The Obama Legacy: First Joint Interview Post-White House

[00:00:01] Speaker 1: Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. [00:00:04] Speaker 2: And mark it. [00:00:06] Speaker 1: Nearly ten years after the White House. [00:00:08] Speaker 3: I'm very proud of the message we sent to the country that we're representing everybody. Yes we can! Yes we can! [00:00:17] Speaker 4: That hope and change isn't a you'll do it, it's a we thing. [00:00:21] Speaker 1: Reflecting on their place in history. Is there anything in looking back that you would do differently as president? Their lives now. [00:00:28] Speaker 3: What I've tried to do is to move from player to coach. [00:00:33] Speaker 1: And their hopes for the future generation. [00:00:36] Speaker ?: I'm President Obama! [00:00:38] Speaker 1: The Obamas give a preview of the new Obama Presidential Center. I was speechless which is hard for me to be. Their legacy finding a home in their hometown, Chicago. [00:00:50] Speaker 3: I first entered Chicago to work as a community organizer. [00:00:53] Speaker 4: We can map our whole lives here. [00:00:56] Speaker 1: As they honor the past and enjoy the present. One word to describe your next chapter. One word. Funny. Me. [00:01:04] Speaker 5: That's what you call drop the mic. Drop the mic. [00:01:07] Speaker 6: The Obama legacy. First joint interview post White House. A conversation with Robin Roberts. [00:01:17] Speaker 1: So was this everything that you dreamed? Maybe a little more. Yeah? [00:01:21] Speaker 3: What's the first reaction from people? Well, and that's the thing. I think what I've been struck by is people feel at home and they feel reminded of the possibilities of us getting together and getting along. [00:01:37] Speaker 1: It's a proud moment for former President Barack Obama. That's my tree house. That's my tree house. As we walk the campus where he's cementing his legacy. Side by side with former first lady Michelle Obama. This is your first joint interview, network TV interview since leaving the White House almost ten years ago. Oh wow, really? [00:01:55] Speaker 4: Is that true? Yeah. Yeah. Seems like I'm always with him. [00:01:59] Speaker 1: I know. She tired of me. [00:02:01] Speaker 4: It's like, really? [00:02:02] Speaker ?: No. [00:02:03] Speaker 1: The Obama Presidential Center. It's done. [00:02:06] Speaker 4: It's finished. It is opening. [00:02:08] Speaker 1: You had a private moment, able to walk through? [00:02:11] Speaker 3: The two of us. On your own. For the first time since the exhibits and the art has been here. [00:02:16] Speaker 4: Well, the last time I was on this floor, it was still a construction site. Construction site. [00:02:20] Speaker 3: We still had hard hats on the last time I was working. [00:02:22] Speaker 4: So, I was overwhelmed and I knew everything that I was going to see. But I was still just, I was speechless, which is hard for me to be. [00:02:32] Speaker 1: And people are going to experience that when they walk through these doors. And they're also going to just learn more about your eight years as president of the United States of America. They will. And what do you consider your greatest accomplishment? [00:02:47] Speaker 3: Look, there's a lot of stuff I'm proud of. For all the resistance from our political opposition, you know, the Affordable Care Act has now helped 50, 60 million people. And continues to help people, even though the current Congress has tried to weaken it and taken away some of the subsidies that were really helping a lot of working people. I will tell you when I go through the exhibits, the thing I'm probably the most proud of is the tone we set. But the fact that we just had a bunch of amazing people working for us, with us, who were there for the right reasons. Weren't trying to ask what was in it for them. Weren't cutting corners. Dedicated themselves every single day to just how do I help the American people, you know, live their lives a little bit more securely and allow them to feel a little bit safer, have more opportunity. I'm very proud of the message we sent to the country that we're representing everybody and we can have big, serious disagreements about issues. And I'm going to still care about you and represent you and try to bring the country together. Because I do think that ultimately if we get that part of our democracy right, if our politics reflects our better instincts rather than our worst, we can solve a lot of the problems that we confront. And when we don't have that right, then I think we get into trouble and start inflicting damage on our, not just on the economy or on certain policy issues, but on what we're passing on to the next generation. [00:04:49] Speaker 1: Is there anything in looking back that you would do differently as president? [00:04:52] Speaker 3: Oh, I, look, there, there's, I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day. The thing that we, we were good at and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it, um, was I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind. That, that I wasn't making decisions based on short-term politics. I wasn't looking at the polls. I wasn't worrying about how people would talk about me if, if I was doing this. And, and so we were good about collecting data and analysis and getting a bunch of different point of views. Invariably, you don't get everything done that you want to get done. From Barack Obama's time as a state senator. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. [00:05:45] Speaker 1: To the presidential campaign trail. Yes, we can! [00:05:48] Speaker ?: Yes, we can! [00:05:49] Speaker 1: And two terms in office. [00:05:52] Speaker 3: We will continue our journey forward. [00:05:54] Speaker 1: The Obamas leaning on their message of hope. To many in this country, both of you represent hope and change. Yes, we can! Given what is going on around the country right now, could that movement that you started then, could, could it happen now, Mrs. Obama, do you think? [00:06:13] Speaker 4: It can always happen. People just have to be fed up enough. They have to want more. And I think the presidential center hopefully will remind people of just how close we are to move in this country in the direction that we want it, want to move it in. So I think it's always possible. And I think this is a reminder that all that happened, it was real. It is a part of history. It actually happened. Especially when we're dealing with young people who weren't born when he was president. Right? I mean, you have one exhibit where people thought that it could never happen. That a black man, a black family would never live in the White House. That America would never accept that. And lo and behold, the whole country, the vast majority of the country believed differently. But there are kids now who, they weren't around when that happened. So I think this is an important reminder of not just that it happened, but how it happened. That it wasn't about one president. It took millions and millions of people deciding that they were going to step up and do their part. That hope and change isn't, uh, you'll do it. It is, it's a, it's a we thing. [00:07:37] Speaker 1: Nearly a decade after his historic presidency, the former commander in chief now weighing what to say when. Mr. Principal, when you left the office, I remember who's saying this. [00:07:49] Speaker 3: I want to, uh, be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. [00:07:57] Speaker 1: But you also said when core values may be at stake, it would merit you speaking out. How have you been able to find that balance? Because I'm sure you've heard from folks who are saying, hey, they want to hear from you with all that is going on right now. [00:08:12] Speaker 3: I, I, you pick and choose your spots. Uh, I, I'm not suggesting I've, I've done it perfectly. You know, my goal, uh, was to, you know, look at the example of our first president, George Washington. So he kinda, I don't have a horse to get on, but he kinda said, all right, I've done my, done my stint and now I'm going, you know, back home. I think Michelle, you know, very much would prefer, uh, a quieter life for us. And on the other hand, there have been some folks who would like to see me out every day, right? Banging the drum. What I've tried to do is to, to move from player to coach. Part of our foundation mission here is how do we encourage the next generation of leadership? My job is to help them and to lift them up. And I do think that part of why we've been having a bumpy time right now and then maybe a less hopeful time is because we've been going through this transition, a generational transition. And now because of the internet, now things are splintered. And so it's harder for people to break through, uh, the way I was able to break through just with one speech effectively, uh, at the democratic national convention. And so given I still have, I think a lot of name ID, um, part of what I've been trying to do is to, when I do speak up, also maybe have a chance to point out young talent and, and, and help lift them up. Um, the more I can do that, the more we can do that. Michelle doing that through her podcast, uh, highlighting, uh, the next generation, the better off I think we'll be. [00:10:02] Speaker 1: And next, many of your policies are being rolled back. How do you, when you see these things happening, how do you deal with that? And coming up. What's your name? Archie. [00:10:14] Speaker 2: How are you doing? And I need to give you a high five. [00:10:17] Speaker 1: All right, come on. Anchored in the heart of the south side of Chicago, the Obamas say their presidential center serves as a reminder of what's possible. You see the garden? Michelle's, uh, community garden over there. [00:10:34] Speaker 4: And so people can walk through there any time of day, pick some tomatoes, and this is the learning center, uh, so they'll hold classes. I mean, for me growing up here, um, none of this was available to me as a child. To think that there are going to be kids like me, where this is their backyard, where people feel like they can just cross the street and gain access to the world. I mean, it's just, it's unbelievable. [00:11:02] Speaker 1: It's their vision to create a global hub spanning 19.3 acres. [00:11:12] Speaker 7: It was really important to us that the center be a part of the urban fabric. That's why it's so important that there's a Chicago Public Library on the site that will have all kinds of programming for our young people. There's an athletic center with a regulation size NBA basketball courts and wonderful music facility for our young people. [00:11:30] Speaker 8: Being able to kind of see the landscape and the transformation of what the city is going through. But never in a million years would I have ever dreamt this. [00:11:42] Speaker 1: During our visit on campus, we got a first look of the interactive museum, which takes visitors from the founding of the United States, the defining movements and moments of the 20th century through the Obama campaign and presidency. This is just the amount of letters he received in one day. Wow. Come on. Wow. Oh my gosh. Even life in the White House, including a replica of the Oval Office, a popular spot for visitors. The Blackberry. The Blackberry, of course. The building itself, an architectural feat. With a quote from Obama's speech. You are America. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma March to Montgomery, inscribed on the facade. What are you each most excited for people to see? [00:12:37] Speaker 3: I think this room we're in, this sky room, is important. We're on the south side of Chicago in the middle of historic Jackson Park. So I'm excited to have people just see the beauty of this city and to feel a pride showing it off to visitors and outsiders. Not just from around the country, but hopefully around the world. [00:13:02] Speaker 1: It seems in so many ways that this was the perfect neighborhood to cement the Obama legacy. [00:13:09] Speaker 3: Within about a five mile radius of this spot. I first entered Chicago to work as a community organizer. Michelle raised basically two miles from here, two to three miles from here. Wedding reception about a mile over, South Shore Cultural Center. The girls, born at the University of Chicago Hospital right down the road here. [00:13:34] Speaker 4: We both work there as a professor. I taught at law school. He's an associate dean. We can map our whole lives here. [00:13:41] Speaker 3: And my first political race for the Illinois State Senate. I announced in the Romana Inn on Lakeshore Drive about five minutes from here. So many of the biggest blessings of my life. Where I found purpose. Where I found the love of my life. My children, lifelong friendships. All of that centered right around here. So yeah, these are deep roots that we've got. [00:14:08] Speaker 1: I'm walking the halls here. The museum really, it's about the promise of democracy. And it's very difficult for people right now when they feel a lot of their freedoms are being taken from them. They're very familiar now with Project 2025. Many of your policies are being rolled back. How do you, when you see these things happening, how do you deal with that? [00:14:34] Speaker 3: There has always been sort of contesting stories in America. One story is we find these truths to be self-evident. That all men, all people are created equal. Endowed with certain aliable rights. But there's always been a part of our story that is about the strong trying to dominate the weak. I think right now, partly because people feel anxious about, rightfully so, about their economic futures, what's happening with technology, globalization, partly because we're more socially isolated. So all those factors, I think, have contributed to a cynicism and people feeling like somebody else is trying to get over and I just want mine. And it's harder than to bring people together around hopeful politics. But these things go in cycles. They go in waves. The one thing it should do is make us not feel complacent. What that means is that we need our best impulses. We need to be given those voices every day. We need to be voting every day. We need to be treating people with respect and dignity every day. We need to reach out to people who don't agree with us every day. One thing I wanted to say about this center, I'm not interested in this center and the exhibits being an exercise. And nostalgia. I don't want people to just be looking back and thinking, oh, you know, wow, hope and change. And that was so much fun. And I miss you. Those are nice sentiments. But what I want people to feel when they come through here is, oh, that was possible, which means I can do that. That's the reason we start with the Declaration of Independence and Frederick Douglass's inkwell and quill pen and the suffragist pamphlets. And because, like, we were a small chapter in this long running journey. [00:16:36] Speaker 1: It was good to see the civil discourse between you and McCain. Yeah. And how when that one voter tried to say something about you and he spoke up. [00:16:45] Speaker 6: I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the United States. [00:16:53] Speaker 3: And hopefully what they'll see in some of these exhibits, what we try to do is to show a lot of people didn't agree with me on stuff. And that's okay. This country wasn't designed to be everybody marching in lockstep. The premise of this country is everybody gets a right to say, no, I don't agree with that. I challenge that. No, Obama, I think you're making a mistake. You know? And then we have a conversation about it. And then it gets settled in an election. And then, all right, if enough people decide I didn't know what I was doing, then you move on to the next person. [00:17:31] Speaker 1: And the next election we have coming up is a midterm. That's correct. And both parties, the polling numbers are very low for both parties. [00:17:39] Speaker 3: People are a little discouraged right now. But I, again, I believe that we go through these cycles and there is going to be a younger generation that pops up and there are going to be leaders who pop up where people go . Michelle has always been very good about saying, and Michelle's mom was always good about saying this. You know how things get better is us old folks, we kind of fade. Got to get out of the way. We got to get out of the way. [00:18:06] Speaker 1: Next, see what made Barack Obama say this. [00:18:10] Speaker 3: You know what, you seem to be grading her higher on her answers. [00:18:16] Speaker 1: With more than 600,000 visitors expected each year, the center was designed to do more than attract crowds. It was built to help people create connections and community. According to President Obama, that community building starts in places just like this. [00:18:35] Speaker 3: We've gotten pretty good reviews on this playground. Because there have been some kids who have already been running up in there. You know, I think so often we think that somehow politics and policy and civics and that that's all dry. Yeah. And the truth is, is that democracy works partly because we enjoy being with people and we get to know our neighbors and we play and we have fun. [00:19:03] Speaker 1: The playground is a special place for kids like Naya Morrow, who says President Obama inspires her to dream big. [00:19:11] Speaker 9: I learned from him to make community and history no matter what shade you are. [00:19:17] Speaker 1: Her second grade class wrote letters to the Obamas. [00:19:21] Speaker 9: Dear President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama. [00:19:24] Speaker 1: About what the center would mean to them. [00:19:26] Speaker 9: I am so happy that the Obama Presidential Center is coming to my community. It reminds me of you. [00:19:34] Speaker 1: Naya never expected a reply, but later she got something even better. [00:19:40] Speaker 3: Oh, who's this young lady? This is Naya. Naya, you wrote me a letter. Yeah. Yes. You go to Woodlawn School? Yes. [00:19:49] Speaker 1: An opportunity to ask the president how to make a difference. What did you write to the president? What did you want to say to him? [00:19:56] Speaker 9: I said how I wanted to change the world and how you was the best president. [00:20:03] Speaker 3: You know, right now the main thing you can do is just like work hard in school and, you know, clean up your room when your mom tells you to. Eat your vegetables, all that stuff. You get that stuff right and then later on you're going to make the world better just because, you know, you're handling your business. You're doing a good job. I like your socks, though. Thank you. I've never worn socks like that in the playground before. You don't worry about getting them dirty a little bit? [00:20:33] Speaker 9: I get them dirty all the time, but they're like washable, so it's good. Okay. [00:20:38] Speaker 3: Well, I'm glad to hear that. [00:20:39] Speaker 1: President Obama says the campus was created with the youth in mind. Hi, President Obama! [00:20:45] Speaker 3: Hi! [00:20:46] Speaker 1: Hi! How's everybody doing? In hopes that the next generation of leaders will be fostered right here. [00:20:53] Speaker 3: What's your name? What's your name? Margo? Boo! [00:20:57] Speaker 2: What's your name? Archie! [00:20:59] Speaker 3: Archie! [00:21:00] Speaker 1: How you doing? [00:21:01] Speaker 2: And I need to give you a high five. [00:21:03] Speaker 1: Alright, come on. But the kids weren't the only ones who had some fun. I have 30 seconds on the clock. Oh, goodness. 30 seconds on the clock. Seems unfair. A little rapid. A little rapid here. Okay. What you got. What you got. What you got. This is fun stuff. What activity takes up most of your downtime? What activity takes up most of your downtime? For him? [00:21:23] Speaker 3: Yeah. What do you... [00:21:25] Speaker 1: First thing that comes to mind. Come on, no, no, no. I know. Okay, you answer. It's golf. [00:21:30] Speaker ?: No, no, no. No, no, no. [00:21:32] Speaker 3: Why are you looking at me like that? [00:21:35] Speaker ?: You know what? [00:21:36] Speaker 3: Move on. Go ahead. [00:21:38] Speaker 1: Okay, so I answer for... No, no. Was I wrong? [00:21:42] Speaker 3: I was going to ask what you mean by downtime. Because... Whoa, what? Because I don't have that much downtime. Because I'm still in the middle of the road. Oh, yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker 4: And the majority of it goes to golf. Oh, yeah. Yeah, right, right, yeah. Crochet? Still crochet? Because I'm playing tennis a lot. [00:21:56] Speaker 3: Yeah, tennis. Okay. Yeah, you didn't give a frown on that. [00:21:59] Speaker 1: Last show you binge watched. No, no, no. She didn't. No, that's what... Last show you binge watched. First thing. [00:22:07] Speaker 3: This is embarrassing to say, but it was Ken Burns' American Revolution. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I mean, I didn't... Oh, my God. A binge watch where I just watched. It's terrific. I recommend it. [00:22:20] Speaker 4: I'll say, Mrs. Obama. I was on the... I just watched four seasons. That's a good one. Yeah. Season two. All right. One word to describe your next chapter. One word. [00:22:31] Speaker ?: Fun. [00:22:32] Speaker 5: Me. That's what you call drop the mic. [00:22:36] Speaker ?: You know what? [00:22:37] Speaker 5: You seem to be grading her higher on her answers. [00:22:40] Speaker ?: No, no. [00:22:41] Speaker 3: Every one of her answers, you're all like, "Oh, yeah, you go, girl." And then mine, you're all like... Because your answers are like, "I just read about Lincoln again." [00:22:47] Speaker 4: And then you're all like, "Oh, no." I just read about Lincoln again. It's like, "Yeah, whenever." Okay. I knew that was going to hurt me. [00:22:57] Speaker 1: Hey, you got to keep being you. So, decades from now, when people are leaving the Obama Presidential Center, decades from now, what is your hope that they would have learned about the Obamas? [00:23:13] Speaker 3: What I'm hoping is that they would see a couple of people who weren't born into fancy circumstances. But we're really lucky to have people who love them. And we're really lucky to be born into a country at a time when the essential creed of this country, that we're all worthy of dignity and respect and opportunity. That that idea was blossoming. And that, as a consequence, a little girl born on the south side of Chicago, and some mixed kid born in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii, you know, could end up being part of the process of building and making better the most powerful, greatest country on earth. [00:25:07] Speaker ?: And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world. And that's why we're all about the world.