Success is only meaningful - and enjoyable - if it feels like your own.

When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president. He didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically - that's not how he was raised - he cared that it was the right thing to do.

There is no magic to achievement. It's really about hard work, choices, and persistence.

Even if we give parents all the information they need and we improve school meals and build brand new supermarkets on every corner, none of that matters if when families step into a restaurant, they can't make a healthy choice.

See, that's why Barack's running: to end the war in Iraq responsibly - to build an economy that lifts every family, to make sure health care is available for every American - and to make sure that every child in this nation has a world-class education all the way from preschool to college.

In our house we don't take ourselves too seriously, and laughter is the best form of unity, I think, in a marriage.

If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.