Michelle Obama

Elizabeth J. Natalle is associate professor of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.Jenni M. Simon is instructor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

• Part I: Theorizing America’s First African American First LadyChapter 1: A New First Lady for AmericaElizabeth J. Natalle and Jenni M. SimonChapter 2: Conventional and Unconventional Rhetorical Strategies in Michelle Obama’s Democratic National Convention AddressesTammy R. VigilChapter 3: First Lady Brand in the Epideictic Rhetoric of Michelle ObamaJeanne M. Persuit and Deborah A. BrunsonPart II: The Rhetor and The AgendasChapter 4: Michelle Obama’s Ethos and Let’s Move! Elizabeth J. NatalleChapter 5: Michelle Obama Speaking in Africa on Education, Family, and the African LegacyTrudy L. Hanson and Enyonam Osei-HwereChapter 6: Michelle Obama Reaching Higher to Lead and Serve CommunityJenni M. SimonPart III: Redefining the Boundaries of First Lady ScholarshipChapter 7: Black Feminist Reflections on Michelle Obama’s Tribute to Maya Angelou, Rachel Alicia Griffin

When entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey endorsed the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama in 2008, mass media experts agreed that he had gained the support of 'the most influential woman in the world.' Seven years later, First Lady Michelle Obama has come close to garnering that level of attention. The seven essays in this pathbreaking collection are by female scholars who specialize in communication studies, rhetoric, feminist theory, and the study of First Ladies. This interdisciplinary treatment of Michelle Obama reveals how she became one of the most effective and poised public speakers in her husband’s administration and, at the same time, elevated and transformed the rhetorical and symbolic significance of the East Wing of the White House. Much more than the dutiful wife of the president, Michelle Obama appropriated the moniker 'mom-in-chief' and employed the physical space of the White House kitchen and garden to advance her battle against childhood obesity. Though every First Lady in the past several decades has complained about the 'fishbowl environment' of the White House, the contributors to the present volume agree that Michelle Obama deserves high marks for adapting to the demands of social media in forwarding the causes she has championed. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.