The reinvention of Michelle Obama and her quest for stealth power
Many hoped she would go into politics, but the former first lady is following a strategy that is much more interesting, says Megan Lloyd Davies. And by forging her own path, she has a chance of being much more powerful
First, there was the speech at the Democratic convention last August when she was supposed to warm up the audience for her husband, Barack – but ended up stealing the show. Then came conspicuous absences at Jimmy Carter’s funeral and Donald Trump’s inauguration. And in recent weeks, there have been a string of high-profile – and searingly honest – podcast interviews.
Michelle Obama is very consciously reconfiguring her image. But it is less former first lady, more woman on her own terms. The straightened bob, neutral manicure and demure dresses of the White House years are gone, replaced with long braids, bright pointy nails and some fierce styling. More significantly, while she’s shut down any ideas of a political future, she looks more powerful than ever.
The former first lady is now signalling a new – and very focused – desire to create a different kind of change by leaning into the huge bank of soft power she’s amassed. And cleverly, instead of playing the game, she is changing the rules – and this will be power on her terms, which feels authentic and true to her spirit.
It started in early March with the launch of her new IMO podcast, hosted with her brother Craig Robinson. The siblings’ mission? To use the podcast space to create connection instead of the division that’s currently riddling the US.
“There is no single way to deal with the challenges we may be facing – whether it’s family, faith, or our personal relationships – but taking the time to open up and talk about these issues can provide hope,” Michelle said.
Robinson, whose career at the top level of basketball coaching has schooled him in the art of mentorship, also spoke of the siblings’ hope that the podcast “sparks new ideas, new perspectives, and creates the connection we could all use right now”.
For years, rumours swirled that the former first lady might follow in Hillary Clinton’s footsteps and launch her own political career. She’s a talented orator after all and has built a significant connection with the public since stepping into the world spotlight when Barack became president in 2009. With 57 million followers on Instagram, Michelle’s social media influence now dwarfs her husband’s and her 2018 memoir Becoming was a global bestseller. Most aspirant politicians could only dream of a base like this to build on.
But Michelle has shut down speculation before and did so again within a week of the first IMO episode.
“I was so glad when we got out of the White House,” she said to Kylie Kelce on the Not Gonna Lie podcast, before later adding: “So when people ask me would I ever run, the answer is no.”
Soon, she was being interviewed again – this time on Sophia Bush’s podcast, where she both dismissed gossip that her marriage was in trouble because she hadn’t attended recent high-profile political moments with Barack, and also signalled that she was no longer going to play one half of a double act.
“That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with, like disappointing people,” she said. “I mean so much so that this year people were, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing, you know? This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right?
“But that’s what society does to us. We start actually, finally going, ‘What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’ And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labelled as something negative and horrible.”
Earlier this week, Michelle made headlines again when she appeared on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast and spoke about going into therapy to navigate a “whole other phase in life” now her daughters, Malia, 26 and Sasha, 23, are adults.
“I'm an empty nester,” she said. “Now, for the first time, as I’ve said before, every choice that I’m making is completely mine now. I don’t have the excuse of, ‘Well, my kids need this, or my husband needs that, or the country needs that.’ So, how do I think about this next phase?”
For many years, Michelle followed the familiar path of political wives and was identified with her role as a mother and champion of children – known as “head mom in chief” to her daughters, she was also involved in several early years’ initiatives during her time in the White House, including programmes to tackle childhood obesity and open up educational opportunities for girls.
But Becoming certainly wove philosophical and intellectual ideas into her personal story, and the publication of her second book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, in 2022 leaned even more into a philosophy of self-help and motivation.
But the message was intermittent. After 10 episodes of The Light Podcast were released, a six-month break was followed by two more in early 2024, and then Michelle went quiet again.
Meanwhile, the output of Higher Ground, the production company she and Barack set up post White House, was carving a hugely successful path. Instead of preaching, however, the couple were finding ways to be clever about communicating their values, but also entertaining and playful about heavyweight subjects. After signing a first-look deal with Netflix, projects have leaned into everything from the breakdown of social order to increasing visibility for older people – women in particular.
Apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind starred Julia Roberts and had 121 million views in a little over three weeks after it was released. The Later Daters took the youth-oriented tropes of reality TV romance shows and turned them on their head to focus sensitively – and entertainingly – on older participants. Michelle Obama seems to want to leave the polarised world of explicit political messaging behind and explore topics in a more nuanced – and joyful – way.
She’s also clearly ready to develop her own voice.
“Going through therapy is getting me to look at the fact that maybe finally I’m good enough,” she said when she interviewed Taraji P Henson for IMO last month.
Admitting self-doubt, embracing self-acceptance and being refreshingly honest about struggles in her marriage – Michelle once admitted she “couldn’t stand” her husband during their daughters’ early years because the mental and practical load felt so unequal – she has long been known for her authenticity and honesty.
But the launch of IMO and her recent interviews have seen her drive home a repeated message of self-actualisation and emotional rawness. As well as articulating her sense of a new era in her life, Obama has talked about everything from marrying a man who was “not financially sound” – Barack and she were young lawyers when they first met – to the profound emotional shift triggered by her mother’s death last year.
So, is there a plan behind it all?
Maybe. Oprah Winfrey is a treasured friend who threw Michelle’s 50th birthday party on her estate, and it could certainly be that the former first lady is being intentional about leveraging a similar kind of soft cultural power to create a more hopeful world.
“She’s built an incredible brand,” says Jennifer Holloway, a branding expert and author who’s worked with clients including Apple and Microsoft. “And what makes it so powerful is that she’s done it organically by being consistent and true to who she is. And it’s interesting that she’s now being more vocal in a way that perhaps she couldn’t before.
“She has a very profound effect. She gives people hope. And I think that’s very much her brand – it’s about fulfilling your own potential. Her key ability is to inspire others by being true to who she is, and honest about the challenges. She’s identifiable. And that is incredibly powerful.”
Whether Michelle has an end game in mind for her recent moves to claim her own space, on her own terms, remains to be seen. But in the past, she’s written about “the kind of volcanic clarity that comes when you speak from the absolute centre of your being”.
It’s also certain that after spending years in politics, she’s learned some lessons along the way.
And, as fellow democrat Franklin D Roosevelt once said: “In politics, nothing happens by chance. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” And in the words of Michelle Obama: “When they go low, we go high.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments