Barack Obama fought back tears after noticing a touching tribute to Michelle Obama’s late mother, Marian Robinson, woven into her outfit.
During Tuesday’s stakeholders event at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the former First Lady, 62, took the stage in a custom light brown pencil skirt, featuring a portrait of her mom, who died in 2024 at age 86.
Michelle paired the look with a dark brown shirt, a thin belt and pumps. Meanwhile, the former U.S. President, 64, stood beside his wife wearing a black suit and blue dress shirt.
“I am so proud of my husband. He’s really messed up. I’m giving him some time, because this beautiful skirt that my stylist Meredith Koop picked out, that is a portrait — my favorite portrait of my mom — he didn’t know it existed until just a few minutes ago,” Michelle said during her speech, as she placed her hand on her husband, who was wiping the tears from his eyes.
“I’ve had a few weeks to settle down in the beauty of this skirt, but it’s messing him up for good reason,” she continued. “But Marian would have been so proud, she was so proud of her son-in-law and the man that he is and has been to our family, always dreaming probably way too big, but always pulling it off. Thank you for doing this for the South Side of Chicago, I love you.”
Michelle and Barack will officially open the Obama Presidential Center — a museum that tells the story of America’s first Black president and First Lady and is managed by The Obama Foundation — to the public this Friday.
Two days before the scheduled opening, the couple appeared in a rare joint interview with Good Morning America and reflected on their time in the White House. During the conversation, host Robin Roberts asked Barack if there was anything he would have done differently as president.
“I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day,” he responded. “The thing that we were good at, and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it, was... I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind.”
A grand opening ceremony for the Obama Center is being held on Thursday, with a full roster of performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, The Roots, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony, American rapper Common and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
The Obama Presidential Center’s official opening comes after a decade of planning and setbacks. In 2015, the former U.S. president announced his library would be built in Chicago, his home for more than two decades. Construction began in 2021, but it was slowed by legal problems.
With a price tag of $800 million, raised through private donations, it will be the most expensive presidential library ever erected. Sitting on a sprawling 20 acres, it is set to include an array of buildings, gardens and parkland.
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