Michelle Obama opens up about how much she is enjoying life in the "real world". Photo / Getty Images
Michelle Obama opens up about how much she is enjoying life in the "real world". Photo / Getty Images
Michelle Obama is not in the White House anymore - and she proved just how much she is enjoying life outside of its claustrophobic walls by posing for a very glamorous Elle cover shoot, while wearing a series of daring fashion-forward ensembles.
Michelle on the cover of Elle magazine. Photo / Elle magazine
The 54-year-old, who has spent a very busy few months promoting her new memoir Becoming, which debuts on Tuesday - and which earned her part of a $65 million advance in a joint deal with her husband Barack - also sat down with Oprah for an interview to accompany her glamorous spread, opening up about how much she is enjoying life in the "real world".
"...What I came to realise is that there was absolutely no time to reflect in the White House," she told the TV mogul. "We moved at such a breakneck pace from the moment we walked in those doors until the moment we left.
"It was day in and day out because we, Barack and I, really felt like we had an obligation to get a lot done.
"We were busy. I would forget on Tuesday what had happened on Monday. I forgot whole countries I visited, literally whole countries."
The former first lady, who posed in a $2,400 leather corset, $4,900 skirt, and a $1,350 blouse - all from Dior - for her Elle cover, recalled a conversation she once had with her chief of staff, during which she expressed her desire to one day visit Prague - only to be told that she had already been there on one of her many official trips.
Michelle admits that she only managed to jog her memory when she was shown a picture of herself in the country.
Life after the White House
Life has certainly changed since the entire Obama family left the White House, and Michelle says it was only after they had settled into their "regular" $8.1 million house in Washington, D.C.'s exclusive Kalorama neighborhood, that she felt able to reflect on the eight years she spent as first lady.
Oprah asked her about what she called "the toast story" - a simple moment that Michelle uses to quantify just how much her world had been altered by the end of Barack's presidency.
She recalled one of the first nights she was home alone with the family's two dogs - Bo and Sunny - in their new home, which is a just a few minutes' walk away from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's house, and decided to make herself some toast, something she was never able to do in the White House, because there was "always somebody there" to do it for her.
"...I made myself toast. Cheese toast," she said. "Then I took my toast and I walked out into my backyard. I sat on the stoop, and there were dogs barking in the distance, and I realized Bo and Sunny had really never heard neighbour dogs.
"They're like, 'What's that?' And I'm like, 'Yep, we're in the real world now, fellas.'
"As first lady, you're not alone much. There are people in the house always, there are men standing guard," she added.
"There is a house full of SWAT people, and you can't open your windows or walk outside without causing a fuss."
When pressed by Oprah about whether she was being serious about opening a window, Michelle insisted she was telling the truth, explaining that both of her daughters "tried to" but they quickly "got the call" from the Secret Service telling them to "shut the window".
Miscarriage heartbreak
While promoting her book, the mother-of-two has spoken candidly about a number of very personal experiences, revealing that she suffered a miscarriage 20 years ago, and opening up about "having to do IVF" in order to conceive her daughters Malia, now 20, and Sasha, now 17.
She has also spoken at great length about her struggles as first lady, which started before she even set foot in the White House; beginning in the months leading up to her husband's decision to run for president, right up until his eight-year term was over.
While speaking with Oprah, Michelle admitted that she knew what she was getting into when the idea of Barack running was first suggested, noting that she was hesitant to agree because she knew what a toll it would take on him, and their family.
"Imagine having that burden. Could he, should he, would he? That happened when he wanted to run for state Senate, then Congress, then the US Senate," she explained.
"... politics was ugly and nasty. I didn't know that my husband's temperament would mesh with that. And I didn't want to see him in that environment."
In the end, however, she said she knew that she couldn't deny someone with all of Barack's "gifts" the opportunity to make a difference, explaining that she had to "take off her wife hat and put on her citizen hat" in order to support his decision.
Even after they had vaulted over that initial hurdle, however, Michelle says she didn't initially think her husband stood a chance of winning, explaining to Oprah that they "felt the pressure from the minute we started to run".
Was America was ready for a black president? Michelle had doubts
In an interview with Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, which aired on Sunday, Michelle admitted that she didn't think the country was "ready" for the first black president when they kicked off Barack's campaign.
She told Roberts: "I think I did what a lot of black folks were doing. We were afraid to hope because it's hard to believe that the country that oppressed you could one day be led by you, you know?
"I mean, my grandparents, you know, lived through segregation. My grandfather, his grandfather was a slave, you know? So this, these memories were real.
"And they didn't think the country was ready. And, and so my attitude was a reflection of that skepticism."
As far as her marriage, Michelle says she and Barack have always had very different personalities, describing him as someone who "swerves", while she says she is a "box checker".
Oprah highlighted one excerpt from the book in which the former first lady talks about how difficult she found her husband's schedule, even before he became president, recalling nights when he would say he was on his way home, only for her and her daughters to wait up for hours before realizing he wasn't going to make it.
However, Michelle noted that - despite their differences - the two of them have learned to strike a great balance, both through personal learning, and through counselling, which she details in her book.
When they made it to the White House, she says she tried to be "the calm in his swerve", ensuring that their family maintained some normalcy and order, and that Barack spent enough time with his wife and children, no matter what else was going on in his day.
"Family dinners," she told Oprah of how she ensured her husband made time for his family.
"That was one of the things I brought into the White House — that strict code of, You gotta catch up with us, Dude. This is when we're having dinner. Yes, you're president, but you can bring your butt from the Oval Office and sit down and talk to your children."
She also opened up about her mission to make the East Wing - where the offices of the FLOTUS are traditionally based - the "happy side of the house", in an attempt to counteract all of the strain and stress that was dealt with in the West Wing.
