Michelle Obama will never run for president – so what's next for the First Lady?

The outgoing First Lady has consistently held higher approval ratings than her husband throughout his administration – and her supporters want her to be the next Obama in the Oval Office

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Michelle Obama will not run for president – not in 2020, not in 2024, not ever – so says her husband, President Barack Obama.

But the First Lady has become one of the most popular figures in the 2016 election. The Clinton campaign has dispatched her on the trail as one of their most effective surrogates.

She appeared with Ms Clinton at a campaign event in North Carolina on Thursday, where some 10,000 supporters roared at the sight of Ms Obama standing alongside the first female Democratic presidential nominee – and quite possibly the first female president of the United states.

And with an approval rating of 64 per cent according to Gallup, it is no wonder why fans have begun to wonder whether or not Ms Obama, 52, will follow Ms Clinton’s lead on the path to the White House.

However, Mr Obama quashed those hopes while speaking on “Sway in the Morning” radio show on Friday.

“She will never run for office,” Mr Obama said. “She is as talented and brilliant a person as there is, and I could not be prouder of her, but Michelle does not have the patience or the inclination to actually be a candidate herself. That’s one y’all can take to the bank.”

Ms Obama herself previously declined the prospect of becoming the next Obama in the White House, citing her daughters had had enough with one parent serving as president – but she also said that she could effect more change outside of the political system.

“I will not run for president. No, nope, not going to do it,” she said speaking at the South by Southwest festival in March.

“There is so much that I can do outside of the White House … without the constraints, the lights and the cameras, the partisanship,” she said. “There’s a potential that my voice can be heard by many people that can’t hear me now because I’m Michelle Obama the First Lady, and I want to be able to impact as many people as possible in an unbiased way.

“And I think I can do that just as well by not being the president of the United States.”

As the Obama family prepares to leave the White House, Ms Obama has dropped hints at what she plans to do come January.

In June, when announcing $20m in funding for the Let Girls Learn initiative, Ms Obama promised to continue her work in girls’ education throughout her post-First Lady career.

“I am so excited to continue working on this issue not just for the next seven months as First lady,” she said, “but for the rest of my life.”

She previously elaborated on the plan in an editorial addressing the 60 million girls across the globe who are not in school.

“As a first lady, a mother, and a human being, I cannot walk away from these girls, and I plan to keep raising my voice on their behalf,” she wrote.

She has similarly vowed to work on her healthy eating and military family initiatives after she leaves the White House.

Ms Obama could very well return to academia in 2017, as she served as Assistant Dean of Students at University of Chicago and Vice President for Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Centre before becoming First Lady.

But she has otherwise remained relatively quiet outside of her speeches regarding what precisely she will do. Still, what is clear is the Obamas will continue to honour their parental obligations and plant to stay in Washington while their youngest daughter, 15-year-old Sasha, finishes high school.