Barack Obama served as President of the United States for two terms – but his wife has now admitted she never wanted him to become a politician in the first place.
Michelle Obama, 61, made the comments on a special episode of her IMO podcast titled The Making of A Style Icon, which delved into her new style book, The Look.
The former First Lady made the startling admission while speaking to the moderator – Elle’s Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia – and fellow guest African-American literature professor Farah Jasmine Griffin about the all-white ensemble she wore at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.
She was explaining how short she was for time while trying to find something to wear to join her husband on stage, lifting the lid on what her life was like before the White House.
‘[It] was very much the life of a working mother with a partner that traveled often,’ the former lawyer recalled.
‘You know, I had a full time big job, I had two little girls,’ she continued. ‘My husband decided he was going to be a politician, which was like “oh my god, really? Can you pick just one other career? I mean there’s so much [else].
‘”You’re very talented, you know, you could do almost anything – are you sure politics is what you want to do?”‘ she complained.
The author admitted that when Barack, now 64, got the opportunity to give the keynote address at the DNC in 2004 she was so busy raising her daughters that she ‘didn’t have time to think about the speech.’
Michelle Obama made the startling admission about her husband’s career while opening up about the all-white ensemble she wore at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 (pictured at the event)
‘I literally didn’t think about it,’ she confessed. ‘I knew he was writing it, I was listening to drafts, I was like “oh, that sounds good, it’s going to be exciting.”‘
‘But I didn’t make the connection because I was busy,’ she continued. ‘[I was] dropping the girls off at ballet, doing pick up and making dinner and getting to my job.’
Michelle recalled her horror when she realized that she would have to join her husband on stage to ‘be the wife and wave.’
‘I was like “oh my god I have nothing to wear and I can’t just take one of my suits,”‘ she said.
‘I made one of those mad, lunch-hour dashes to probably Bloomingdales and just happened upon this beautiful taffeta suit that looked white.’
Barack’s speech at the DNC, where John Kerry was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, thrust him into the national spotlight and eventually led to his own presidential campaign in 2008.
He went on to serve as the President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
Michelle admitted they had no idea the impact the keynote address would have on their lives, telling her fellow podcast hosts: ‘He was just giving a speech.’
Barack Obama served as President of the United States for two terms – but Michelle has admitted she wasn’t sure she ever wanted him to be a politician
Michelle has often shared her discomfort over life in the White House and hinted to politics often being a barrier in their relationship. The couple pictured in 2024
Before life in the White House, Michelle said she very much had the ‘life of a working mother with a partner that traveled often.’ Pictured with their daughters Sasha and Malia in 2004
![The former first lady recalled thinking: 'My husband decided he was going to be a politician, which was like "oh my god, really? Can you pick just one other career? I mean there's so much [else]"'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/11/05/16/103620371-15260697-image-a-1_1762359084414.jpg)
The former first lady recalled thinking: ‘My husband decided he was going to be a politician, which was like “oh my god, really? Can you pick just one other career? I mean there’s so much [else]”‘
‘We didn’t know it would be the speech that could catapult him to national attention, that was not the assignment,’ she said.
The comments come after months of divorce rumors plaguing the couple. Michelle has often shared her discomfort over life in the White House and hinted to politics often being a barrier in their relationship.
Last month, she admitted that she struggled parenting with her husband while he was President, insinuating his commitment to politics impacted his role as a father.
Michelle made a snide comment regarding the former president during an episode of her IMO podcast with a barbed comment that politics will ‘suck’ the life out of parenting.
The author was talking to guests, NBA legends Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, when the latter mentioned potentially dabbling in politics – but expressed his concern about how it would affect his parenting.
‘Do you think you might get into politics?’ the former first lady asked.
‘I could, I love politics,’ Matt, 45, replied, adding he’s particularly interested in helping create policies that help low-income areas and initially wanted to be the mayor of his hometown by 50.
However, the former Golden State Warriors player acknowledged the commitment it takes.
‘I have a six-year-old and 11-month-old [and] 16-year-old twins,’ he continued. ‘So daddy duty is first and foremost.’
‘Absolutely,’ Michelle quickly responded. ‘Politics will suck the life out of that,’ in what appeared to be a pointed barb at her spouse.
