Barack may have won over the minds of the American electorate but it was Michelle who stole their hearts. Stylist examines how Michelle Obama became a political powerhouse

Barack Obama may be the ‘official’ president of the US but it’s his wife Michelle who takes the title of the ‘people’s president’. The consensus following this month’s US election is that it was Mrs Obama who swung the vote in her husband’s favour. Using her honest, heartfelt testimonials and canny instinct on the issues crucial to America, she slammed home the message that her husband was fighting for the greater good. Her 4 September speech to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), delivered with brimming eyes and a voice catching with emotion, was so beautifully given and so void of cynicism, audience members wept where they stood and political commentators declared the election’s outcome was sealed.

She spoke of the “unconditional love and unflinching sacrifice” of families for their young when talking about both her and Barack’s upbringing, of how “hard you work matters more than how much you make” and how she’s realised that “being president doesn’t change who you are […] it reveals who you are.”

Over the past four years, Michelle Obama has proven herself to be a gifted communicator, an impassioned campaigner and an incredibly empathetic public figure, capable of reading the mood of voters. Add to that her formidable intellect (she’s a Princeton and Harvard Law School graduate) and it’s no wonder that US magazine Bloomberg Businessweek declared her Barack’s “secret weapon” estimating that she was worth $5.1million (£3.2million) in fundraising to his presidential campaign.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Michelle Obama has never inferred she’s interested in taking on a political role. She has no policies (if you discount her ‘Let’s Move!’ childhood obesity campaign) and her respective past jobs as associate dean and director of large private institutions such as the University of Chicago and University of Chicago Hospital mark her out as someone that’s certainly geared for high office, but behind the scenes not on the global stage.

Yet, there’s no denying she has forged a political persona which leaders the world over would give their right arm for. Traditionally, the First Lady role is there to humanise their husbands and soften up female voters. Michelle Obama does this and so much more besides.

As a woman who came from humble beginnings (her father worked as a pump operator for Chicago’s Water Department, her mother as a secretary) she knows how to speak to ordinary people. Her house may have 35 bathrooms but she’s still a working mother raising two girls. Similarly, her ability to connect with an audience, convey heartfelt emotion and stand aloft from partisan politics has been known to woo even the most ardent Republican.

But it’s been an evolution. Even before Barack first took office, such was the strength of her advocacy in her husband’s policies, taunts of her being an “angry black woman” found their way into the press. But she proved herself more clever than her detractors. By appealing to people’s better selves, by refusing to be called on the Republican machine, she’s become a potent force in her own right.

Even during her husband’s lowest ebbs in power, her favourability rating peaked at 71% in January 2010 and stuck at 66% last May – 14% higher than Barack’s. During Barack’s first campaign, Michelle won the nickname ‘The Closer’ for persuading swing voters to choose Democrat. This time around she’s been billed as the motivator, energising the campaign by turning up at fundraisers, promoting her husband’s initiatives and charming the opposition. And then there’s what the rest of the world sees. A devoted wife, a brilliant mother and a canny career woman. We asked three US writers to discuss the greatest strengths of the people’s president.

Michelle as an orator by Marin Cogan, political correspondent at GQ (US)

Michelle Obama: The People's President