The Smithian

[meaningful glance]

…we get a blander, more toned-down version of the real person, with rarely a glimpse of the strong opinions or naughty humor. Michelle Obama giving a speech these days is like an Olympic gymnast doing a floor routine: she’s practiced in advance, she executes with precision but no spontaneity, and the results are generally very impressive. This is part of the contradiction of the job of first lady: no president makes it to the White House without a canny, sharp wife, but once they arrive, the women are forced to recast themselves as helpmeets, disguising some of the qualities that made them such effective partners in the first place. (One Obama friend once told me that the secret to their marriage is that “those two never let each other get away with anything.”)

more.

Dallas, Texas today, where they will join former presidents in inaugurating the presidential library and museum of George W. Bush…

more.

‘The president is the kind of person who, the day before the final exam, would open the book, read it, and get an A. The First Lady is the kind of person who, the first day of class when they were discussing dissertations, would plot out how to finish hers.’— Valerie Jarrett, senior White House advisor

…in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

[meaningful glance]

obama2016:

B..E..A..UTIFUL people.

[look of the hour]

…what was most unique was for whom, and to whom, Michelle spoke. Her words gave voice to an oft ignored (but disproportionately affected) victim of America’s gun violence: the black mother. The first lady spoke of Hadiya Pendleton, the slain 15-year-old student, gunned down just blocks from the Obama’s Chicago home—and only days after Pendleton had attended the president’s second inauguration. With tears in her eyes, Michelle said, “Hadiya Pendleton was me and I was her.”

more.

[look of the hour]

“He’s got a little swag, you know? That’s okay…I mean, I’m proud of him. He’s a stylish, I think, man who is healthy and he’s smart and he’s passionate and he’s inspiring. And who wouldn’t fall in love with that, you know? It’s OK.” —Michelle Obama

[look of the hour]