'I Wasn't Meant to Be Here': Michelle

Michelle Obama often says she “wasn’t meant to be” in the White House, but those watching her “natural” progression to international figure might beg to differ, write Nancy Gibbs and Michael Scherer in Time. Most First Ladies get asked about what they’re “really like”—but with Michelle’s enormous “symbolic power,” the question put to her is: “What does she mean?”

She’s made a public transformation from “caricatured Angry Black Woman” to “New American Icon,” and she’s doing her best to use her newfound status to the fullest. Entering the White House, she sought to do things differently. Since then, she’s focused on bringing outsiders into the fold. “I just keep thinking about those kids who are missing opportunities by a hair,” she says. And all the while, “she seems to be having a blast.”