Michelle Obama Vogue Cover Stuns, First Lady Talks Balancing Family And Leadership

Michelle Obama’s new Vogue cover hits newsstands later this month, but excerpts from the interview granted by the First Lady and President Obama to the glossy have been released in which the Obamas discuss balancing family life with the expectations of the presidency.

Michelle Obama sat down with Vogue writer Jonathan Van Meter, and discussed how sometimes White House duty can compete with family obligations. Speaking of her husband’s role as leader of the free world and his own history having grown up without a dad, Mrs. Obama explains that the “stresses and the pressures of this job are so real that when you get a minute, you want to give that extra energy to your 14- and 11-year-old.”

But Michelle says that Barack still manages to make time for Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, despite ongoing crises. Of her husband’s parenting, she says Barack is “doing it while still dealing with Syria and health care … he’s as up on every friend, every party, every relationship.”

On the issue of the Obamas not socializing as much in Washington as presidents past, she adds, “if you’re out to dinner every night, you miss those moments where you can check in and just figure them out when they’re ready to share with you.”

Family was a constant refrain in Michelle Obama’s Vogue sit down, and the First Lady said the couple’s “job is, first and foremost, to make sure our family is whole … we have small kids; they’re growing every day … I think we were both pretty straightforward when we said, ‘our No. 1 priority is making sure that our family is whole.’ ”

But the President was not averse to joking to Vogue about when the girls are a bit older and the responsibilities of being President Obama are past, and he told Van Meter: “Maybe you’ll see us out in the clubs.”

Michelle adds: “Saturday night! The kids are out with their friends. Let’s go party!”

Michelle Obama’s Vogue cover was photographed by Annie Leibovitz.