Shocka! Obama 'Picture Perfect' Marriage Wasn't Always So

Most would call it a marriage of convenience. Of course the media would like you to believe these two are passionately in love.

Sure.

Barack and Michelle Obama may look like the picture of wedded bliss, especially when they jet off to New York for a date night, but it wasn't always so for the First Couple.

In the new book "Renegade," about Obama's barrier-breaking run for the presidency, author Richard Wolffe recounts a stretch in 2000 when the Obama's marriage was a lot frostier than it appears today.

"There was little conversation and even less romance," Wolffe, who covered Obama's campaign for Newsweek magazine, wrote of that period. "She was angry at his selfishness and careerism; he thought she was cold and ungrateful."

At the time, Obama was a young state senator who had decided to run a Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) - a contest Obama lost by a dismal 2-1 margin. Michelle was a new mom with two-year-old Malia at home and Sasha, born in June 2001, not far off.

"She hated the failed race for Congress in 2000, and their marriage was strained by the time their youngest daughter, Sasha, was born," Wolffe wrote. "Politics seemed like a waste of time to Michelle."

Vera Baker remains unavailable for comment.