--- title: President Barack and Michelle Obama Essence Cover: See It description: President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama landed the October cover of Essence for a special collector's issue canonical: https://time.com/4484057/barack-michelle-obama-essence-cover/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-08T16:18:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:28:36.018Z article:section: Politics og:title: See Barack and Michelle Obama's Adorable Essence Cover og:description: The magazine dedicated a special edition to the First Couple og:url: https://time.com/4484057/barack-michelle-obama-essence-cover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53e558310ec9d462/6988a542656a3fc48dbcd056/essence-obama-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: essence-obama-cover og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Barack and Michelle Obama's Adorable Essence Cover twitter:description: The magazine dedicated a special edition to the First Couple twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53e558310ec9d462/6988a542656a3fc48dbcd056/essence-obama-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Barack and Michelle Obama's Adorable _Essence_ Cover  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 8, 2016 4:18 PM UTC  Essence Magazine, October 2016 issue. Essence Magazine, October 2016 issue.Essence Magazine  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 8, 2016 4:18 PM UTC President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama landed the [October cover of _Essence_](http://www.essence.com/2016/09/07/president-barack-obama-michelle-obama-cover-october-issue) for a special issue before they leave the White House in January. The Time Inc. publication interviewed the Obamas about their time in the White House and what’s next for the family. Michelle Obama also appears on the October [cover of InStyle.](http://site.people.com/style/michelle-and-barack-obama-essence-instyle-covers/) “I can unequivocally say that America is better off now than we were when we came into office. By almost every economic measure, we’re better off,” President Obama told _Essence_. “But having said that, we still have a lot of work to do.” **Quiz**: [_Are You Ready for Back to School?_](http://time.com/4457305/back-to-school-quiz/) You can find the First Couple smiling at you from newsstands when the issue becomes available on Sept. 9\. Until then, enjoy the preview of the special edition cover[ here](http://www.essence.com/2016/09/07/president-barack-obama-michelle-obama-cover-october-issue). 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