--- title: Virginia McLaurin, 106, Dances at the White House with Obama description: "I thought I would never live to get in the White House," the 106 year old said. canonical: https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-22T13:03:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:15:26.207Z article:section: Politics og:title: Virginia McLaurin, 106, Dances at the White House with Obama og:description: "I thought I would never live to get in the White House," the 106 year old said. og:url: https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e4ddcacead2f2/69887e71a988ca0fc66b6abc/barack-michelle-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Virginia McLaurin, 106, Dances at the White House with Obama twitter:description: "I thought I would never live to get in the White House," the 106 year old said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e4ddcacead2f2/69887e71a988ca0fc66b6abc/barack-michelle-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch a 106-Year-Old Woman Dance as She Meets the Obamas by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 22, 2016 1:03 PM UTC  President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are seen above audience member cell phones as they host a reception celebrating African American History Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 18, 2016. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are seen above audience member cell phones as they host a reception celebrating African American History Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 18, 2016.Carolyn Kaster—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 22, 2016 1:03 PM UTC Virginia McLaurin thought she would never live to see the inside of the White House. But on Thursday, Feb. 18, the 106-year-old African American woman traveled to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and posed for a photo with the first black president and his wife. When she got a glimpse of the president, it was as if she was seeing a old friend. She stretched her arms out wide and let out a boisterous “yay!” To mark the joyous occasion she did a little dance, captured in a [video](https://amp.twimg.com/v/549ad94b-1661-425e-97d8-1bd8f5a6b9af) that has since gone viral online. “I tell you, I thought I would never live to get in the White House,” she told President and Mrs. Obama after posing for a picture. “I am so happy.” Virginia McLaurin was one of several guests who joined the President and First Lady for a reception celebrating Black History Month at the White House. “A black president. A black wife,” she said, as the Obama’s annotated her comments. “And I’m here to celebrate black history.” Before the trio took a photo, President Obama asked her, “what’s the secret to still dancing at 106?” She responded with movement. “Just keep moving,” the First Lady said with a smile. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/"},"headline":"Watch a 106-Year-Old Woman Dance as She Meets the Obamas","datePublished":"2016-02-22T13:03:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:15:26.207Z","description":"\"I thought I would never live to get in the White House,\" Virginia McLaurin said","url":"https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e4ddcacead2f2/69887e71a988ca0fc66b6abc/barack-michelle-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e4ddcacead2f2/69887e71a988ca0fc66b6abc/barack-michelle-obama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama, Michelle Obama","caption":"President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are seen above audience member cell phones as they host a reception celebrating African American History Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 18, 2016.","creditText":"Carolyn Kaster—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4232192/obama-white-house-virginia-mclaurin/","name":"Watch a 106-Year-Old Woman Dance as She Meets the Obamas"}}]}] ```