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Marian Shields Robinson

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Celebrity's Relative

The Resume

    (July 30, 1937- )
    Born in Chicago, Illinois
    Marian Lois Shields (later Robinson)
    Former department store and bank secretary, homemaker
    Mother of Craig Robinson and former First Lady Michelle Obama
    Married Fraser Robinson on October 27, 1960, in Chicago
    Mother-in-Law of President Barack Obama; Grandmother to Sasha and Malia Obama
    Following the Presidential election, moved into the White House with her daughter and son-in-law to help look after their two children (Jan. 2009); Frequently accompanied the First Family on vacations and international trips abroad via Air Force One

Why she might be annoying:

    She was given several corny titles by the media, like 'The First Granny,' 'Grandma-in-Chief,' and 'Granny Nanny.'
    She admitted to having been prejudiced toward her son-in-law when her daughter first brought him home because of his 'white background.'
    She reportedly bugged her son-in-law to (very ironically) get her backstage to meet 'her heroine' then Sen. Hillary Clinton at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, in Boston.
    During early filming sessions for campaign ads, her entire reel was tossed by staffers, reportedly because she was too 'blunt and outspoken.'
    She turned up as an awkward joke during Steve Kroft's post-election 2008 interview with Barack and Michelle, when he was asked if he was more excited about getting 'a new dog' than his mother-in-law moving in (which in all fairness has to be every prospective husband's worst nightmare).
    She told People Magazine she wouldn't be staying in the White House permanently in 2009, but she ended up staying for the whole eight years.
    A rumor was circulated around 2009 that she was practicing Santeria in the Rose Garden, and had been a committed performer of such rituals since the late 1980s (the White House never dignified the claims with a response).
    An even more egregious news story - dubbed 'fake news' by the mainstream press - claimed that she would receive a $160,000 government pension for babysitting her granddaughters following her exit from The White House. The rumor was quickly debunked by fact checkers.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She and Fraser initially lived in a small one-bedroom, allowing their kids to sleep in the bedroom while they took the living room fold-out.
    She took up part-time volunteer work at her children's elementary school, to monitor whether they were getting a quality education.
    Her husband struggled with Multiple Sclerosis for years, to the point where he was on life support by the late-1980s (she was eventually widowed in 1991).
    When her son, Craig, became head coach for the Oregon State University Beavers, in 2008, she was more interested in showing the press his Sports Illustrated profile than she was talking about the Presidential race.
    She was the main caretaker for Sasha and Malia while her daughter and son-in-law were on the campaign trail, between 2007 and 2008.
    She is the first live-in grandmother in the White House since Elivera M. Doud, Mamie Eisenhower's mom, in the 1950s.
    She is very humble and rarely, if ever, speaks to the press (even turning down an interview with Oprah Winfrey).
    She did comment on her position in the White House in an essay she wrote for Essence Magazine, saying: 'My job here is the easiest one of all: I just get to be Grandma.'
    She rarely advised the President or First Lady politically, although she reportedly insisted on her daughter attending Maya Angelou's memorial service, in 2014.
    She had a refreshingly close relationship not only with her adult children, but with Barack himself (although given his own dubious relationship with his own birth mother this may not come as such a shock).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 18 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 49 Votes: 53.06% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 102 Votes: 54.90% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 119 Votes: 53.78% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 260 Votes: 63.08% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 288 Votes: 51.74% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 582 Votes: 51.55% Annoying