First Granny Moving into White House!

And so it turns out that President-elect Obama's 71 year old mother-in-law is moving into the White House. Below is my article on First Granny-elect Marian Robinson, published last November...

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It was election night when I first laid eyes on her: First Granny-elect Marian Robinson.

After Obama's Grant Park speech, the whole family walked onto the stage to join the newly elected President. While the rest of the world was in solemn observation of America's first black commander-in-chief, I was transfixed by the energy - the light - emanating from this older black woman. She was at once both demure, even chic, and undeniably "real." Think the sass of Tyra Banks, combined with the grit of Miss Jane Pittman. All in the package of a younger, sexier Ruby Dee.

You can see glimpses of her here, starting at 2:30. (Far too much coverage is given here to Joe Biden's 90 year old mother who is, with all due respect, a poor man's version of John McCain's 96 year old mother.)



Who was this woman?! I had to know.

Born Marian Shields in the hardscrabble Woodlawn section of the South Side in 1937, she married at 23 and stayed home to raise her two kids. She tirelessly kept them on the straight and narrow, before seeing them both off to the Ivy League. After Michelle left for Princeton, Marian went to work as a bank secretary, from which she retired last year. She still lives in the house where she raised her kids.

Rightly described as "the linchpin of Barack Obama's presidential campaign," she served as Malia and Sasha's protector-in-chief while Barack and Michelle were on the road. (Even before the campaign began, she rarely let a day pass without visiting her grandkids.) Now she might be moving into the White House, at least part-time. With their granny around, there's little chance that Malia and Sasha would fall prey to the pitfalls that have cursed previous First Kids. (With Marian standing guard, who would even dare to tempt the girls?!)

My favorite part of the post-election 60 Minutes interview with President-elect Obama was his mention of his mother-in-law:




Look out, Rahm Emanuel. You might be the Chief of Staff. But Marian Robinson could end up running the whole White House - unless, of course, Oprah gives her her own daytime series. (Move over, Gayle!)

It is, of course, a perfect scandal that Marian Robinson doesn't have her own wikipedia entry!