Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, was the featured speaker at the opening night of the party?s nominating convention yesterday.

Here are some facts about the woman who would be the first African-American first lady if her husband is elected on November 4.

Michelle Obama, 44, met her husband through her work as a corporate lawyer and is his closest adviser, although associates have described her role as less of a policy-oriented one than that of a confidante who provides a reality check.

Educated at Princeton and Harvard, Obama was initially reticent about getting involved in the election campaign, but now draws large crowds of her own.

Obama has taken time off from her job as a vice president of community relations at the University of Chicago Hospitals to campaign for her husband.

Her first priority if she becomes first lady would be her two young daughters, but she would also hope to focus on how women can maintain a work-family balance.

Critics seized on her comment that ?For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country? as evidence of a lack of patriotism, a charge her husband also has faced.

Known for a sense of style, Obama has appeared in Vogue and been compared to former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. She was widely praised by fashion writers for the violet sheath dress she wore to her husband?s Democratic nomination victory rally.

Asked in a CBS interview last week what his wife would wear for her prime-time television appearance yesterday, Obama replied : ?You know, there ? there are some things that even I don?t know. And what Michelle is going to wear is a tightly held secret.?

?BIDEN WAS THE BEST FIT, HILLARY NOT IGNORED?

■ Brushing aside the notion that Barack Obama did not consider Hillary Clinton for a vice presidential ticket, a key aide of the US Democratic Presidential candidate has said Joseph Biden was chosen to be Obama?s running mate as he is the ?best fit3. David Axelrod, Chief Campaign Strategist of the Obama campaign, said Clinton was consulted by the Illinois senator on the issue and the two were working for unifying the party. ?The first person that he (Obama) sat down and talked to about this vice presidential issue was Senator Clinton. They had a discussion back in early June, and he spent more time with her, talking about issues than he has with Joe Biden or anyone else in the last couple of months,3 Axelrod said. Rejecting as ?unfounded? the belief that Clinton was ignored by the Obama camp, Axelrod said the New York senator will make a ?great speech? at the party? s Denver Convention. ?Senator Clinton is going to make a great speech on Tuesday night. We?re going to come out of this as a unified party because we know the stakes are so great, and we have to change the direction of this country,? Axelrod told ?ABC?s? ?This Week? programme.

Noting that Obama had ?high regard? for Clinton, whom he vanquished in the bitter Presidential primaries, the political strategist said Senator Biden was currently the best person to be Obama?s vice-presidential candidate. ?... she?s going to be an important voice in this campaign and in moving this country forward in the next administration. But he (Obama) felt that Senator Biden would be the best fit for him at this time? Axelrod said. Obama chose Joseph Biden, a veteran foreign policy expert and a strong supporter of Indo-US nuclear deal, as his running mate on Saturday.