First Lady Quotes

No White House staff person wants to conflict with the First Lady who goes home and has the ear of the President all night.

When Mrs. Bush was First Lady, she went all over the Mideast talking about breast cancer awareness and the need for early screening. She did this in places where the cultures prohibit such discussion or even detection efforts.

I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.

You'll notice that Nancy Reagan never drinks water when Ronnie speaks.

Ms. Clinton - Mrs. Clinton, I should say - she's a favorite of mine.

I do not believe that being First Lady should prevent me from expressing my views.

The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.

First Lady Michelle Obama - I admire her confidence, integrity, intelligence, compassion, and her overall vibe - she is such an inspiration.

Michelle Obama is not an average, 'It girl' woman, and I think that's why she's so fabulous.

Our guest tonight is Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States. She's here to announce her run for president.

I would say that Barack Obama has always been a real optimist about what can be accomplished. He believes that government can be used to create systemic, long-term, real change. And the first lady is more of a skeptic.

To know the first lady is to love Michelle.

Michelle Obama has gone from political skeptic to political partner to a woman with a White House agenda of her own, and an approval rating higher than the president's.

Michelle Obama is somebody who really wants to take the high road.

With respect to my own husband, I am probably still going to pick the flowers and the china for state dinners and stuff like that. But I will certainly turn to him as prior presidents have for special missions, for advice.

Theodore Roosevelt had drawn public attention to his attractive family in order to create a bond with ordinary Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt had successfully broached the idea that a First Lady could be nearly as much a public figure as her husband.

I'm riding my man Obama. I think he's a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was 'Do the Right Thing.' I said, Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to 'Soul Man.' Michelle would have been like 'What's wrong with this brother?'

I feel like I have just become public property.

I truly admire President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Certainly Nancy Reagan had an extraordinary effect on her husband. I'm truly not sure that, say, Laura Bush had that much effect on the Bush administration. She certainly, you know, seems to be a nice person who I think the public likes. But I can't really put my finger on any huge impact she's had.

… defiling the race line

Michelle [Obama] never fully took to the scrutiny. I mean, she's thrived as a first lady, but it's not her preference.

Like Hillary Clinton before her, Mrs. Obama has always been a working woman. She is a lawyer turned hospital administrator turned political right hand. It is a unique resume.

Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady.

As first lady, Hillary Clinton spent the early months of her husband's administration drafting healthcare-reform legislation, only to see it put on the back burner by the North American Free Trade Agreement.