in the polls 1026 00:44:00,220 --> 00:44:05,080 to secure a definitive victory and a second term as president. 1027 00:44:05,100 --> 00:44:06,120 [Valerie Jarrett] We often said 1028 00:44:06,140 --> 00:44:09,040 that the first election was aspirational, 1029 00:44:09,111 --> 00:44:11,051 the second one was affirmational. 1030 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,060 [cheering] 1031 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:15,031 [narrator] Watching the thousands of performers 1032 00:44:15,051 --> 00:44:16,091 on inauguration day, 1033 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,080 Michelle doesn't know that one of them, 1034 00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:21,111 a high-school majorette from Chicago, 1035 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:24,060 will drastically impact what she fights for 1036 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:25,051 in her second term. 1037 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:27,021 [reporter] First Lady, Michelle Obama, 1038 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,220 is returning to her hometown to attend the funeral 1039 00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:32,111 of 15-year old Hadiya Pendleton, 1040 00:44:32,180 --> 00:44:35,120 a bystander shot dead in a Chicago park 1041 00:44:35,140 --> 00:44:38,060 a week after she performed at the President's inauguration. 1042 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,051 [reporter] Hadiya Pendleton became the 42nd person 1043 00:44:41,071 --> 00:44:43,200 killed this month in the President's hometown. 1044 00:44:43,220 --> 00:44:45,111 [Arne Duncan] I ran the Chicago public school 1045 00:44:45,131 --> 00:44:46,140 for seven and a half years. 1046 00:44:46,211 --> 00:44:49,120 On average we had a child killed every two weeks 1047 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:50,240 due to gun violence. 1048 00:44:52,060 --> 00:44:54,051 Hadiya just reminded me of Michelle. 1049 00:44:55,051 --> 00:44:56,180 [Hadiya's mother] No mother, no father, 1050 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,031 should ever have to experience this. 1051 00:45:00,171 --> 00:45:02,131 [Melissa Winter] Hadiya was a straight-A student, 1052 00:45:02,220 --> 00:45:06,091 and she was a casualty of a stray bullet 1053 00:45:06,111 --> 00:45:07,251 walking to home from school 1054 00:45:08,100 --> 00:45:09,151 and Mrs. Obama knows, 1055 00:45:09,171 --> 00:45:10,231 there by the grace of God go I, 1056 00:45:10,251 --> 00:45:13,140 that could have been her at any moment at any time 1057 00:45:14,060 --> 00:45:16,100 as a little girl on the South Side of Chicago. 1058 00:45:16,180 --> 00:45:18,021 It affected her deeply. 1059 00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:19,251 [pastor] We thank you for our First Lady 1060 00:45:20,031 --> 00:45:21,220 and the other officials who have come to comfort. 1061 00:45:22,180 --> 00:45:24,060 [narrator] A shooting on the streets of Chicago 1062 00:45:24,140 --> 00:45:26,091 rarely sparks national outrage, 1063 00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:29,240 but a mass shooting in an elementary school does. 1064 00:45:30,220 --> 00:45:34,180 In April 2013, the Senate votes on two gun control bills 1065 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:38,021 brought about by the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary. 1066 00:45:38,191 --> 00:45:41,211 Ninety percent of the public back the measures. 1067 00:45:44,140 --> 00:45:46,100 [narrator] Both bills are defeated. 1068 00:45:47,100 --> 00:45:50,191 It begs the question, who are we here to represent? 1069 00:45:54,051 --> 00:45:56,151 So, all in all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington. 1070 00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,160 [narrator] With the President's legislative efforts blocked, 1071 00:45:59,251 --> 00:46:02,031 Michelle is tackling gun violence 1072 00:46:02,111 --> 00:46:03,111 the way she knows best. 1073 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,091 We read that story day after day, 1074 00:46:06,111 --> 00:46:09,111 month after month, year after year in this city 1075 00:46:09,131 --> 00:46:10,120 and around this country... 1076 00:46:10,220 --> 00:46:11,211 [Michele Norris] While her husband was fighting 1077 00:46:11,231 --> 00:46:13,231 his own battle about gun rights 1078 00:46:13,251 --> 00:46:16,220 and trying to reduce the number of guns 1079 00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:19,131 that fall into American hands, she used her own platform. 1080 00:46:20,031 --> 00:46:21,131 [Michelle] I'm not talking about something 1081 00:46:21,231 --> 00:46:24,180 that's happening in a warzone halfway around the world. 1082 00:46:25,131 --> 00:46:27,111 I am talking about what's happening 1083 00:46:27,131 --> 00:46:29,191 in the city that we call home. 1084 00:46:30,111 --> 00:46:32,051 And to use her voice in a way 1085 00:46:32,071 --> 00:46:34,191 that would lift those young people up. 1086 00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:38,211 And let me tell you, it is hard to know what to say 1087 00:46:38,231 --> 00:46:40,100 to a room full of teenagers 1088 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,200 who are about to bury their best friend. 1089 00:46:44,021 --> 00:46:46,140 [Arne Duncan] Michelle understood on a very visceral, 1090 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:51,100 very personal level, how horrific the violence was. 1091 00:46:52,171 --> 00:46:54,040 She couldn't solve gun violence by herself, 1092 00:46:54,220 --> 00:46:56,160 but she had to try and create some hope 1093 00:46:57,060 --> 00:46:59,100 and some inspiration for kids and communities 1094 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:01,171 that were living on a daily basis 1095 00:47:02,071 --> 00:47:05,060 with a level of fear and trauma that's untenable, 1096 00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,031 that's unacceptable, that's not right. 1097 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:09,021 [Michelle] What it takes to build strong, 1098 00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,151 successful young people isn't genetics, 1099 00:47:11,231 --> 00:47:16,080 or pedigree, or good luck. It's opportunity. 1100 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:21,251 [Michelle] Oh, I love you guys! 1101 00:47:22,151 --> 00:47:23,220 [cheering] 1102 00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:25,111 [narrator] Michelle has been spending time 1103 00:47:25,131 --> 00:47:27,251 with young people traumatized by gun violence 1104 00:47:28,111 --> 00:47:31,100 and they provide the motivation for her next initiative. 1105 00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:34,051 Every scar that you have 1106 00:47:34,191 --> 00:47:37,051 is a reminder not just that you got hurt, 1107 00:47:37,231 --> 00:47:39,100 but that you survived. 1108 00:47:40,021 --> 00:47:42,091 [Arne Duncan] It's about creating a sense of opportunity 1109 00:47:42,211 --> 00:47:45,131 when that opportunity is unseen. 1110 00:47:45,251 --> 00:47:48,240 [Michelle] Instead of letting those feelings defeat you, 1111 00:47:49,111 --> 00:47:50,140 let them motivate you. 1112 00:47:50,231 --> 00:47:51,251 [Arne Duncan] She could've gone eight years 1113 00:47:52,031 --> 00:47:53,120 and never talked about education. 1114 00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:57,211 But there was probably no better spokesman on the planet, 1115 00:47:57,231 --> 00:48:00,091 literally, than her, for this issue. 1116 00:48:00,180 --> 00:48:02,111 It was like a match made in heaven. 1117 00:48:03,171 --> 00:48:06,240 [singing lyrics] 1118 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:13,160 [Eric Waldo] I never thought I would be at the White House 1119 00:48:14,021 --> 00:48:17,120 trying to get approved a script for the First Lady 1120 00:48:17,140 --> 00:48:21,091 to do a rap video with someone from Saturday Night Live. 1121 00:48:21,191 --> 00:48:23,200 People... were a little worried, 1122 00:48:23,220 --> 00:48:26,151 are we going to make Mrs. Obama look foolish? 1123 00:48:27,111 --> 00:48:28,180 Are people going to say 1124 00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:30,180 that that's not what a first lady should be doing? 1125 00:48:31,021 --> 00:48:33,040 [Michelle singing lyrics] 1126 00:48:33,060 --> 00:48:34,191 [Eric Waldo] We get the edit back 1127 00:48:34,211 --> 00:48:36,160 and people in the office were like... 1128 00:48:37,131 --> 00:48:39,140 "I don't know, is this going to be okay?" 1129 00:48:40,151 --> 00:48:42,131 -[message alerts beeping] -[Eric Waldo] I knew something 1130 00:48:42,151 --> 00:48:44,131 was going right when it was trending in Italian, 1131 00:48:44,151 --> 00:48:47,091 and it had like 23 million views in 24 hours. 1132 00:48:47,111 --> 00:48:49,211 [narrator] Michelle's campaign is aimed at kids 1133 00:48:49,231 --> 00:48:52,100 who might think that college is out of reach. 1134 00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:54,240 [Michelle] Tell us where you're going next 1135 00:48:55,071 --> 00:48:57,071 with the hashtag Reach Higher. 1136 00:48:57,191 --> 00:48:59,220 [narrator] While the administration offers grants, 1137 00:49:00,060 --> 00:49:01,100 loans and tax-credits... 1138 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:05,191 Education is the economic issue of our time. 1139 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:08,131 [narrator] ...Michelle's approach is more personal. 1140 00:49:08,151 --> 00:49:11,171 I want you all to succeed, and I want you to understand 1141 00:49:11,191 --> 00:49:15,071 how-- how do people like me go from being kids like you 1142 00:49:15,091 --> 00:49:18,051 to standing here as First Lady of the United States? 1143 00:49:18,071 --> 00:49:19,051 [cheering] 1144 00:49:19,071 --> 00:49:22,160 Mrs. Obama feels that sense of luck 1145 00:49:22,180 --> 00:49:23,151 and that sense of privilege. 1146 00:49:23,171 --> 00:49:26,021 If I can do it, you can do it. 1147 00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:28,211 [Eric Waldo] And that's why she's spent her life and career 1148 00:49:28,231 --> 00:49:30,251 trying to make sure that everyone 1149 00:49:31,031 --> 00:49:32,100 has the same opportunities that she's had. 1150 00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:34,071 [Valerie Jarrett] She was visceral and emotional, 1151 00:49:34,091 --> 00:49:36,131 and it stems from her own life experience. 1152 00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,180 I set my sights high. 1153 00:49:39,091 --> 00:49:41,100 I decided I was going to Princeton. 1154 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:43,131 She was that public-school kid 1155 00:49:43,151 --> 00:49:44,151 who had a college counsellor 1156 00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:46,120 who said, "You're not good enough to get into Princeton." 1157 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:48,180 They told me I was never going 1158 00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:50,120 to get into a school like Princeton, 1159 00:49:51,051 --> 00:49:53,211 and I still hear that doubt ringing in my head. 1160 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:56,231 So if there is anybody telling you 1161 00:49:56,251 --> 00:49:58,120 that you are not college material, 1162 00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:01,171 I want you to brush them off, prove them wrong. 1163 00:50:03,021 --> 00:50:04,180 [Arne Duncan] This was not just some issue 1164 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,111 that was important to her, 1165 00:50:06,191 --> 00:50:07,231 this was her life story. 1166 00:50:07,251 --> 00:50:10,080 This defined her. This was who she was. 1167 00:50:11,131 --> 00:50:13,091 [Michelle] I remember it like it was yesterday, 1168 00:50:13,251 --> 00:50:17,021 and feeling like, "What am I doing here?" 1169 00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:18,251 [narrator] In her memoir, 1170 00:50:19,111 --> 00:50:21,180 Michelle recalls arriving at Princeton from the South Side 1171 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:25,051 and feeling, quote, "Like a poppy seed in a bowl of rice. 1172 00:50:25,251 --> 00:50:28,051 I'd never stood out in a crowd or a classroom 1173 00:50:28,071 --> 00:50:29,191 because of the color of my skin." 1174 00:50:29,211 --> 00:50:32,211 [Peter Slevin] Princeton in 1981 was very white. 1175 00:50:33,040 --> 00:50:35,171 It was also, until recently, entirely male. 1176 00:50:36,060 --> 00:50:37,231 [Michele Norris] Princeton was a wonderful 1177 00:50:37,251 --> 00:50:40,060 but not always welcoming environment, 1178 00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:42,040 where she was viewed as someone who was probably there 1179 00:50:42,060 --> 00:50:43,160 because of affirmative action 1180 00:50:43,180 --> 00:50:46,120 and was seen through somewhat suspicious eyes. 1181 00:50:46,140 --> 00:50:47,211 [Peter Slevin] When it came time for Michelle 1182 00:50:47,231 --> 00:50:50,091 to write her senior thesis in sociology, 1183 00:50:50,111 --> 00:50:53,160 she said that Princeton made her more aware of her blackness 1184 00:50:53,180 --> 00:50:55,080 than anything else in her life, 1185 00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:58,100 and that, at times, she felt other students saw her 1186 00:50:58,120 --> 00:51:01,240 as a black person first and a student second. 1187 00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:05,071 [Marcia Chatelain] Her thesis was very obvious 1188 00:51:05,091 --> 00:51:07,160 about the ways that racial exclusion 1189 00:51:07,180 --> 00:51:09,120 shapes educational experience. 1190 00:51:10,071 --> 00:51:14,021 But during the 2008 campaign, it was used to fuel a narrative 1191 00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:17,200 that Michelle Obama is racist, that she's anti-white, 1192 00:51:17,220 --> 00:51:19,120 that she's essentially angry. 1193 00:51:19,140 --> 00:51:21,140 [Hugh Hewitt] It was impenetrable, it was gibberish. 1194 00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,100 [Christopher Hitchens] It was lugubrious, boring, 1195 00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:26,180 resentful and I have to add, slightly sinister. 1196 00:51:27,031 --> 00:51:28,160 [Marcia Chatelain] Qualities that I think 1197 00:51:28,180 --> 00:51:31,180 in a white potential first lady would have been celebrated, 1198 00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:33,200 a deep intellectual curiosity, 1199 00:51:33,220 --> 00:51:35,071 an Ivy League education, 1200 00:51:35,231 --> 00:51:38,100 all of these qualities were degraded. 1201 00:51:39,051 --> 00:51:40,171 [narrator] Michelle's response to these attacks 1202 00:51:40,191 --> 00:51:43,200 is mirrored in the message she shares with the students: 1203 00:51:44,100 --> 00:51:46,160 Work harder, reach higher. 1204 00:51:46,180 --> 00:51:47,180 [indistinct chanting] 1205 00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:50,040 [narrator] But some young African Americans 1206 00:51:50,060 --> 00:51:52,040 are being attacked by more than words. 1207 00:51:52,120 --> 00:51:54,180 We begin tonight with the latest in the Trayvon Martin case... 1208 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:56,171 ...the investigation into the deadly police shooting of... 1209 00:51:56,191 --> 00:51:58,100 ...the Ferguson unarmed teen... 1210 00:51:58,120 --> 00:51:59,131 Michael Brown. 1211 00:51:59,151 --> 00:52:00,151 [reporter] ...Eric Garner's death 1212 00:52:00,251 --> 00:52:02,131 at the hands of a New York police officer... 1213 00:52:02,151 --> 00:52:03,191 A cop did wrong! 1214 00:52:03,211 --> 00:52:04,240 [reporter] His last words... 1215 00:52:05,021 --> 00:52:06,251 [all] I can't breathe. 1216 00:52:07,031 --> 00:52:08,200 -[man] What do we want? -[all] Justice! 1217 00:52:08,220 --> 00:52:10,021 -When do we want it? -Now! 1218 00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:12,171 [Michelle] The road ahead is not going to be easy. 1219 00:52:12,191 --> 00:52:16,021 It never is, especially for folks like you and me. 1220 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:19,021 [narrator] Michelle doubles down on her message of hope. 1221 00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:21,040 [Leah Rigueur] After the 2012 election, 1222 00:52:21,111 --> 00:52:24,160 the kind of caution that really defined the Obamas 1223 00:52:24,251 --> 00:52:26,180 during the first administration 1224 00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:29,140 some of that goes by the wayside. 1225 00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:32,051 No matter how far you rise in life, 1226 00:52:32,151 --> 00:52:35,100 how hard you work to be a good person, 1227 00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:37,140 a good parent, a good citizen, 1228 00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:41,040 for some folks, it will never be enough. 1229 00:52:41,060 --> 00:52:43,021 And we see in Michelle Obama 1230 00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:48,031 that is less coy about race. 1231 00:52:48,191 --> 00:52:49,200 It can make you feel 1232 00:52:49,220 --> 00:52:52,021 like your life somehow doesn't matter... 1233 00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:53,021 [indistinct shouting] 1234 00:52:53,140 --> 00:52:54,211 [Michelle] ...and those feelings are playing out 1235 00:52:54,231 --> 00:52:57,080 in communities like Baltimore and Ferguson 1236 00:52:57,100 --> 00:52:59,151 and so many others across this country. 1237 00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:01,111 [Leah Rigueur] You can say, 1238 00:53:01,131 --> 00:53:03,071 it would've been a massive opportunity 1239 00:53:04,051 --> 00:53:06,051 to really say something transformative. 1240 00:53:06,071 --> 00:53:07,071 [protesters] Black lives matter! 1241 00:53:07,091 --> 00:53:08,251 But at the same time, 1242 00:53:09,100 --> 00:53:12,120 she's still operating within the boundaries of the White House. 1243 00:53:12,140 --> 00:53:15,080 [chanting] Black lives matter! 1244 00:53:15,140 --> 00:53:18,071 [Van Jones] She's quite clear about the role of poverty 1245 00:53:18,091 --> 00:53:19,180 and sexism and racism. 1246 00:53:20,060 --> 00:53:23,040 But she also is not going to let anybody off the hook. 1247 00:53:23,100 --> 00:53:25,200 She's gonna tell you, "Look, y'all, it sucks, it's bad, 1248 00:53:26,040 --> 00:53:28,231 but you are born for more than that." 1249 00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:31,091 Today, I want to be very clear 1250 00:53:32,060 --> 00:53:35,031 that those feelings are not an excuse 1251 00:53:35,131 --> 00:53:37,240 to just throw up our hands and give up, 1252 00:53:38,021 --> 00:53:39,031 not an excuse, 1253 00:53:39,051 --> 00:53:42,040 they are not an excuse to lose hope! 1254 00:53:42,060 --> 00:53:43,240 [applause] 1255 00:53:46,060 --> 00:53:47,120 Five, four, three, two, one. 1256 00:53:47,140 --> 00:53:48,131 [sirens] 1257 00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:51,100 [narrator] One month later, the spirit of "Yes we can" 1258 00:53:52,021 --> 00:53:56,091 that has taken the Obamas so far will be brutally challenged. 1259 00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:02,251 At 9:05, uh, this evening, 1260 00:54:03,031 --> 00:54:05,200 we received a call of, uh, a shooting 1261 00:54:05,220 --> 00:54:09,071 that had occurred at the church here on Calhoun Street. 1262 00:54:10,021 --> 00:54:11,191 [narrator] In the summer of 2015, 1263 00:54:11,211 --> 00:54:15,021 a 21-year old white man joins a bible study 1264 00:54:15,100 --> 00:54:18,151 at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church 1265 00:54:18,251 --> 00:54:20,040 and then starts shooting. 1266 00:54:20,060 --> 00:54:21,171 [Gregory Mullen] It is unfathomable 1267 00:54:21,191 --> 00:54:25,031 that somebody in today's society would walk into a church, 1268 00:54:25,131 --> 00:54:27,171 when people are having a prayer meeting, 1269 00:54:28,071 --> 00:54:29,120 and take their lives. 1270 00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:32,091 [narrator] The shooter reportedly accused 1271 00:54:32,111 --> 00:54:36,071 the all-black congregation of “taking over the country.” 1272 00:54:36,220 --> 00:54:37,231 Nine people are killed. 1273 00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:39,211 [Barack Obama] For too long we've been blind 1274 00:54:39,231 --> 00:54:42,251 to the way that past injustices continue to shake the present. 1275 00:54:43,031 --> 00:54:44,180 -[woman] Yeah! -[scattered applause] 1276 00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:47,120 Perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough questions. 1277 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,071 [Marcia Chatelain] What does it mean to be proud 1278 00:54:50,091 --> 00:54:52,040 to be the first African American inhabitants 1279 00:54:52,060 --> 00:54:53,031 of the White House, 1280 00:54:53,111 --> 00:54:55,071 and know that it's linked to movements, 1281 00:54:55,160 --> 00:54:58,240 it's linked to individuals, who see that as an affront 1282 00:54:59,100 --> 00:55:01,100 to things that are rightfully theirs. 1283 00:55:02,111 --> 00:55:04,131 Their progress riled up 1284 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:06,220 some of the worst forces in our world. 1285 00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:10,231 It really does create, I think, 1286 00:55:10,251 --> 00:55:12,240 this deep existential sense 1287 00:55:13,021 --> 00:55:16,091 of our presence may lead 1288 00:55:16,111 --> 00:55:17,180 to the absence of others. 1289 00:55:18,140 --> 00:55:19,240 [Tim Naftali] The way to defeat hope 1290 00:55:20,140 --> 00:55:22,120 is to make people angry and resentful. 1291 00:55:23,251 --> 00:55:25,160 We're gonna make you angry 1292 00:55:25,180 --> 00:55:27,140 that these people are in the White House, 1293 00:55:28,051 --> 00:55:29,211 and we're gonna make you certain 1294 00:55:29,231 --> 00:55:34,080 that every problem you face, every misfortune, 1295 00:55:35,091 --> 00:55:36,200 is the fault of people like that. 1296 00:55:37,191 --> 00:55:41,131 Hatred is really just fear in a different octave. 1297 00:55:41,251 --> 00:55:42,251 [clapping and singing] 1298 00:55:43,091 --> 00:55:44,251 [Michele Norris] And so at the end of her term, 1299 00:55:45,111 --> 00:55:48,051 she was using her voice to speak to the hatred 1300 00:55:48,071 --> 00:55:50,200 and to speak to the fear that people had. 1301 00:55:51,140 --> 00:55:54,180 [Michelle] Here in America, we don't give in to our fears, 1302 00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:57,100 we don't build up walls to keep people out 1303 00:55:57,171 --> 00:55:59,071 because we know that our greatness... 1304 00:55:59,091 --> 00:56:00,091 [cheering] 1305 00:56:00,111 --> 00:56:03,100 ...has always depended on contributions 1306 00:56:03,120 --> 00:56:05,140 from people who were born elsewhere... 1307 00:56:05,160 --> 00:56:06,240 [applause and cheering continues] 1308 00:56:07,021 --> 00:56:10,080 ...but sought out this country and made it their home. 1309 00:56:11,131 --> 00:56:13,131 [Michele Norris] There was an expectation that they, 1310 00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:16,131 in particular, would lead a conversation about race. 1311 00:56:17,031 --> 00:56:18,140 That is the American story. 1312 00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:20,251 There are people who felt that they just didn't do it enough. 1313 00:56:21,031 --> 00:56:23,211 [Michelle] It's the story that I witness every single day 1314 00:56:24,151 --> 00:56:28,220 when I wake up in a house that was built by slaves, 1315 00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:30,220 -and I watch my daughters... -[man] Woo! 1316 00:56:31,060 --> 00:56:33,240 ...two beautiful black young women, 1317 00:56:34,021 --> 00:56:36,051 waving goodbye to their father, 1318 00:56:36,071 --> 00:56:37,251 the President of the United States. 1319 00:56:38,031 --> 00:56:39,040 [applause and cheering] 1320 00:56:39,231 --> 00:56:42,151 [Michele Norris] They kind of talked about it all the time, 1321 00:56:42,220 --> 00:56:45,131 in subtle ways, and often in ways 1322 00:56:45,151 --> 00:56:48,100 that just kind of went right over people's heads. 1323 00:56:48,120 --> 00:56:50,031 [Michelle] You are the living, 1324 00:56:50,100 --> 00:56:51,160 breathing proof 1325 00:56:52,060 --> 00:56:55,220 that the American dream endures in our time. It's you! 1326 00:56:58,051 --> 00:56:59,251 [Barack Obama] You might have heard that someone jumped 1327 00:57:00,031 --> 00:57:02,031 the White House fence last week, 1328 00:57:02,091 --> 00:57:05,031 but I have to give Secret Service credit, 1329 00:57:05,171 --> 00:57:07,071 they found Michelle, brought her back, 1330 00:57:07,091 --> 00:57:09,031 she's safe back at home now. 1331 00:57:09,051 --> 00:57:10,131 [laughter] 1332 00:57:11,120 --> 00:57:13,021 [laughs] It's only nine more months, baby. 1333 00:57:13,040 --> 00:57:14,051 [laughter continues] 1334 00:57:14,071 --> 00:57:15,060 Settle down. 1335 00:57:16,140 --> 00:57:18,100 [narrator] The Obamas' time in the White House 1336 00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:20,071 is coming to a close. 1337 00:57:20,091 --> 00:57:22,021 Last question. Make it a good one! 1338 00:57:22,040 --> 00:57:24,251 [narrator] Michelle makes no secret of her relief. 1339 00:57:25,031 --> 00:57:26,080 [child] Where are you gonna work 1340 00:57:26,100 --> 00:57:27,251 after you done being the First Lady? 1341 00:57:28,031 --> 00:57:30,040 -I don't know! -[Melissa Winter] She was ready. 1342 00:57:30,131 --> 00:57:31,180 I'm gonna work in my house. 1343 00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:33,080 [Melissa Winter] Her kids were growing up. 1344 00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:35,211 In her opinion, it was time to go. 1345 00:57:35,231 --> 00:57:36,240 [applause and cheering] 1346 00:57:37,021 --> 00:57:38,151 [Michelle] It's hard to believe 1347 00:57:39,031 --> 00:57:40,191 that it has been eight years. 1348 00:57:41,231 --> 00:57:44,060 [narrator] In Michelle's final Convention appearance, 1349 00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:47,080 she delivers a rebuke to candidate Donald Trump's 1350 00:57:47,100 --> 00:57:48,251 attacks on her family, 1351 00:57:49,240 --> 00:57:51,100 sharing the mantra they used 1352 00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:53,051 through their years in the White House. 1353 00:57:53,151 --> 00:57:55,240 [Michelle] I told you about our daughters, 1354 00:57:56,100 --> 00:57:58,211 how we urge them to ignore those... 1355 00:57:58,231 --> 00:58:01,091 -[applause] -who question their father's 1356 00:58:01,111 --> 00:58:02,220 ...citizenship or faith. 1357 00:58:03,151 --> 00:58:07,060 How we explain that when someone is cruel 1358 00:58:07,080 --> 00:58:10,080 or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. 1359 00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:12,040 No, our motto is, 1360 00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:14,140 "When they go low, we go high." 1361 00:58:14,160 --> 00:58:17,051 [applause and cheering] 1362 00:58:19,131 --> 00:58:20,240 [Tim Naftali] For two terms, for eight years, 1363 00:58:22,021 --> 00:58:24,131 she had been criticized for tiny little things. 1364 00:58:25,180 --> 00:58:29,191 Both of them bent over backwards to respect presidential norms. 1365 00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:33,051 And yet in the 2016 campaign, 1366 00:58:33,171 --> 00:58:37,171 they see somebody who doesn't care about these norms. 1367 00:58:38,140 --> 00:58:41,111 [Donald Trump] 1368 00:58:41,131 --> 00:58:43,040 [narrator] One month before the election, 1369 00:58:43,060 --> 00:58:44,200 an old video surfaces. 1370 00:58:44,220 --> 00:58:45,231 [Trump] 1371 00:58:45,251 --> 00:58:46,211 [man laughs] 1372 00:58:48,080 --> 00:58:51,051 [Michele Norris] She felt that she had to say something, 1373 00:58:51,140 --> 00:58:55,231 knowing that people looked to her for inspiration. 1374 00:58:55,251 --> 00:58:57,200 [Michelle] I-- I can't believe that I'm saying 1375 00:58:57,220 --> 00:59:02,131 that [scoffs] a candidate for President of the United States 1376 00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:05,171 has bragged about sexually assaulting women. 1377 00:59:05,191 --> 00:59:09,100 [Kati Marton] She shook off her supreme caution 1378 00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:12,021 that she had exercised for eight years. 1379 00:59:12,140 --> 00:59:14,080 Too many are treating this 1380 00:59:15,100 --> 00:59:17,021 as just another day's headline. 1381 00:59:17,151 --> 00:59:19,120 [Kati Marton] She became a great first lady, 1382 00:59:20,060 --> 00:59:21,240 because she spoke for so many. 1383 00:59:22,021 --> 00:59:25,200 As if our outrage is overblown or unwarr-- 1384 00:59:25,220 --> 00:59:26,191 unwarranted. 1385 00:59:27,160 --> 00:59:32,140 As if this is normal, just politics as usual. 1386 00:59:33,140 --> 00:59:34,200 [Kati Marton] And I think she reached 1387 00:59:34,220 --> 00:59:36,080 Eleanor Roosevelt territory. 1388 00:59:36,180 --> 00:59:41,180 But New Hampshire, yeah, be clear: This is not normal. 1389 00:59:42,151 --> 00:59:44,231 This is not politics as usual. 1390 00:59:44,251 --> 00:59:46,180 [cheering] 1391 00:59:56,060 --> 00:59:59,040 [narrator] Michelle spends election night watching a movie. 1392 01:00:01,051 --> 01:00:02,031 [buzzes] 1393 01:00:02,211 --> 01:00:05,200 [narrator] As the messages start coming in, she heads off to bed. 1394 01:00:05,220 --> 01:00:07,100 [Wolf Blitzer] CNN projects, 1395 01:00:07,120 --> 01:00:09,120 Donald Trump wins the presidency. 1396 01:00:10,021 --> 01:00:11,191 [Melissa Winter] The day after election day 1397 01:00:12,100 --> 01:00:13,140 was extremely difficult, 1398 01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:16,021 and I think none of us wanted to go to work, 1399 01:00:16,111 --> 01:00:20,160 but we all picked ourselves up and we came into the office, 1400 01:00:22,021 --> 01:00:24,251 and Mrs. Obama emailed the chief of staff and I 1401 01:00:25,031 --> 01:00:28,231 at the time and said, "I'd like to talk to the staff." 1402 01:00:30,231 --> 01:00:32,131 [Deesha Dyer] The First Lady brought us all together 1403 01:00:32,151 --> 01:00:35,171 and she said, "I want to hear from you all. How do you feel?" 1404 01:00:36,111 --> 01:00:37,171 [Melissa Winter] People were afraid 1405 01:00:37,191 --> 01:00:40,160 that a lot of the work that we had poured 1406 01:00:40,180 --> 01:00:45,080 our hearts and souls into would be unwound. 1407 01:00:45,240 --> 01:00:48,080 [Deesha Dyer] She assured us that what we did was remarkable, 1408 01:00:48,100 --> 01:00:49,211 and to go on and continue that. 1409 01:00:50,071 --> 01:00:52,171 This house was just the beginning for some of us 1410 01:00:52,191 --> 01:00:54,080 but it's not the end. 1411 01:00:56,151 --> 01:00:59,031 [Deesha Dyer] The Trumps came to the White House the next day. 1412 01:01:00,040 --> 01:01:02,160 It was the same day that we had LeBron James 1413 01:01:02,180 --> 01:01:04,060 and the Cleveland Cavaliers were coming too, 1414 01:01:04,080 --> 01:01:07,200 so we didn't have that much time to think until it was done. 1415 01:01:09,111 --> 01:01:10,120 [Melissa Winter] We celebrated 1416 01:01:10,211 --> 01:01:12,211 those last few months of the White House. 1417 01:01:13,111 --> 01:01:17,031 We accomplished more than we could have ever imagined 1418 01:01:17,051 --> 01:01:18,131 with a spotlight on us 1419 01:01:18,151 --> 01:01:21,031 that no other administration had ever had. 1420 01:01:22,051 --> 01:01:23,180 [Barack Obama] Maybe you still can't believe 1421 01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:25,031 we pulled this whole thing off. 1422 01:01:25,051 --> 01:01:26,100 [applause and cheering] 1423 01:01:26,211 --> 01:01:28,211 [Barack Obama] Let me tell you, you're not the only ones. 1424 01:01:30,111 --> 01:01:32,191 -Michelle... -[cheering] 1425 01:01:39,051 --> 01:01:41,080 ...you took on a role you didn't ask for 1426 01:01:41,220 --> 01:01:44,191 with grace and with grit and with style, 1427 01:01:45,111 --> 01:01:46,200 and with humor. 1428 01:01:54,220 --> 01:01:57,211 You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody, 1429 01:01:59,021 --> 01:02:01,100 and a new generation sets its sights higher 1430 01:02:01,120 --> 01:02:03,140 because it has you as a role model. 1431 01:02:04,021 --> 01:02:06,251 [applause and cheering continue] 1432 01:02:07,220 --> 01:02:10,091 She was exhausted. We were all exhausted. 1433 01:02:10,211 --> 01:02:12,251 I mean, the dogs were probably exhausted. 1434 01:02:14,111 --> 01:02:16,151 It's like you're running a marathon for eight years 1435 01:02:17,051 --> 01:02:18,240 and then all of a sudden, it stops. 1436 01:02:25,140 --> 01:02:27,180 [narrator] On January 20th, 2017, 1437 01:02:28,091 --> 01:02:30,131 Michelle Obama walks out of the White House 1438 01:02:30,220 --> 01:02:32,051 for the last time. 1439 01:02:34,100 --> 01:02:35,211 [David Axelrod] One of things that struck me, 1440 01:02:35,231 --> 01:02:37,140 knowing her as I do, 1441 01:02:37,231 --> 01:02:41,200 was how chilly Michelle was toward the new president, 1442 01:02:42,031 --> 01:02:44,051 and she sent a very strong message, 1443 01:02:44,071 --> 01:02:45,231 I thought, through her body language. 1444 01:02:46,211 --> 01:02:49,240 [Leah Rigueur] On Inauguration Day, 2017, 1445 01:02:50,140 --> 01:02:54,240 we see a Michelle Obama who has slicked back her hair 1446 01:02:55,021 --> 01:02:57,220 and shows none of the usual care 1447 01:02:57,240 --> 01:03:02,151 that we see in moments of political import. 1448 01:03:03,151 --> 01:03:04,231 It's such a clear moment... [laughs] 1449 01:03:04,251 --> 01:03:07,211 It's such a clear moment that she is over it and done. 1450 01:03:08,160 --> 01:03:09,220 [plane engine whirring] 1451 01:03:11,131 --> 01:03:14,111 [narrator] Michelle stays out of the limelight for a time... 1452 01:03:15,180 --> 01:03:17,211 and then bursts back onto the scene. 1453 01:03:17,231 --> 01:03:19,051 [applause and cheering] 1454 01:03:19,071 --> 01:03:20,040 [laughter] 1455 01:03:20,111 --> 01:03:21,111 Yes, that's exciting. 1456 01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:23,180 [narrator] More than any other first lady, 1457 01:03:23,200 --> 01:03:26,040 Michelle Obama has become a symbol of hope 1458 01:03:26,120 --> 01:03:28,111 and possibility for millions 1459 01:03:28,180 --> 01:03:31,051 across the United States and beyond. 1460 01:03:31,120 --> 01:03:34,120 [Michele Norris] She redefined the role of first lady 1461 01:03:34,191 --> 01:03:35,160 on her own terms. 1462 01:03:36,060 --> 01:03:37,231 [Marcia Chatelain] Her background is something 1463 01:03:37,251 --> 01:03:41,051 that she celebrates as much as her accomplishments, 1464 01:03:41,071 --> 01:03:42,220 and I think that is one of the reasons 1465 01:03:42,240 --> 01:03:45,060 why she is such a unique first lady. 1466 01:03:45,080 --> 01:03:47,160 Each of us has a mission in this world. 1467 01:03:47,251 --> 01:03:50,140 [Arne Duncan] She gave lots of kids around the country 1468 01:03:50,160 --> 01:03:51,171 permission to be themselves. 1469 01:03:52,071 --> 01:03:55,031 Walk a little taller. Think a little bit bigger. 1470 01:03:55,111 --> 01:03:57,031 Dream a little bit higher. 1471 01:03:57,111 --> 01:04:00,031 My story can be your story. 1472 01:04:00,120 --> 01:04:01,251 [Arne Duncan] I think that's her greatest legacy. 1473 01:04:02,080 --> 01:04:04,040 [Michelle] Are you listening to me? 1474 01:04:04,060 --> 01:04:05,071 [crowd] Yes! 1475 01:04:05,091 --> 01:04:06,191 Do you hear what I'm telling you? 1476 01:04:06,211 --> 01:04:07,231 [crowd] Yes! 1477 01:04:08,051 --> 01:04:09,220 [Van Jones] As great as Michelle Obama was 1478 01:04:09,240 --> 01:04:11,231 in the White House, she's free now, 1479 01:04:12,131 --> 01:04:16,100 and you have not heard or seen anything yet. 1480 01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:17,080 [applause and cheering] 1481 01:04:18,060 --> 01:04:19,091 [Valerie Jarrett] I always knew from the first time I met her, 1482 01:04:19,111 --> 01:04:20,131 she was special. 1483 01:04:20,231 --> 01:04:24,140 She always had this inner strength and tenacity, 1484 01:04:24,160 --> 01:04:27,060 and conviction and compassion. 1485 01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:28,100 [Michelle] So don't be afraid, 1486 01:04:29,021 --> 01:04:31,111 do you hear me, young people? Don't be afraid. 1487 01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:32,180 Be determined. 1488 01:04:32,251 --> 01:04:36,131 Lead by example with hope, never fear. 1489 01:04:37,091 --> 01:04:38,200 [Valerie Jarrett] Yes, she's grown mightily 1490 01:04:39,040 --> 01:04:41,160 but the core essence of Michelle Robinson, 1491 01:04:41,180 --> 01:04:44,171 who I met in 1991, is still there today. 1492 01:04:45,060 --> 01:04:48,031 Being your First Lady has been the greatest honor of my life, 1493 01:04:48,191 --> 01:04:50,071 and I hope I've made you proud. 1494 01:04:50,180 --> 01:04:52,231 -[woman] Thank you. -[all] Yes!