--- title: Barack Obama Tells David Letterman Why Dads Are Bad Dancers description: Barack Obama revealed to David Letterman the one thing that dads do wrong when they're dancing and a special moment with Prince. canonical: https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-11T16:09:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:45:38.433Z og:title: Obama Reveals the One Thing Dads Do Wrong When Dancing og:description: So embarrassing og:url: https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37be25df5f38a7c/6988f7ee656a3f4b2dbd323e/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Introductory Session To The 7th Summit Of Les Napoleons In Paris og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Reveals the One Thing Dads Do Wrong When Dancing twitter:description: So embarrassing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37be25df5f38a7c/6988f7ee656a3f4b2dbd323e/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama Reveals the One Thing Dads Do Wrong When Dancing > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Watch Barack and Michelle Obama Dance to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ for Halloween [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Barack and Michelle Obama Dance to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ for Halloween](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gDGX88T0.m3u8) (0:40)  _Published 2016-10-31. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not afraid to break it down — especially to spooky tunes during the White House’s annual Halloween party._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 11, 2018 4:09 PM UTC President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not afraid to break it down — especially to spooky tunes during the White House’s annual Halloween party.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 11, 2018 4:09 PM UTC [Barack Obama](http://time.com/barack-obama-joe-biden-friendship-photos/), the uncontested [authority in all things “Dad,”](http://time.com/4621362/barack-obama-best-dad-moments/) has some sage advice for fathers whose “dad moves” may be embarrassing their offspring. During an appearance on David Letterman’s upcoming [Netflix](http://time.com/5076892/netflix-bright-bad-critic-reviews/) show, [_My Next Guest Needs No Introduction_](http://time.com/5090142/barack-obama-david-letterman-new-talk-show/), Obama revealed that there’s one thing dads do wrong while they’re getting their groove on: they don’t keep their dad moves — you know, those freewheeling and experimental moves that are best done not in public arenas — to themselves. According to Obama, the key to keeping dad moves in check is “staying in the pocket” which means keeping moves like karate kicks to yourself, a lesson that Obama has taken to heart after dancing on-stage with his daughter Sasha during a performance of the inimitable Prince. Listen to Obama’s dancing advice below. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/"},"headline":"Barack Obama Reveals the One Thing Dads Do Wrong When Dancing","datePublished":"2018-01-11T16:09:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:45:38.433Z","description":"So embarrassing","url":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Barack Obama","celebrities","viral","David Letterman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37be25df5f38a7c/6988f7ee656a3f4b2dbd323e/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte37be25df5f38a7c/6988f7ee656a3f4b2dbd323e/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Introductory Session To The 7th Summit Of Les Napoleons In Paris","caption":"Introductory Session To The 7th Summit Of Les Napoleons In Paris","creditText":"Aurelien Morissard/IP3—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":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/","name":"Barack Obama Reveals the One Thing Dads Do Wrong When Dancing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Barack and Michelle Obama Dance to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ for Halloween","description":"President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not afraid to break it down — especially to spooky tunes during the White House’s annual Halloween party.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gDGX88T0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-31T21:30:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gDGX88T0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/","duration":"PT40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5098712/barack-obama-dancing-dad-moves-david-letterman/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```