ABC News exclusive interview with the Obamas

[0:00] This morning, the Obamas just days away from opening the doors to their presidential center. [0:05] It's done. It's finished. It is opening. [0:08] You had a private moment, able to walk through on your own? [0:12] For the first time since the exhibits and the art has been... [0:15] Well, the last time I was on this floor, it was still a construction site. [0:20] We still had hard hats on. [0:21] I was speechless, which is hard for me to beat. [0:24] And people are going to experience that when they walk through these doors. [0:28] And they're also going to just learn more about your eight years as President of the United States of America. [0:33] They will. [0:34] And what do you consider your greatest accomplishment? [0:38] Look, there's a lot of stuff I'm proud of. [0:45] For all the resistance from our political opposition, [0:55] the Affordable Care Act has now helped 50, 60 million people [1:02] and continues to help people, even though the current Congress has tried to weaken it [1:09] and taken away some of the subsidies that were really helping a lot of working people. [1:12] The thing I'm probably the most proud of is the tone we set. [1:19] I'm very proud of the message we sent to the country that we're representing everybody. [1:27] Is there anything in looking back that you would do differently as President? [1:30] Oh, look, I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day. [1:36] The thing that we were good at and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it [1:45] was I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind. [1:55] From Barack Obama's time as a state senator. [1:58] Hope in the face of difficulty. [2:01] Hope in the face of uncertainty. [2:04] To the presidential campaign trail. [2:06] And two terms in office. [2:09] The Obamas leaning on their message of hope. [2:12] Could that movement that you started then, could it happen now, Mrs. Obama, do you think? [2:17] It can always happen. [2:20] People just have to be fed up enough. [2:25] They have to want more. [2:26] And I think the presidential center hopefully will remind people of just how close we are [2:34] to move in this country in the direction that we want to move it in. [2:39] You have one exhibit where people thought that it could never happen. [2:43] That a black man, a black family would never live in the White House. [2:49] That America would never accept that. [2:52] And lo and behold, the whole country, you know, the vast majority of the country believed differently. [2:59] Mr. President, when you left the office, I remember who's saying this. [3:04] I want to be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. [3:13] But you also said when core values may be at stake, it would merit you speaking out. [3:20] How have you been able to find that balance? [3:22] Well, I, you pick and choose your spots. [3:27] I'm not suggesting I've done it perfectly. [3:32] You know, my goal was to, you know, look at the example of our first president, George Washington. [3:41] You know, he kind of, I don't have a horse to get on, but he kind of said, [3:44] all right, I've done my, done my stint and now I'm going, you know, back home. [3:51] Um, and I think Michelle, you know, very much would prefer, uh, a quieter life for us. [4:00] Um, and on the other hand, there have been some folks who would like to see me out every day, right, banging the drum. [4:09] Um, what, what I've tried to do is to, to move from player to coach. [4:15] Uh, uh, part of our foundation mission here is how do we encourage the next generation of leadership? [4:23] I'm walking the halls here. [4:26] The museum really, it's about the promise of democracy. [4:30] And it's very difficult for people right now when they feel a lot of their freedoms are being taken from them. [4:38] They're very familiar now with Project 2025. [4:41] Many of your policies are being rolled back. [4:44] How do you, when you see these things, these things happening, how do you deal with that? [4:51] There has always been sort of contesting stories in America. [4:55] One story is, you know, that we find these truths to be self-evident. [5:02] That all men, all people are created equal, endowed with certain aliable rights. [5:07] But there's always been a part of this, our story, that is about the strong trying to dominate the weak. [5:14] This country wasn't designed to be everybody marching in lockstep. [5:20] The premise of this country is, everybody gets a right to say, no, I don't agree with that. [5:26] I challenge that. [5:27] No, Obama, I think you're making a mistake, you know. [5:32] And then, and then we have a conversation about it. [5:35] And then it gets settled in an election. [5:38] And, all right, if enough people decide I didn't know what I was doing, then you move on to the next person. [5:44] And the next election we have coming up is a midterms. [5:47] That's correct. [5:47] And both parties, the polling numbers are very low for both parties. [5:52] People are, people are a little discouraged right now. [5:55] But, but I, again, I, I believe that we go through these cycles and, and there is going to be a younger generation that pops up. [6:08] And there are going to be leaders who pop up where people go, Michelle's mom was always good about saying this. [6:14] You know how things get better is us old folks, we kind of fade. [6:18] Got to get out of the way. [6:19] We got to get out of the way. [6:20] And the Obamas are keenly aware of their place in history. [6:25] But they're also determined that their part of their legacy is about inspiring the next generation of leaders. [6:30] So, as they said, they get out of the way. [6:32] And their presidential center focuses a lot on that. [6:35] Yes, there is a lot of nostalgia. [6:37] But they emphasize it's not about the change that happened for them going from the south side of Chicago, where the museum is located, to the White House. [6:45] It is their belief that everyone is capable of change and, as they say, bring change home. [6:50] And you see that outside of the center to bring change home. [6:53] Speaking of outside, how about the inside? [6:54] You got a chance to look inside the Obama presidential center. [6:57] Before I sat down with them, I went on a tour. [7:00] And it is just, it's hard to describe. [7:03] There are so many exhibits. [7:05] And the one that President Obama loves is called Ten Letters a Day. [7:09] And it focused on letters from everyday Americans, including kids. [7:13] And we had a special surprise for one of the kids who wrote him a letter. [7:18] And that's tomorrow on GMA. [7:19] And our expanded conversation streams tomorrow night on Disney Plus and Hulu. [7:23] There's also a replica of the Oval Office, when he was in the Oval Office. [7:28] And you're encouraged to sit at the desk. [7:30] You open up the top drawer. [7:33] I don't want to spoil it. [7:34] But what you see inside really takes your... [7:37] What he had inside? [7:38] What he had inside. [7:39] Interesting. [7:39] Yeah. [7:40] Probably snacks or something like that. [7:42] I don't know.