It all began in 1989, when Michelle Robinson was an associate at Sidley & Austin–the sixth-largest corporate law firm based in the United States. Michelle had just completed her first year in the firm as an intern when the buzz started. The word around the office was that there was a promising first-year law student who was—at the time—enrolled at Harvard, who would be joining the firm.1 Even though the office was buzzing with this hot news, Michelle kept in mind that first-year law students hardly ever get this type of opportunity, considering the size and degree of the firm. So she assumed he was some sort of super geeky nerd. She also assumed, because of their similarities—such as the law school they attended, and their alike characteristic of being a minority—that they would be paired to work together, with Michelle as his adviser.2
courtyard at Princeton University | Courtesy
of The Princeton Weekly Bulletin
When Michelle first heard about Barack, she said she “probably did what a lot of people do when they hear about Barack Obama.”3 She explained that she had been taken back by the name, unique in its entirety, and she wondered where he was from. As she read more into his biography, she learned a lot about him, including the fact that he grew up in Hawaii, and that he was biracial.
Barack was in fact placed under her wing a few days later, and Michelle took him out to lunch on his first day as a way to establish a professional relationship.4 Little did anybody know that one day they would be much more than just co-workers. Since she had already made the assumption that he was a weird nerd, Michelle was prepared for a geek to walk through the door. However, what happened was her future husband walked through the door, and out to lunch they went.
Even though the lunch outing on Barack’s first day at the firm went extremely well, and she was completely intrigued by his humorous, down-to-earth personality, one couldn’t smell the romance beginning just yet because Michelle was not open to dating anyone at this stage in her life.5
Even though she was positively surprised by the much cuter man that walked in—not the nerd she expected—and completely intrigued by him at their lunch outing, she knew she needed to be focused solely on her career.6 Besides the fact that they were co-workers, she was his adviser, and Michelle took that very seriously. Since she knew it would be wrong to pursue anything romantically in the office, she settled for a mere friendship with Barack.
But Barack wanted more than that. He insisted time after time on her letting him take her out on a date, and she told him, time and time again, no—because it wouldn’t be right. Barack’s persistence eventually led Michelle to agree on going out with him, under the circumstances that it would not be called a date.7
of Michelle Obama’s Instagram [@michelleobama]
After the negotiated “non-date” that anyone else in the world would consider a date—including them at the end of it—Michelle was completely head over heels for this man. And well, the rest is history—literally.9
- “How Michelle met Barack Obama,” YouTube, January 30, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxrkOxnGjw. ↵
- “How Michelle met Barack Obama,” YouTube, January 30, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxrkOxnGjw. ↵
- “How Michelle met Barack Obama,” YouTube, January 30, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxrkOxnGjw. ↵
- “Michelle Obama,” Biography.com, November 08, 2017. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.biography.com/people/michelle-obama-307592. ↵
- Liza Mundy, “When Michelle Met Barack,” The Washington Post, October 5, 2008. Accessed November 20, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/03/ST2008100302144.html. ↵
- Liza Mundy, “When Michelle Met Barack,” The Washington Post, October 5, 2008. Accessed November 20, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/03/ST2008100302144.html. ↵
- Peter B. Slevin, Michelle Obama (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015), 126. ↵
- “How Michelle met Barack Obama,” YouTube, January 30, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxrkOxnGjw. ↵
- Liza Mundy, “When Michelle Met Barack,” The Washington Post, October 5, 2008. Accessed November 20, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/03/ST2008100302144.html. ↵
88 comments
Jennifer Salas
Barrack and Michelle Obamas relationship is something I’ve always admired. I really enjoyed this article because I never knew the backstory of their relationship. I think it’s so crazy how things turned out, what if Michelle never paid attention to him or vise versa? They’ve accomplished so much together and separately and I think that’s what makes their relationship work. I’m sure none of them were expecting to fall in love with each other and I believe fate is what brought them together. I’m so happy I came across this article!
Mariah Cavanaugh
Your article, A Love Story: The Obamas was a wonderfully romantic feel-good story. It is easy to get caught up in the political atmosphere filled with frustration and anxiety, so I enjoyed the fact that you kept the focus on their relationship without veering off into politics and policy. You also did a great job capturing their personalities, Michelle’s feisty side and Barack’s persistence.
Pedro Gonzalez Aboyte
Before reading this article, I never really knew anything about Barack Obama’s personal life. This article does a really good job of telling us how Barack and Michelle met in a detailed and concise way. It’s a bit humorous the way Barack chases after her to get a date and finally gets one, but they don’t call it a ‘”date”. Just about everything I know about the Obamas is politics related and to have something like this is really nice. We get to see a glimpse of who these people are without a political lens.
Sienna Guerra
Usually, a first impression most people get about the Obama’s in my opinion is how amazing and down to earth people they both are together and individually. Also, many people began to ponder and reflect on the Obama’s time they served in the United States White House from January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017. Eight strong years that many can say were the best years as Barack provided and did many great actions for the United States including Obama Care. But after reading this article, as many should, readers have a further appreciation for the two as not only they had higher education in Law School, but respected each other enough to have a professional relationship and took a chance at love which in the end became one of the greatest love stories told. This article caught my eye because Romance is my Achilles Heel. Great article!
Carlos Robles
I ever really thought about the way the Obama’s met until I read the article. It is nice to know that Barack was under Michelle’s wing. I would have never guessed that Michelle would be the one to make the first move and take him out to eat. that makes their love story even better. I am happy that they worked out and Obama became our president and Michelle became our first lady.
Timothy ODekirk
This was a well-written article. I especially love the topic of the article. I find the life of Barrack Obama and his early years quite interesting, especially his love life with Michelle Obama. How these two will know that they will become one of the most famous people in the whole world just fascinates me, and the fact that it truly was a “meant to be” kind of relationship. This was a truly interesting article that shows that we will never truly know when love will find us.
Maria Esquivel
I absolutely love the Obama’s but never knew how they met each other so it was interesting and amazing to read on how their love story begin. I find it amazing how Michelle decided to go on a “non-date” with Barack and it went perfectly. I enjoyed this love story very much, it was very well detailed and it made me fall in love with them even more. Great Job on explaining their story!
Alexandra Lopez
I am a fool for romance. Their story of love was one that will forever be one of my favorites. I enjoyed reading this to-the-point yet very well told article. I’m a sucker for love stories. I had never read about the Obama’s. I know there was a film made based off of this love story but I was never completely interested in watching the film but after reading this article, I might just watch it as soon as I get the chance. I thought this article was very cute and descriptive, especially with the visuals inserted. It’s crazy how people find love where they least expect it to be or how people meet each other and unknown to them, somewhere along the lines, they’re meant to be. Amazing article!
Derek Esquivel
This is a very interesting read because I found it very interesting how we were able to read and know the Obama’s came to be. Its very interesting to know how people got together especially this couple because just about everybody adores this couple and would like to be just like them. I just really wish that a lot of people actually took after them.
Kayla Lopez
This was a very well written article. I knew that Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson, at the time, met at a very young age but I did not know that she was his mentor. There was a great amount of little fun facts throughout the article that really made me want to continue reading to find out more about how this love story began.