Obama Divorce: New Biography Claims Obamas Were On Brink Of Divorce

A controversial new biography of President Obama claims that Michelle Obama planned to divorce the future president in 2000.

In "The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House," which hit shelves Tuesday, author Edward Klein claims that the divorce talk came eight years into the Obamas' marriage, after President Obama failed to listen to his wife's warnings about challenging Democratic congressman incumbent Bobby Rush for a Chicago House of Representatives seat in 2000. Obama lost the election by a 2-1 margin.

“During the dark days that followed his defeat, he turned to Michelle for comfort. But she was in no mood for sympathy," Klein reportedly writes. "He had refused to listen to her warnings about taking on” Rush.

But is it true? The unauthorized biography, which Klein claims is based on nearly 200 interviews, has been dismissed by presidential spokesperson Eric Schultz. On Monday, Schultz told the Washington Examiner, "Ed Klein has a proven history of reckless fabrication in order to sell books. Nobody in their right mind would believe the nonsense in this one."

It's not the first time the Obamas' marriage has been called in question. In 2010, the National Enquirer reported that Michelle Obama threatened to leave the president if he decided to seek a second term in office.

The couple have been married for nearly 20 years and have two daughters, Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10.

President Obama is hardly the first politician who has dealt with divorce rumors. Click through the slideshow below to read about the rumors surrounding Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, throughout the years.

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Comments

[Lisa4588]

05:22 AM on 06/02/2013

I want to know more about her saying she was a single mother....

[IneedTP]

02:54 PM on 06/11/2012

When a man falls on hard time professionally, the wife often leaves for greener pastures...Obama could have his pick of gorgeous women, so why should he settle? Who would pass on a filet mignon in order to eat a big mac?

[Bonnie Larkin]

04:39 AM on 06/02/2012

Why was Sarah Palin dragged into this story ?
The comments about the obamas are ones of ' they really love each other - it's just stressful for them to be in public life '
BUT oh - not so for the Palin family - the reverse is true with the slant being that both of them are just bad people.
obama is running for reelection - Sarah is not running for any office - our country is tanking on the brink of collapse and instead of holding obamas feet to the fire about his putting us in this situation - you writers rather focus on the ' ills ' of being a Palin.
Polictical correctness my foot - you'll should be ashamed of yourselves -
I dare ya to allow this -

[Melinda Sanderson]

06:49 PM on 05/29/2012

I will be married 44 years this year and I definitely considered divorce a few times. People go through stages in their lives and they do not always mesh well. Middle age crazies strike all of us and we want just one last round of being footloose and fancy free.It is part of facing our mortality. I do not know anyone who has been married for a long time who has not gone through times when they just wish they were not married regardless of who they are married to or how solid their marriage has been. A sign of character is to realize that you made a commitment and stay the course until things get smooth again. What difference would it make if the Obamas considered a divorce 12 years ago? It is what they did that counts, not what they thought about.

[tequillasun41]

11:33 AM on 05/29/2012

Would have no trouble believing a divorce could happen with these two. She comes off like a Black version of Hillary Clinton. And we all know she is stillmarried to Bill only for political clout. After all, how much time do they even spend in the same state let alone same bed !

[Melinda Sanderson]

06:57 PM on 05/29/2012

Is spending time in the same bed the only definition of marriage. Do you not have a "real" marriage if one partner gets sick and is no longer interested in or able to participate in sex? I thought that marriage was a partnership where you share the difficulties and the benefits. It does not matter why you are married or what you expect that marriage to bring to each party so long as you both agree to the deal and keep it. I always thought that all the "Christians" who were mad at Hillary for not divorcing Bill were a bunch of hypocrites. How dare them define marriage for other people and how dare them decide whose marriage is real and whose is not.

[OLDWOMENVET]

08:24 PM on 05/29/2012

I agree I thought divorce was an easy way out. tequillasun must be a man. Men overrate themselves, at a certain age sex sometimes is just another item on a list of chores. Maybe she said good 1 less thing I gotta do tonight thanks Monica but, I'm still 1st Lady, & mother of his child. I say kudos for whatever reason you can find to work it out, for the kids, because of work, hang in there long enough the ugly reason passes your older & wiser & stronger couple for it. Hilary is an outstanding strong women & not about to surrender to a fizzle chick.

[InterestedBoomer]

08:35 AM on 05/29/2012

Anyone who has been in a long term marriage (I've been in one for 35 years) knows that marriages have their ups and downs. I used to contemplate divorce every so often, when things weren't great, but if love your spouse, those thoughts are usually dispelled by some reminder of that love. (Also, I finally realized that the only time "divorce" entered my thoughts was when I waswhen I had PMS.) The Obamas are clearly a committed couple who truly love each other. Any prying into that relationship is, in my mind, trespassing.

[DogsRule1]

09:01 PM on 05/28/2012

They should both go on tour singing the blues

[theteleprompters]

06:28 PM on 05/28/2012

Yes Michelle we all saw Barack checking out that French girls Beyonce "

[cdchicago]

11:44 PM on 05/21/2012

Michelle doesn't particularly like politics. She is a very, very down to earth and genuine person. Underneath her "nice exterior", she is even nicer and more caring. Particularly when it comes to children. Barrack thinks politics is the conduit through which he can make a difference, for the better, in peoples lives. Running against Bobby in the 2nd congressional district was suicide, but someone had to do it, it was educational (more so than running for 5th ward alderman and it won him the consolation prize that started his political career moving ahead: the chance to run for state Senator. He does not crave power, but he is not afraid to use it. So lets face facts, she did not want to go to Washington, she did not even want to go to Springfield, after he tried to go to Washington (and largely didn't). She asked him not to make the suicide run, but he did it anyway. She has a temper. I do not think it came to divorce (though they are actually both lawyers). But, I am not surprised the smoking habit was there. She has a temper.
The whole subject is trivial. He knows what he has and he treasures her because she is quite a treasure.

[matrixcl55]

11:28 AM on 05/21/2012

Rubbish..... can't you find anything better than this to write book? Stop wasting ink and paper.

[ditto head]

04:08 PM on 05/23/2012

another tree wasted.

[Killjoy]

07:46 AM on 05/21/2012

Ohh brother, give me a break. Exactly what is the brink of divorce? My bet is all of you mothers have all been on this so call brink.

[KOSSNC]

10:34 PM on 05/20/2012

wow, what a surprise.

All of us are not in love with our spouse every minute of the day.

[Ed Boisv]

04:42 PM on 05/20/2012

This is not news.

[RMXStudioJD]

04:14 PM on 05/20/2012

...And this is important because?
Shouldn't the voters be more focused on who they want to vote for in the coming elections and lead America for the next four years to help progress us forward to a new, more productive future rather than a president's past marital issues?

[Susan M Bell]

04:02 PM on 05/20/2012

What does them having problems back then have to do with anything, if it's even true? My husband and I separated 3 years into our marriage, and we're about to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Lots of marriages have rough patches.

[cdchicago]

11:49 PM on 05/21/2012

What matters is what you learn and what you leave behind. Sometimes it helps to see something from a distance to see its real beauty. Sometimes you have to risk loosing something to understand its true value. And for us guys, especially, sometimes he is valuable to see yourself reflected in the eyes of another to know you are being a fool. Happy Platinum Anniversary (I prefer Emerald).

[ditto head]

04:11 PM on 05/23/2012

congratulations! We have two kids and neither one wants to try and raise them alone so no matter how much I drive her crazy and fail to take her advice we are a not going through this life alone;-)