Michelle Obama got candid surrounding the early days of her relationship with former President Barack Obama Wednesday, recalling what it was like being together before finding financial success and how the pair had go through “hard things” to support each other.
In the latest episode of her podcast IMO, the former first lady and her brother/co-host Craig Robinson discussed balancing career ambition with relationships, and how the pursuit of a partner with high income can often skew people’s paths toward love.
“Would you be attracted to a guy who’s not financially sound when you meet him?” Robinson asked, prompting Michelle to respond matter-of-factly: “Uh, I married one.”
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The former attorney proceeded to explain, “I left my corporate firm when I met Barack and I had somebody who was like, ‘I got your back. The risks you think you’re taking, they’re not that crazy, and I’m here to help you.‘”
“That’s when I said, ‘I would rather have that in a partner than a higher income. I would rather have somebody who is ready to do some hard things with me.’ But that meant I had to be ready to do some hard things with him,” she continued. “I just think we shouldn’t assume. You just gotta get out there, and meet people and come to people with your truth.”
Michelle then expressed concern for women who may be “confused about what they want” and aren’t “looking deep enough” when it comes to a partner’s traits.
The Obamas met at a Chicago law firm in 1989. At the time, Barack was 28 while Michelle, who was assigned to mentor him, was 25.
“Because I went to Harvard and he went to Harvard, and the firm thought, ‘Oh, we’ll hook these two people up,‘” Michelle told ABC News in 2008. “So, you know, there was a little intrigue, but I must say after about a month, Barack, about a month in, asked me out, and I thought no way. This is completely tacky.”
In his 2020 memoir, A Promised Land, the former president wrote he “was smitten almost from the second I saw her.”
The couple got engaged a few years later in 1991 and married the following year.
