As Michelle Obama becomes first lady of the United States, a debate on her role is brewing among working mothers.esting.”

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

WASHINGTON - It was tough-love talk from one high-profile professional mother to another, only this hard-hitting counsel did not come in a phone call or a letter. It appeared in The Times of London in November under the headline, “My advice to Michelle Obama: Learn to Like the Back Seat.”
The pointed words came from Cherie Blair, a lawyer, mother of four and the wife of Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Britain. Brace yourself for big letdowns in your life as first lady, she warned Mrs. Obama, a lawyer, mother of two and the wife of President-elect Barack Obama.
“It is something of an irony that in these days of pushing for equality those of us married to our political leaders have to put their own ambitions on hold while their spouses are in office and keep their views to themselves,” Mrs. Blair wrote.
The unsolicited advice reflects the passionate debate stirring among working mothers around the world as they watch Mrs. Obama finalize her transition from hospital executive to self-proclaimed mom-in-chief in the White House. Many women remain deeply divided over whether she will become a pioneer or a dispiriting symbol of the limitations of modern working motherhood.
The discussion has bubbled up on blogs, Internet magazines, television interviews and radio talk shows . The issue is argued with particular intensity, not simply because Mrs. Obama will be the first black woman in the position, but also because she had maintained a high-powered career and put it on hold to help her husband campaign for the presidency. She had been earning more than $300,000 a year as a vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
In January, Mrs. Obama, 44, will become the second first lady in history to have had an active career until shortly before entering the White House, according to Myra Gutin, a scholar of first ladies at Rider University in New Jersey. (Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, another lawyer, was the first.)
Leslie Morgan Steiner, editor of “Mommy Wars,” an anthology of essays, argued on the National Public Radio program “Tell Me More” that Mrs. Obama was only celebrated in the news media after she decided “to put her family first.”
But other women argue that modern mothers should have the right and the opportunity to change priorities at various stages in their lives.
Mrs. Obama has pledged to use her clout as first lady to argue for better work-family balance and for military spouses, among other things. And her champions insist that she will remake the role of first lady, as opposed to the role remaking her.
In fact, the connections she makes in Washington and the lessons she learns about the inner workings of the Oval Office may ultimately give her career a boost, some say.
“Let’s face it: If he serves one or two terms, when she leaves the White House, she’s going to be made a partner at any law firm in the country,” said Karen O’Connor, director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University. “It’s not like the normal woman who gives up her career to follow her husband someplace. In this situation, every year in for Michelle Obama is another $100,000. This is almost an investment.”
Ellen R. Malcolm, president of Emily’s List, said some people failed to recognize the prominent platform she would gain as first lady.
“There’s absolutely no question that she is moving into a position that will have tremendous influence on issues that she chooses to tackle,” said Ms. Malcolm, whose political action committee supports liberal women who run for office. “It’s not like she’s giving up something for nothing.”
Mrs. Obama has described her feelings about giving up her career to support her husband’s bid for the presidency. “I miss my colleagues, I miss my work, I enjoyed what I was doing,” she said on CNN in February. “But this is really pretty significant. My view of career is that I can always have whatever career I want. That’s why I, I don’t question that I can go back to that job or go back to something else interesting.”