--- description: As the First Family nears the end of their eight years in the White House, they're reflecting on their time together as a family. title: The Obamas Say the White House Brought Them Closer as a Family image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068bd3706e19ef65/6988b2740a4a2205119cc4f1/obama-family-white-house-close.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Obamas Say the White House Brought Them Closer as a Family by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2016 5:17 PM CUT  From left: US President Barack Obama, daughter Malia Obama, US first lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Sasha Obama walk to Air Force One at Castle Airport June 19, 2016 in Merced County, California. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) From left: US President Barack Obama, daughter Malia Obama, US first lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Sasha Obama walk to Air Force One at Castle Airport June 19, 2016 in Merced County, California. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2016 5:17 PM CUT Being the leader of the free world sounds like a pretty stressful job, but that doesn’t mean [President Obama](http://time.com/4595286/obama-john-legend-baby-gift/ "undefined") sacrificed all his family time for his job. In fact, living in the White House helped bring the Obama family closer together, the [President](http://time.com/4596274/president-obama-trevor-noah-daily-show/ "undefined") and First Lady [told](http://people.com/politics/obamas-say-8-years-in-office-has-brought-them-closer/ "undefined") _People_ in an exclusive interview and cover story. As the First Family nears the end of their eight years in one of the most famous houses in the world, they’re reflecting on their time together as a family and how their relationships have transformed. [Michelle Obama](http://motto.time.com/4593609/michelle-obama-election-donald-trump/ "undefined") explained to _People_ that living in the [White House](http://time.com/4590725/oprah-will-conduct-michelle-obamas-final-white-house-interview/ "undefined") changed things for the better. “It definitely brought us closer,” she said. When President Obama was previously an Illinois state senator and then U.S. Senator, he traveled a lot which caused him to spend time away from his family. Life in the White House, however, allowed the Obamas to see each other more often than before. She continued, “It wasn’t until the White House that we were together seven days a week, that we could have dinner together, he had time to coach the girls’ teams and go to all their events.” In order to deal with the stress of the job, the Obamas emphasized the important of falling “back on the normalcy and the love of your family.” Even though the First Family enjoyed quality time together, there was a particular sense of “weightiness.” Michelle Obama said, “Nobody knows what it feels like to wake up and look at the morning paper and know that every headline, good or bad, is your responsibility. Wherever it’s happening in the world.” President Obama also opened up about being extremely proud of his wife: “Watching Michelle as first lady has just increased my awe and respect for her.” He continued, “It’s fun when you see your spouse shine. And she’s shone.” \[[People](http://people.com/politics/obamas-say-8-years-in-office-has-brought-them-closer/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4596442/obama-family-white-house-close/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4596442/obama-family-white-house-close/"},"headline":"The Obamas Say the White House Brought Them Closer as a Family","datePublished":"2016-12-09T17:17:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:04.781Z","description":"‘It wasn’t until the White House that we were together seven days a week'","url":"https://time.com/4596442/obama-family-white-house-close/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068bd3706e19ef65/6988b2740a4a2205119cc4f1/obama-family-white-house-close.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt068bd3706e19ef65/6988b2740a4a2205119cc4f1/obama-family-white-house-close.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA","caption":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA","creditText":"BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images","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":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4596442/obama-family-white-house-close/","name":"The Obamas Say the White House Brought Them Closer as a Family"}}]}] ```