April 28, 2017
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is sticking to her guns when it comes to her future in politics.
Former first lady Michelle Obama smiles during the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 on Thursday in Orlando, Florida. (Photo: Gerardo Mora, Getty Images)
She's not running for office, CNN reported.
April 28, 2017
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is sticking to her guns when it comes to her future in politics.
Former first lady Michelle Obama smiles during the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 on Thursday in Orlando, Florida. (Photo: Gerardo Mora, Getty Images)
She's not running for office, CNN reported.
Why? Because political life is "hard on a family," the Orlando Sentinel wrote.
"I wouldn't ask my children to do this again because, when you run for higher office, it's not just you, it's your whole family," she told attendees of the American Institute of Architects' annual conference on Thursday, according to the Sentinel. "Plus, there's so much more we can do outside of the office, because we won't have the burden of political baggage."
Obama had previously ruled out a presidential bid in a farewell interview with Oprah, who she told, "If I were interested in it, I’d say it."
At the Orlando gathering, Obama, CNN reported, dished on her family's post-White House life and their emotional final days at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. She also discussed the need for maternity and paternity leave, life as a working mom and the need for more diversity in certain professions.
Here's what she had to say about her White House days:
It was the longest she had ever lived in one place
Obama, according to CNN, told the crowd she has never lived anywhere longer than the White House. Her daughters grew up there, too. She said the girls had tears in their eyes as they left.
Sasha and Malia hosted a slumber party in the waning days
CNN reported the Obama sisters hosted a final sleepover at the White House with eight girls. On the menu: Chicken nuggets.
2008: President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, wave, accompanied by their two daughters, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, wave to the crowd during an election night rally in Chicago. Jae C. Hong, AP
The girls liked the sound of protesters
The former first lady, according to CNN, said her daughters were never allowed to open their bedroom windows at the White House, something they can finally do. She said they once tried to open their public-facing windows in order to hear the sound of protestors. The girls, she said, found the sound "soothing."
The Obama's dogs had never heard a doorbell
Bo and Sunny, the family's Portuguese water dogs, hadn't heard the sound of a doorbell before they left the White House, which doesn't have them, CNN reported.
She didn't want her tears to send the wrong message on inauguration day
The Sentinel wrote the former first lady got choked up as she said goodbye to the White House staff on President Trump's Inauguration Day. She chose to hold back the tears.
"I didn't want to have tears in my eyes because people would swear I was crying because of the new president," she said, according to the newspaper.
Former President Obama once dreamed of being an architect
She said her husband once had aspirations of becoming an architect.
"Barack is an artist, though he tries to downplay it," she said, according to AIA. "He's the kind of guy who says, 'I don't care what the living room looks like,' and then has a thousand questions and opinions about everything."
The Obamas are working with an architect on the design of the Obama Presidential Library, which will be constructed on Chicago's South Side.
Courtesy: USA Today
