Transcript for How Michelle Obama reacted to Donald Trump winning the presidency: Part 4
When they go low, we go high. Reporter: With those seven simple words Michelle Obama took center stage at the 2016 democratic convention. I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story. Reporter: In her book Mrs. Obama writes this about the speech. We were now up against a bully challenging the dignity of our country with practically his every utterance. Crooked Hillary Clinton. It was dignity I wanted to make an appeal for. Reporter: An appeal she would continue to make just weeks before that presidential election. A now infamous tape surfaced of Donald Trump talking about grabbing women by their private parts. This is not Normal. This is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable. Reporter: For Mrs. Obama the stakes could not have been higher. She writes — I articulated my rage and my fear, along with my faith that with this election Americans understood the true nature of what they were choosing between. What you haven’t said before, you said, “I will always wonder about what led so many, women in particular, to reject an exceptionally qualified female candidate and instead choose a misogynist as their president.” Some powerful words. I implored people to focus and to think about what it takes to be commander in chief. It’s amazing to me that we still have to tell people about the importance of voting. You know, that almost every two years, we’re having this conversation to get people to the polls. And in the end, that’s how our democracy works. People have to be educated, they have to be focused on the issues and they have to go to the polls if they want their politics to reflect their values. That day I was feeling everything all at once, tired, proud, distraught, eager. Reporter: On January 20th, 2017, the nation watched the peaceful transition of power from president Obama to president trump. Mrs. Obama, in her own words, describes coming to terms with the new reality before her. The vibrant diversity of the two previous inaugurations was gone. Someone from Barack’s administration might have said that the optics there were bad, that what the public saw didn’t reflect the president’s reality or ideals. But in this case, maybe it did. Realizing it, I made my own optic adjustment — I stopped even trying to smile. Reporter: People want to — to hear more from you about what’s currently going on. And there is a fine line that you and your husband, as previous administrations have done, is that you have to step back and let the current one do what it’s doing. But I think it’s safe to say that during your husband’s presidency, it was no drama Obama. No drama Obama. So what goes through your mind when you read and hear all that’s going on right now with this administration? I said what I continue to say. Being the commander in chief is a hard job, and you need to have discipline, and you need to read and you need to be knowledgeable. You need to know history, you need to be careful with your words. But voters make those decisions. And once the voters have spoken, you know, we live with what we live with. Reporter: In her book she writes — Our presence in the white house had been celebrated by millions of Americans, but it also contributed to a reactionary sense of fear and resentment among others. The hatred was old and deep and as dangerous as ever. Reporter: There’s some people that feel that the seed of discontent that led to Donald Trump being elected president, that the seed of that discontent happened during your husband’s presidency. I would like to indulge the question, but it requires a level of speculation about how people are feeling and thinking that I don’t have. And I think we’re gonna have to figure that out as a nation. Reporter: Although no longer first lady and self-proclaimed mom-in-chief, Mrs. Obama continues to shine a light on issues plaguing urban communities like her beloved Chicago’s south side. How is Chicago and, in particular, your neighborhood, how is it the same, when you were growing up, and how is it different? You know, when we moved in, it was a coveted neighborhood. But from time I was young until the time I was high school, it became a neighborhood that you didn’t wanna live in. Reporter: Wow. Just that time — And that, you know, that’s the story of urban neighborhoods all over the country. Reporter: Not just Chicago. Not just Chicago. Over on this area, this is north Kenwood. This is where hadiya Pendleton’s family lived. Reporter: 15-year-old hadiya Pendleton, an honor student from the south side, was gunned down in a public park in Chicago a week after performing with her high school band at president Obama’s 2013 inauguration. For Mrs. Obama the teen’s death was very personal. And let me tell you, it is hard to know what to say to a room full of teenagers who are about to bury their best friend. Reporter: She writes — Put simply, I could have known her. I could have been her once even. And had she taken a different route home from school that day, or even moved six inches left instead of six inches right when the gunfire started, she could have been me. You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if you’re doing the right thing, you could lose your life. Kids wake up each day believing in the goodness of things, in the magic of what might be. We owe it to them to stay strong and keep working to create a more fair and humane world.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
