Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign has begun.

The Minnesota congresswoman kicked off her bid for the presidency at the Snowden House in Waterloo, Iowa Monday morning in a speech that decried big government and called on Iowans to "make a bold choice" about the direction of the country.

"The great people of this country are longing for a president who will listen to them and who will lead from the front and not from behind," Bachmann said.

She said she was "part of a much larger movement to take back our country." The crowd then echoed her words when she said Obama would be a "one term president."

The congresswoman's speech delved into federal spending and the "unconstitutional" health care bill, but otherwise steered clear of policy specifics.

Bachmann's made the announcement in the small city where she was born and has embraced as her true home during her trip here. Minnesota's shout out wasn't a flattering one.

"I grew up here in Iowa, my grandparents are buried here, and I remember how sad I was the day my mother told me we were going to leave Iowa when I was in the sixth grade because this part of Iowa is all I had ever known," Bachmann said. "And I remember telling my mother that we couldn't possibly move to Minnesota because we hadn't even been to the state capitol in Des Moines yet."

She said the role of government has to fundamentally change for the country to suceed.

"The truth is all of us, we, the American people, are the solution, not our government," Bachmann said.