Mother in Law in Chief to Move Into Obama White House

Get ready for the in-law in chief.

Transition officials said Friday that President-elect Barack Obama‘s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, is moving into the White House to join Michelle Obama and their two children.

It’s not clear whether the move will be permanent.

Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the press secretary for Michelle Obama, said Robinson would decide in coming months whether she wants to stay in Washington.

Robinson retired from her job as a bank executive secretary to help with her granddaughters during the campaign.

–Associated Press

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From the New York Times
Ulysses S. Grant shared space with his father-in-law, who grumbled and squabbled with other relatives, historians say. Harry S. Truman lived with his mother-in-law, who declared that she knew “dozens of men better qualified” to preside over the Oval Office.

On Friday, the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama confirmed that his 71-year-old mother-in-law would be moving, at least temporarily, into the grand residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While Grant and Truman might have been forgiven for gritting their teeth at such a prospect, Mr. Obama has said he will be delighted to have his wife’s mother, Marian Robinson, join the first family in Washington.

After all, Mrs. Robinson, known as a loving, tough-minded matriarch who rarely shies from speaking her mind, has been the bedrock of the Obama family. During the presidential campaign, she retired from her job as a bank secretary to care for the Obama girls, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, while their parents were on the road.

She accompanied them to school and piano and dance lessons, cooked their meals, ran their baths and put them to bed. And she is expected to continue to play a critical role in the family’s effort to keep the girls’ lives as normal as possible.

Read the rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/u
s/politics/10marian.html?_r=1&hp