Barack and Michelle Obama Candidly Reveal What They Don't Miss About Life in the White House
Barack and Michelle Obama Candidly Reveal What They Don't Miss About Life in the White House
Lara WalshWed, June 24, 2026 at 4:01 PM UTC
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during an interview with 'Time' Managing Editor Rick Stengel at the White House in Washington, D.C.Credit: Getty ImagesThe Gist -
Barack and Michelle Obama spoke candidly while looking back on their time in the White House.
The former first couple shared what they don't miss about living in the historic building.
Barack also highlighted his wife's "unprecedented" efforts to make the space feel like the "people's house."
Almost a decade after the Obama family said goodbye to the White House, Michelle and Barack Obama are reflecting on their eight-year experience there. In a rare joint interview with Peoplepublished on June 24, the couple spoke candidly about what they don't miss about life in the White House and more generally about Barack's two-term presidency.
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha pose in the Rose Garden of the White House on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015.Credit: Getty Images
Speaking with the publication at the Obama Presidential Center, Barack and Michelle opened up about what they were happy to leave behind after their time as the United States's first family. The former president gave his wife a shoutout for her attempts to make the historic Washington, D.C. mansion feel like a home, but admitted that the couple and their kids, Sasha and Malia, struggled with the White House's "confining" nature.
"Michelle wanted to make sure that it was the people's house and as first lady helped open it up in ways that were unprecedented," Barack shared, seemingly referring to her efforts to host student workshops, musical performances, and talent shows at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The podcast host also planted the White House's first kitchen garden since Eleanor Roosevelt's World War II Victory Garden, and used the green space for community gardening initiatives.
Barack Obama hugs Michelle Obama prior to a White House event on March 20, 2009.Credit: Getty Images
Barack clarified, "But it is also very confining. I think it was Bill Clinton who called it the crown jewel of the federal penitentiary system. Because for security reasons and all kinds of other reasons, you are confined. It is the bubble inside the bubble."
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The politician also said that he was happy to step away from some of the public attention and fanfare that the role dictated. "Frankly, I don't miss a lot of the pomp and circumstance. I don't miss having to wear a tie every day," he explained. "What I miss is the work and the people, who worked so hard, sacrificed so much but somehow kept their sense of humor. There was a sense of camaraderie."
Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Sasha, and Malia introduce their dog Bo to the White House press corps on April 14, 2009.Credit: Getty Images
Michelle recently opened up about the family's experience in the White House, which she said was all "about service." She shared during a May 19 appearance on the "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast, "Everything that we did was about other people—how we showed up in the world, the sacrifices we made, the things that we didn't do, the money that we didn't make, the things we turned down."
"I mean, in our White House, you know, the motto was, 'If it's fun, we can't do it,'" she explained. "Because, you know, you're not there to benefit, you know? I mean, there isn't a law that prevents it, but it's just, you know—you're not there to take advantage or advantage yourself off of the White House."
on InStyle
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
