White House romance 

The Obama marriage represents a modern kind of White House romance. Michelle and Barack are a happy couple. They reveal signs of affection and mutual respect, says Elayne Clift

IT has been clear from the start. Michelle and Barack Obama are a happy couple. Like no first couple before them, they frequently reveal signs of affection and mutual respect, holding hands in public, gazing into each other’s eyes, and alluding to private jokes in public. They go on dates. They parent. In short, they are true partners.

Michelle and Barack Obama are true partners
Michelle and Barack Obama are true partners

The President had made this clear public in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. "I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s first lady... Michelle Obama."

Writer Gaby Wood of The Guardian in Britain put it this way in a story: "Together, they present the most collaborative, romantic, intelligent and relaxed couple that has ever been anywhere near the White House. As a couple they are almost telepathic, and such public displays of private affection as they have offered have not existed in politics for decades."

Not even during the Camelot days of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, noted for their glamour and optimism, was there such overt romance. The Kennedys, who married in a high society, high visibility wedding in 1953, were rent by numerous sexual affairs the President conducted during the years of their marriage. In his book, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917 - 1963, author Robert Dallek wrote about Kennedy’s relationships with other women, including a teenage intern. Jackie, he revealed, suffered mightily because of her husband’s infidelities, and even made angry remarks about them in public settings.

In one episode recounted by Dallek, she chastised aides for making her shake the hand of a woman with whom President Kennedy had had an affair. On another occasion, she is reported to have said to a French reporter: "This is the girl who supposedly is sleeping with my husband."

Another President famously conducted a relationship with a White House intern, although he swore he "did not have sex with that woman." That President was, of course, Bill Clinton. The Clintons are known to have a strong allegiance to each other; some call it a political marriage. Still, they are clearly a close couple. Then there are the Edwards, who made a run for the White House. John, a Kennedy-esque liberal, and his popular wife, Elizabeth, seemed like another perfect couple on the campaign trail. They weathered a lot together, most notably the loss of their teenage son in a car accident, and they seemed like a real team.

Other White House couples may or may not have had such publicly-aired problems to deal with, sexual or otherwise, but it seems fair to say that none of them garnered quite the public adoration of the current first family. Although she is very selective about the interviews she grants, Michelle Obama is on record about why she thinks the marriage works so well. For example, she told one interviewer from The New Yorker that being a political wife was hard. "That’s why Barack is such a grateful man," she said. In another interview with Ebony magazine she said: "Our future is making sure Barack can get to our daughters’ ballet recitals and balancing the demands of this current set of responsibilities with our need to build a strong family." She also pointed out that Obama was "breaking his neck to get home on the weekends."

The President’s comments to the press have been equally grounded in the reality of what it takes to make a relationship work. "She appreciates flowers, but to her romance is that I am actually paying attention to things that she cares about, and time is always an important factor," Obama told Ebony. "It is important when I am home to make sure that I am present. As Michelle likes to say, you are a good man, but you are still a man." She lets me know when I am not acting right." WFS





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