Quotes by Jodi Kantor

About Jodi Kantor:

Jodi Kantor is a New York Times correspondent whose work has inspired national conversations about the workplace, technology and gender. She has been the paper's Arts & Leisure editor and covered two presidential campaigns, chronicling the transformation of Barack and Michelle Obama of Chicago into president and first lady of the United States. Kantor, the author of the best-selling book "The Obamas," is a contributor to CBS This Morning and has also appeared on Charlie Rose, The Daily Show, The Today Show, and many others.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Interpreting anyone's marriage - a neighbor's, let alone the president's - is extremely difficult.

Jodi Kantor

Interpreting anyone's marriage - a neighbor's, let alone the president's - is extremely difficult. And yet, examining the first couple's relationship - their negotiations of public and private life, of conflicts and compromises - offers hints about B...

Jodi Kantor

I've learned that the best political reporters never make predictions!

Jodi Kantor

I guess there were things about the Obamas I discovered that I do think are universal to marriage. I found it very interesting in my reporting that their most difficult periods in the White House almost never seemed to coincide. When one was down, th...

Jodi Kantor

In interviews with dozens of black advisers, friends, donors and allies, few said they had ever heard Mr. Obama muse on the experience of being the first black president of the United States, a role in which every day he renders what was once extraor...

Jodi Kantor

I would say that Barack Obama has always been a real optimist about what can be accomplished. He believes that government can be used to create systemic, long-term, real change. And the first lady is more of a skeptic.

Jodi Kantor

Mr. Romney is quick to uphold rules great and small. During primary debates, when his rivals spoke out of turn or exceeded their allotted time, he would sometimes lecture them. When supporters ask Mr. Romney to sign dollar bills or American flags, he...

Jodi Kantor

Every presidential candidate highlights patriotism, but Mr. Romney's is backed by the Mormon belief that the United States was chosen by God to play a special role in history, its Constitution divinely inspired.

Jodi Kantor

Candidates' wives are supposed to sit cheerfully through their husbands' appearances.

Jodi Kantor

People who face too many demands - two careers, two children - often scale back somehow. The Obamas scaled up.

Jodi Kantor

First ladies, you know, we look at Michelle Obama, and we look at most first ladies, and they seem like they have it all. You know, they live in the White House, they go to state dinners, they ride on Air Force One, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But ...

Jodi Kantor

Michelle Obama has gone from political skeptic to political partner to a woman with a White House agenda of her own, and an approval rating higher than the president's.

Jodi Kantor

One of my favorite stories is from Obama's first campaign: Michelle Obama was out there every day, collecting signatures and supervising the other people who did. If you were supposed to get 300 signatures and you only got 299, you had to face the wr...

Jodi Kantor

Michelle has had to grapple with Hilary Clinton's legacy as First Lady... Michelle Obama never wants to be seen as the kind of First Lady who is overly involved in the West Wing.

Jodi Kantor

Sometimes, when you look at an adviser's failings or perceived failings, I think the tough question you have to ask as a journalist is, 'What does this say about the president?'

Jodi Kantor

Those close to Mr. Obama say he grows irritated at being misunderstood - not just by opponents who insinuate that he caters to African-Americans, but also by black lawmakers and intellectuals who fault him for not making his presidency an all-out ass...

Jodi Kantor

I spent a lot of time in the White House in the public areas where reporters are allowed to go, but I spoke to people about the private quarters as well. Some of the things I learned were small, novelistic details. For example, the fact that there we...

Jodi Kantor

Evangelical Christian politicians who cheat often raise questions about hypocrisy, especially if they preached piety in public and disregarded it in private. When Jewish politicians fall, they shatter different expectations, particularly that America...

Jodi Kantor

Author Bio

  • NameJodi Kantor
  • DescriptionAmerican journalist
  • BornApril 21, 1975
  • ProfessionJournalist