Top 4 Reasons Why Michelle Obama Should Have Been President

Top 4 Reasons Why Michelle Obama Should Have Been President
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While we’re amid our election cycle, it’s natural to look back over the past eight years, either longingly or cringingly depending on your political viewpoints, at the president that is saying goodbye to the White House. While the most recent poll puts Barack Obama’s approval rating at 50%, which is pretty average for presidents over the past 80 years, it’s clear the opinions about him are often very strongly to one side or the other. Regardless of how you feel about him, it’s time to admit that Michelle Obama would have made a killer president.

  • She’s one of the most educated first ladies in history

Coming from public schools in the south side of Chicago to attending Princeton and Harvard, there’s no doubt that Michelle Obama is incredibly intelligent. Skipping the second grade, Obama was later placed in the public school’s gifted program. In high school, she made a three-hour round-trip ride to attend Whitney M. Young Magnet High School for gifted students, where she graduated as class salutatorian.

From here, Obama earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at Princeton University, graduating cum laude. As if that’s not impressive enough, she then attended Harvard Law School to earn her J.D. in 1988. She is now one of only three first ladies to have a graduate degree (Hillary Clinton also has a J.D. and Laura Bush has a Master’s).

whitehouse.gov
  • Michelle Obama has looked systematic oppression in the face and laughed

There’s no denying that black women are underrepresented in almost every aspect; according to Rutger’s Center for American Women and Politics, women of color constitute 6.2% of the total 535 members of Congress, 2.9% of the total 312 statewide elective executives, 5.4% of the total 7,383 state legislators, and only four black women currently serve as governors.

If you take a look at Fortune 500 companies, only 4.4% have female CEOs. Guess how many of those are African-American women? One: Ursula Burns, who will soon step down to Chairman when Xerox Co. splits in two later in the year. Say what you will about sexism and racism in America, but the numbers don’t lie. Seeing what Michelle Obama has accomplished in spite of this, however, is inspiring. Such as...

  • She’s been Barack Obama’s superior since the beginning

Although Michelle was younger than Mr. Obama (25 to his 27), she was already finishing her first year as an associate at a corporate law firm in Chicago when she was assigned to be his mentor. Eventually, in 1991, she left this firm to pursue a career in the public sector, becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that prepares youth for public service because, as she stated, “there are few things more rewarding than watching young people recognize they have the power to enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of those around them as well.

Obama has been on the boards of six major organizations, including the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods.

Stan Honda/Getty Images
  • She doesn’t just get the jobs, she’s really good at them

On her career path, Michelle Obama was eventually appointed vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. With the position, Obama helped lead the hospital to a five hundred percent increase of volunteerism in the hospital. Also, can we talk about the fact that she was making $316,962/year in 2005 when she shortened her hours and eventually gave up her job to support Barack Obama’s political career?

We haven’t even mentioned her immense work with Let’s Move!, attempting to solve childhood obesity; Joining Forces, which “works hand in hand with the public and private sector to ensure that service members, veterans, and their families have the tools they need to succeed throughout their lives”; Reach Higher, inspiring young people to complete some type of education past high school; and Let Girls Learn, fighting for global female empowerment.

Reuters

The moral of the story is that it really doesn’t matter how you feel about Barack Obama - love him or hate him. But with Mrs. Obama’s impressive feats, especially while being a black woman in today’s society, maybe she should have been the one to run for president. I’m sure Mr. Obama would have done a great job at choosing the china patterns and floral arrangements, too.

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