The New York Times continued its embarrassing idolization of departing first lady Michelle Obama, but this time without even the excuse of arts page placement: White House reporter Julie Hirschfeld Davis gushed over the first lady's last public remarks in Saturday's “In Emotional Finale, First Lady Says, ‘I Hope I’ve Made You Proud.” The text box: “A farewell speech about a cherished cause: empowerment through education.”
Michelle Obama fought back tears on Friday during her last public remarks as first lady, overcome with emotion as she reflected on her eight years in the White House and delivered an intensely personal message of empowerment through education, one of her cherished causes.
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Her 21-minute speech, an appeal for hope and inclusiveness as the salves to the forces of fear and division, carried an implicit rebuke to President-elect Donald J. Trump, whom she did not name, delivered with the quiet intensity and aspirational language that came to mark her appearances on the campaign trail last year.
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The speech was a striking finale for Mrs. Obama, once a reluctant political spouse who disdained the partisan fray, but who evolved over eight years into a popular and high-profile first lady, spending the final months of her husband’s presidency as a uniquely powerful voice for Democrats against Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
Evidently not too powerful, considering the election results.
On Friday, Mrs. Obama showed glimpses of her oft-expressed impatience to be finished with the fishbowl-like quality of life in the White House. “We’re almost at the end!” she exclaimed with a broad smile, but also the wistfulness of a person preparing to leave behind a role in which she had come to thrive.
Davis made the paper's usual fawning over Barack Obama look positively tame.
The setting was a fitting one for Mrs. Obama’s valedictory, encapsulating the combination of “mom in chief” normalcy and celebrity star power that she has brought to her public initiatives, including the higher education project being celebrated Friday, the “Let’s Move” anti-obesity program and her “Joining Forces” effort to support military families. School counselors being honored for their work filled the East Room, but so did boldfaced names, including the actress Connie Britton, the pop star Usher and the comedian Jay Pharoah, who have lent their talents to promoting Mrs. Obama’s causes.
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The audience rose to applaud, and as Mrs. Obama struggled to keep her emotions in check, audience members and attendees who were assembled behind her for the speech wiped away their own tears.
“Lead by example with hope, never fear,” Mrs. Obama said. “And know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.”
