- During a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama opened up about the toll that running for president took on his marriage.
- When he first approached Michelle Obama with his plan to run for president, she shot the idea down directly and, even though she eventually "sort of changed her mind," she never fully forgave her husband for putting her and their daughters through the difficult campaign process.
- The interview was part of Obama's ongoing press tour promoting his new book, A Promised Land, which also delves into his marriage to Michelle.
Running for president isn't just hard on the person vying for the job—just the process of a campaign is draining and difficult for the candidate's family, too. That's why, when Barack Obama first approached his wife, Michelle Obama, with his desire to run for the top political office in the U.S., she was clear that she didn't want him to do it.
"Her initial response was 'No,'" Obama explained during a recent interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show while promoting his new book, A Promised Land. "What I said to her, 'We still need to think through all the different elements of it and if at the end of that you still say no, then it's a no.'"
Obviously, Obama did end up deciding to run for president—and Michelle only kind of got on board with the decision, apparently.
"And she sort of changed her mind, kind of," Barack continued. "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."
The impact of that decision followed the couple and hung over their marriage for Obama's entire eight-year tenure in the White House.
"Michelle stayed angry at me about it," he admitted, adding that "it would flare up every so often, but she stayed mad about it through all eight years."
Watch Obama's interview with Colbert below:
