Posted on 05/27/2011 9:21:03 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Spotlight takes toll on first lady's staff By: Julie Mason and Amie Parnes May 27, 2011 11:17 AM EDT
Less than three years into the job, first lady Michelle Obama is on her third chief of staff and third social secretary. She is on her second communications director, the White House chief usher recently departed, and her press secretary’s last day is Friday.
The turnover, greater than under recent first ladies, underscores the pressure and high expectations of working in an operation known for its polish and discipline. A crucial political asset to her husband and his administration, Michelle Obama has enjoyed consistently high job approval ratings because of charm, activism — and by avoiding mistakes and controversy.
“She is, if possible, under more scrutiny than even other modern first ladies, being the first African-American first lady,” said Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who specializes in first ladies. “She also represents a new generation, really the first post-boomer generation of first lady.”
Sources familiar with the East Wing, who asked not to be named discussing internal dynamics, described the first lady’s office as a challenging workplace, where grueling hours and the expectations of a formidable boss intensify the demands of managing a popular first lady’s schedule, image and agenda.
“The first lady is a lovely woman, but she’s tough as nails, and that can be hard for some people,” said a source familiar with the office. “She has really high expectations.”
The first lady’s office declined to comment for this story.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
She’s an elitist jet-setting hypocrite....just like the asshole picnic organizer she married.
It’s a red flag suggesting she’s brutal to work for.
Here’s the truth: Mrs. Obama is like her husband - she has no sense of humor, and thinks she’s the smartest person in the room.
Three chiefs of staff in three years? That’s got nothing to do with being a First Lady who’s under a media microscope(the media adores her); she’s getting this type of turnover because she’s a witch to work for.
...or... maybe she is just a selfish, doubting, unkind woman. Like my gut tells me she is.
Just look at her, she’s a nasty, miserable, elitist, biatch.
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If this had happened during the tenure of a Republican first lady, the media would move heaven and earth to contact every single person who had left the First Lady’s staff since the January 20, 2009, looking for as much dirt as former employees could dish. They would also be going back to her time at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and attempting to interview everyone who had anything to do with her, or anyone who was willing to dish dirt on her even if they had nothing to do with her.
The Washington Post would bundle the whole thing into a front-page splash, with an extended treatment in their next Sunday magazine. The “investigative reporters” who put the whole thing together would get every journalism prize there is; they’d probably create one or two new ones they could be the inaugural recipients of.
You mean it isn't the stress of the spotlight? I'm shocked!
The slaves are escaping.
The Politco writer must be dizzy after all this spin.
“Sources familiar with the East Wing, who asked not to be named”
Wookie bites can be very nasty.
They were probably all racists.
Polish and discipline, avoiding mistakes and controversy.
There’s non-stop laughs in this article.
What a hoot!
Poor dears. They just didn’t know. It’s hard to herd a cow...city slickers don’t know this. A cattle prod would help.
Didn't WH Chief Ushers in the past stay for years and years through changes of Administrations?
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