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.”
