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This autobiography by the former First Lady is unlike most political autobiographies; in fact it is in many ways not about politics at all. To be sure, she lauds her husband’s accomplishments, avoids discussing any of his failures, and derides his political opponents. But she didn’t ask for a life in the limelight, and felt as though life in the White House was constricting and that it limited her ambitions. The latter were and are certainly idealistic and perhaps unrealistic at times, but no one, regardless of their political viewpoint, can fault her motivations.
The book is divided into three main parts, plus a Preface and an Epilogue. Becoming Me, outlines her youth growing up as a poor black disadvantaged girl in increasingly racially segregated south Chicago neighbourhood blighted by white flight, and against all odds then attending Princeton and Harvard Law School. She became a corporate lawyer in a large Chicago firm but felt unfulfilled serving rich clients and corporations and quit to devote her talents to helping the disadvantaged advance and find meaning in their lives.
Becoming Us details the early years of her relationship with the future president, also an idealistic, cerebral, unlikely Harvard Law graduate, first as a co-worker in community organizations, then as a city hall advocate for changes to improve the lot of the poor in a variety of ways. Their love and devotion to each other seems obvious, even though they frequently disagreed about many issues, not the least of which was whether or not to even bother getting married. When Barrack first ran for public office, she initially only reluctantly campaigned on his behalf, and felt ambiguous about the sacrifices she had to make to do so, over and over again expressing her self-doubt with “Am I good enough?” questions.
Becoming More relates to her years as First Lady determined to support her husband while trying to maintain some semblance of normality for their daughters, and remain true to her principles. She was effective in engaging the public and food corporations to make changes aimed at reducing childhood obesity (in spite of Dr. Robert Lustig’s skepticism, expressed in his book Fat Chance) largely through the private sector rather than through legislation. She dug up part of the South Lawn to establish a vegetable garden, with the help of local D.C. school children, donating the produce to charities, and for consumption by guests. She advocated strongly for the wounded military and their families and, like Malala Yousafzai, for improving the access to education for girls worldwide. She chaffed at the niceties of protocol and the restrictions on her independence imposed by the Secret Service. She was appalled at Donald Trump”s election and refused to smile at his inauguration.
The writing flows naturally and beautifully, expressing her strong opinions, moral clarity, and sense of purpose, with precision. There are so many good quotes that I had difficulty deciding which to use here. I will use only two.
#1, from the Preface: “Now, I think it was is one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child-what do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that is the end.”
#2, from a point at which her innocent remark on the campaign was distorted and derided by the Republicans and the media, including the ever-sarcastic late Christopher Hutchins: “I was female, black and strong, which to certain people maintaining a certain mind set translated only to ‘angry.’ It was another damaging cliche, one that has been forever used to sweep minority women to the perimeter of every room, an unconscious signal to not listen to what we have to say.”
Today, more than ever, we need to hear from strong, bright idealists like her, regardless of gender, skin colour, ethnicity, religion or nationality, or even age. Bring them on.
The Passionate Reader 