Fab First Fifty: Mrs. Obama Gets High Marks

What a difference a year makes. Not long ago, Mrs. Obama was battling her image of being an angry Black woman and sometimes even one of an elitist. But now, with just over 50 days as the nation’s first African-American First Lady, Mrs. Obama has a 49 percent approval rating, according to a CBS/New York Times poll, reports CBSnews.com. That is quite impressive given that other first ladies in recent history, according to the same poll, didn’t fare as well, with Laura Bush at 30 percent and Hillary Clinton at 44 percent. White House historians credit Obama’s trendsetting style, her stance as “Mom-in-Chief” and her outreach to poor and working-class families as part of the reason for her high likability. —BB