Author claims in new book former President Barack Obama didn't date black women until Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama was the first black woman the former President Barack Obama ever dated, according to an author of a definitive book on the former president.

Christopher Anderson, author of "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," told "TMZ Live" that Barack Obama had several serious relationships with women prior to meeting Michelle Obama.

None of which, however, were African American, he says.

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One of his exes, who Anderson recalled as an older white woman that Obama dated at Columbia, said Obama was conflicted about his biracial background and upbringing.

"He really was raised by his white grandparents in Honolulu. He'd gone to prep school," Anderson said. "He didn't feel he connected with the average black American."

Anderson also says Barack Obama pursued a relationship with Michelle Obama for political ambitions, partly.

SEE ALSO: Before Michelle, Barack Obama asked another woman to marry him, new book reveals

"He felt that would be an important part of the puzzle," Anderson, who interviewed members of Obama's church during the time of his community organizing days in Chicago, recounts. "He would never have gotten close to the White House if it weren't for her."

Anderson's remarks come just hours after excerpts from David Garrow's new book, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, made headlines early Wednesday for claims that Obama twice proposed to another woman before meeting Michelle Obama.