First Lady | featured news

...The country has no recent precedent for the role of first lady, and also faces a tricky balance at home. The leadership wants Peng to show the human side of the new No. 1 leader, Xi Jinping, while not exposing too many perks of the elite. And it must balance popular support for the first couple with an acute wariness of personality cults that could skew the consensus rule among the Chinese Communist Party's top leaders.

In the opening moments of her second turn at history, as Michelle Obama waves at celebrants along Pennsylvania Avenue, Americans will clamor to see the first lady, who remains one of the most popular public figures in the country. In the most recent poll, fully 73 percent said they approve of the way she is handling her job.

The patchwork quilt that is the Democratic Party base -- women, Latinos, African-Americans -- will be on full display at Tuesday night's opening session of the national party convention. The highlight will be a prime-time address by First Lady Michelle Obama who is expected to play the same role Ann Romney did one week ago at the GOP gathering in Tampa: eschewing hard-edged politics for a soft-focus testimonial to her husband.

By showing up with his new wife in public, the young leader Kim Jong-un has distinguished himself from his father, whose wife was unknown to many North Koreans.

It's no coincidence that Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are showing up a lot more as the tight presidential race barrels into the final few months. The rival campaigns are rolling out their top assets in a big way. The first lady is the public face of a new grass-roots mobilizing effort for Team Obama. And Mrs. Romney's recent interviews have put her on display cutting through the campaign din - including her blunt statement Thursday that her husband has provided everything that "people need to know" and won't be releasing more tax returns.

How badly do you want an autographed copy of
Michelle Obama’s new gardening book? Fans headed for the first lady’s one and only public book signing next Tuesday have to go through a daunting security process.

From the beginning, Michelle Obama's kitchen garden has been an overachiever, churning out more peppers, parsley and eggplant than expected, and generating interest that - yes, really - crosses oceans....

Valérie Trierweiler, a journalist, is concerned with preserving her independence while supporting her partner, President François Hollande of France.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, were booed Sunday while at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Betty Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center, has died, a family friend said Friday.