'The answer is no': Barack says Michelle didn't want him to run for US President in 2008

As former US President Barack Obama is set to release his new memoir, in the book he revealed that his wife and former First Lady Michelle Obama was not in favour of him running for the White House. Obama’s memoir ‘A Promised Land’ is set to release on November 17. In the book he recalled Michelle’s concerns and said that his wife had said, “The answer is no, I don’t want you running for president. God Barack, when is it going to be enough?”

In a televised interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Obama also described Michelle’s resistance to his 2008 presidential election and said, “We had just two years earlier, I had run for the U.S. Senate ― in an unlikely race. Two years before that I had run for Congress ... In a race I lost.”

He added, “A couple of years before that I had run for the state Senate. We’ve got two young kids. Michelle’s still working, and I ask myself in the book, you know, ’How much of this is just megalomania? How much of this is vanity? How much of this is me trying to prove something to myself?”

The former President further, however, said that Michelle eventually reached the conclusion that she shouldn’t stand in the way of his ambitions. He said that the fact that he ended up winning didn’t necessarily alleviate her frustration because the toll it takes on families is real. Obama added that the fact that his wife put up with his job and forgave him was an “act of grace” that he is grateful for and “not sure” if he deserved it. 

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Obama won’t take position in Biden’s cabinet 

In recent days, Obama has done a series of interviews timed to the release of the first volume of his memoir. In a separate interview, he also revealed that he would not take a position in President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet because he fears his wife would leave him. The 44th President made it clear that he has no plans to take a position in Biden’s cabinet. He also said that he is not planning to suddenly work on the White House staff. 

The interviewer Gayle King then jokingly pressed him and his response was clear cut. Obama said that there are somethings he would not be doing because Michelle would leave him. He added, “She’d be like, what? You’re doing what?” 

Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s book will elaborate on 44th US President’s personal life and the political career before participating in the historic campaign of 2008 followed by the first four years in the White House. As the first black president of the United States, Obama confronted the wave of divisive turmoil that fueled Republicans’ obstructionism that ultimately led to shift of the party. He also has written about the story of the competing vice-presidential choices. He has defended his legacy and explained what motivated him and what left his distraught. 

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