Michelle Obama Spilled Her Icy Feelings About Her Family's Fame

For nearly a decade, the Obamas were thrust into the unforgiving spotlight of media scrutiny. From the moment they occupied the White House to the day they vacated it, Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, have had to withstand a relentless barrage of public attention. But while they emerged largely unscathed with their reputation and dignity intact, Michelle said that it wasn't easy.

In fact, she was openly opposed to Barack running for president, something that the former president said he was still making up for years after leaving the White House. In a 2020 interview on "The Late Show," he dished that his wife tried to talk him out of vying for the Oval Office seat, primarily due to the impact it would have on their family. "Her initial response was 'No,'" he recalled, adding that down the line, she had a change of heart. "But, what is absolutely true is — and I've never fully got out of the dog house for this — is that I put her and our kids through an extraordinarily stressful, difficult sequence in deciding to run for president, right after I had just gone through a tough race." Per Barack, Michelle "stayed mad about it through all eight years."

Michelle's frustration was justified, given the intense media attention the Obamas experienced during those eight years — and even thereafter. Despite managing the spotlight with remarkable grace and poise, the "Becoming" author admitted that dealing with public exposure was one of the most difficult trials she and her family had to endure.

While the Obamas diligently prepared for their tenure in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., what was eventually handed to them was worse than they had imagined. "The White House tests you in ways that you never anticipated. That was our values, our compassion, our smarts, our strategy, that got us through," Michelle Obama said in a 2024 episode of the podcast "On Purpose with Jay Shetty." 

Michelle further explained this in the 2020 "Becoming" Netflix documentary, detailing how all of them had to be careful about their actions lest they want to be misinterpreted. Each member of the family was acutely aware of being under constant surveillance. "Every gesture you make, every blink of an eye is analyzed," she said (via CNN). "You have the world watching every move you make. Your life isn't yours anymore."

Despite the intense pressures of their public life, the Obamas never lost sight of their responsibility, a key factor in maintaining their unblemished public image. "It was no accident that the administration was scandal-free. It was no accident that ... our children had to show up right in the world. They carried a burden of making sure they weren't messy, because it wouldn't have been laughed off," Michelle shared in a 2023 episode of her podcast, "The Light," on Audible. "So we didn't underestimate that. But that, that weight is exhausting when you're carrying that."

The weight of the world that Michelle Obama and her family shouldered for eight long years reached its climax almost as soon as they departed from the presidential home. In a revelation to Oprah during the "Becoming" press tour, Michelle admitted that she couldn't help but let out a cathartic cry during that moment. "When I got on the plane I think I sobbed for 30 minutes," she recalled (via USA Today). "And I think it was just the release of eight years of trying to do everything perfectly. I said to Barack, 'That was so hard. What we just did that was so hard and I've wanted to say that for eight years.'"

But even though the Obamas will always attract some level of media attention, Michelle — who makes a stunning amount of money post-White House – felt a palpable sense of relief after husband's presidency met its end. "Now we're out of the White House, not to be viewed, judged and parceled by every other person on the planet — yeah, it's better, it's absolutely freeing,” she said in the "Becoming" documentary. 

Despite this, she reaffirms that it was an absolute "honor" to have served as the first lady. "But how many people are in that position where the entire attention of everything is you, every gesture you make, every blink of an eye is being analyzed?" she added. "Barack and I are not interested in being at the forefront forever — not even for that much longer."