Obama: Leaving White House Helped Marriage

Former President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that leaving the White House has helped his marriage, thanks to the additional time he has to spend with his wife, Michelle Obama.

In an interview last month, the former first lady told “CBS Mornings” that “marriage is hard,” and commented on a previous remark that she made last year, saying that she “couldn’t stand” her husband for about a decade out of their 30-year marriage.

“If I fell out with him for 10 [years] and we had a great 20 years, I’d take those odds anytime,” Michelle Obama said in the interview.

In an interview on Tuesday, “CBS Mornings” cohost Nate Burleson asked the former president about his wife’s comments, saying, “How do you get back in good graces?”

Obama said, “Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her.”

He added that “Michelle, when our girls were growing up, that was priority number one, two, three, and four.”

Obama continued, “I did not fully appreciate — I think as engaged of a father as I was — the degree of stress and tension for her, knowing not just that me and Michelle were under scrutiny and in this strange environment, but that we were raising our daughters in a kind of situation that just wasn’t normal.”

“Now that they’re doing good, she is a little more forgiving of all my flaws,” he continued.” What she’s told me is, ‘Looking back, you did OK as a dad.’ And if I passed that test, she’ll forgive me, most of my other foibles.”