Barack Obama met Michelle about 20
years ago when she was an associate at a law firm and assigned to
mentor him. In a now famous story, she refused to go out with him,
feeling that it would be inappropriate to mix work and dating.
Besides, the legal eagle told him that she had big plans to be on
"the fast track" and had "no time for distractions like men, "
according to Obama's second book The Audacity of Hope. She even
tried to set him up with other women!
Although The Rules had not been
written yet, we would have to say that Michelle embodied everything
a RG should be--happy, busy, hard to get, professional and not in
the least desperate. Obama said he thought she was just "lovely."
The future President finally convinced
her to go out with him for ice cream (they had a chocolate kiss!)
and the rest is Rules history. Later on, she confessed to being
impressed by him when they first met, but she "didn't tip her hand,"
he recalls in his book.
Michelle Obama is not only a Rules
Girl, but a Rules Wife. She is supportive of her husband and never
tries to upstage him, even though she is a brilliant lawyer in her
own right. She puts her family first and has managed to raise, by
all accounts, two unspoiled teenage daughters, outfitting them in
sophisticated but sweet J.Crew dresses and matching coats for the
inaugural ball.
Michelle's first dance with the
President in a delicate white wedding-like dress was very Rules-y.
This is not a "power couple" but a couple very much in love! We can
all learn TR and TR for M from this First Lady!
