--- title: Michelle Obama Was Better Than Barack, Harvard Professor Says description: A Harvard law professor says Michelle Obama could have been president. canonical: https://time.com/4669078/michelle-barack-obama-law-harvard/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-13T20:02:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:47.488Z og:title: The Obamas' Law Professor Says Michelle Should Have Been President og:description: ‘She was better’ og:url: https://time.com/4669078/michelle-barack-obama-law-harvard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82d8878f5ba1777e/6988ba10fb4eac9bc4890c07/michelle-obama-law-professor-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Obamas' Law Professor Says Michelle Should Have Been President twitter:description: ‘She was better’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82d8878f5ba1777e/6988ba10fb4eac9bc4890c07/michelle-obama-law-professor-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Obamas' Law Professor Says Michelle Should Have Been President > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Feb 13, 2017 8:02 PM UTC  U.S. first lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year in the East Room of the White House January 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. These were the last public remarks by the first lady during her husband Barack Obama's presidency. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year in the East Room of the White House January 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. These were the last public remarks by the first lady during her husband Barack Obama's presidency.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Feb 13, 2017 8:02 PM UTC The Obamas are often regarded as a [power-couple](http://motto.time.com/4596442/obama-family-white-house-close/), with [Michelle’s](http://motto.time.com/4530580/michelle-obama-donald-trump-comments-sexual-assault/) efforts and initiatives while First Lady having brought about [change in America](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/11/24/students-are-blaming-michelle-obama-for-their-gross-school-lunches/?utm%5Fterm=.e88726a6581d) and [abroad](https://www.usaid.gov/letgirlslearn), and now a law professor has confirmed that the former FLOTUS is about as great as she’s cracked up to be. She even could have been the president. In an interview with [TMZ,](http://www.tmz.com/2017/02/10/obama-law-professor-michelle-president/) Harvard law professor [Charles Ogletree](http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a42968/obamas-law-professor-just-confirmed-michelle-was-the-better-student/) said that both of the Obamas were great students, but that Michelle was more fit for the oval office. “\[Obama’s\] wife should have been president. He was great, too, but she was better,” Ogletree said. “She could easily be president, but I don’t think she will.” Barack wasn’t too shabby himself, Ogletree said, though he was a bit too enthusiastic. “When I saw him, first he was speaking too much. To everything, he said, ‘I can answer that question, professor.'” Read more at [ELLE.com](http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a42968/obamas-law-professor-just-confirmed-michelle-was-the-better-student/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4669078/michelle-barack-obama-law-harvard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4669078/michelle-barack-obama-law-harvard/"},"headline":"The Obamas' Law Professor Says Michelle Should Have Been President","datePublished":"2017-02-13T20:02:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:47.488Z","description":"‘She was better’","url":"https://time.com/4669078/michelle-barack-obama-law-harvard/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82d8878f5ba1777e/6988ba10fb4eac9bc4890c07/michelle-obama-law-professor-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82d8878f5ba1777e/6988ba10fb4eac9bc4890c07/michelle-obama-law-professor-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House","caption":"U.S. first lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 2017 School Counselor of the Year in the East Room of the White House January 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. 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