Barack Obama Says He's "Been Trying to Dig" Himself Out of a "Deep Deficit" With Michelle Obama Since They Left the White House

The former POTUS revealed how he's attempting to make it up to his wife.

Michelle and Barack Obama.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have both been candid about the challenges their relationship endured while they lived in the White House. Now, Barack is discussing how he fought for his marriage after his presidency ended.

On April 3, Barack spoke to Hamilton College President Steven Tepper about the state of his marriage following two terms as POTUS. "I was in a deep deficit with my wife," the author of Dreams From My Father said, via The Daily Beast. "So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things."

The Obamas tied the knot on October 3, 1992 in Chicago, and subsequently welcomed two daughters—Malia, born in July 1998, and Sasha, born in June 2001.

engaged - Michelle and Barack Obama

The Obamas tied the knot on October 3, 1992.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In December 2022, Michelle was similarly open about experiencing troubling periods in her marriage to Barack. "People think I'm being catty by saying this—it's like, there were 10 years where I couldn't stand my husband," she revealed during a roundtable conversation with Revolt TV. "And guess when it happened? When those kids were little."

While Barack pursued his political career, Michelle seemingly found her own professional dreams stalling. "And for 10 years while we're trying to build our careers and, you know, worrying about school and who's doing what and what, I was like, 'Ugh, this isn't even,'" the author of Becoming said at the roundtable. "And guess what? Marriage isn't 50/50, ever, ever."

michelle and barack obama speak at the 2024 democratic national convention in a futuristic black Monse suit

"There were 10 years where I couldn't stand my husband."

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Barack previously shared that Michelle didn't initially want him to run for president. "Her initial response was, 'No,'" he said during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2020. "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.'"

Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.