--- description: As long as it's not her, the First Lady said at the Summit on Working Families. title: Michelle Obama: US Should Elect Female President "As Soon As Possible" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta52aed04d8a155da/698698eae8524b753f603966/h_51439058.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Campaign](/tag/2016-campaign/) ## 2016 Campaign Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # First Lady: U.S. Should Elect Female President 'As Soon as Possible'  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2014 1:22 AM CUT  US First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Working Families, in Washington DC, June 23, 2014. US First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Working Families, in Washington DC, June 23, 2014.Michael Reynolds—EPA  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2014 1:22 AM CUT Michelle Obama said the U.S. is ready for a female president and that the country should elect one [“as soon as possible”](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/michelle-obama-to-robin-roberts-u-s-needs-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/ "undefined") on Monday. “The person who should do the job is the person who is most qualified — and we have some options, don’t we?” Obama told ABC’s Robin Roberts at the Summit on Working Families in Washington, D.C., according to video from C-SPAN3. “I think this country is ready — this country is ready for anyone who can do that job,” she said. Though she did not make any kind of endorsement, Obama’s remarks seem to acknowledge a possible run by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose 2016 campaign future has been the subject of wild speculation. President Barack Obama has said in the past that Clinton would be a [“very effective”](http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/05/30/obama-hillary-clinton-live-with-regis-and-kelly-joe-biden/9761891/ "undefined") president if she decides to run and wins. Michelle Obama, however, isn’t thinking about any kind of run for office herself. She said her post-White House plans “definitely will not be” political, but instead “mission-based” and “service-focused.” \[[_Mediaite_](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/michelle-obama-to-robin-roberts-u-s-needs-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2915339/first-lady-u-s-should-elect-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2915339/first-lady-u-s-should-elect-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/"},"headline":"First Lady: U.S. Should Elect Female President 'As Soon as Possible'","datePublished":"2014-06-24T01:22:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:34:58.779Z","description":"As long as it's not her, Michelle Obama said at the Summit on Working Families.","url":"https://time.com/2915339/first-lady-u-s-should-elect-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/","keywords":["2016 Campaign","Hillary Clinton","Michelle Obama","2016 elections"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta52aed04d8a155da/698698eae8524b753f603966/h_51439058.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta52aed04d8a155da/698698eae8524b753f603966/h_51439058.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Summit on Working Families","caption":"White House Summit on Working Families","creditText":"Michael Reynolds—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-campaign/","name":"2016 Campaign"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2915339/first-lady-u-s-should-elect-female-president-as-soon-as-possible/","name":"First Lady: U.S. Should Elect Female President 'As Soon as Possible'"}}]}] ```