The former president and first lady reflect on race and the symbolism of his presidency in this week's PEOPLE cover story
The 2008 election of Barack Obama — a charismatic, Harvard-trained former Chicago community organizer whose mother was White and father was Kenyan — as the 44th president of the United States was no doubt a historic occasion for America and the world.
"Barack Obama Makes History," read the cover of PEOPLE at the time, while the front page of The New York Times declared "Obama Elected President: Racial Barrier Falls." And such were headlines across the globe commemorating the news that America, a nation long fraught with racial tension from the lasting pains and stains of slavery and segregation, had elected its first Black president.
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Sitting down with PEOPLE alongside wife Michelle Obama, 62, in a wide-ranging interview for this week's cover story, the former president, 64, reflects back on that time nearly 20 years ago. Here, in an excerpt from the interview amid the opening of his new Obama Presidential Center, the former first couple delve into the reality vs. the symbolism of his presidency.
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PEOPLE: In the song “Changes,” Tupac rapped, “Although it seems heaven-sent, we ain’t ready to see a Black president.” As you sit here in your new presidential center, opening on Juneteenth, how do those lyrics resonate now?
MR. OBAMA: Obviously there’s a symbolism to the day I got elected. I had always said to Michelle and friends that I hoped if I did get elected, that that would change how kids thought about themselves. I hoped suddenly girls started feeling like, “Okay, whatever limits people seem to have set, whatever the precedents are, I think I can do something.” I wanted Asian American kids or Hispanic American kids to feel that same way, that we didn’t have barriers.
I think that we did accomplish that. It was never realistic to think that because of one election, one president, somehow 400 years of history suddenly goes away. But I think there are kids who, growing up under my presidency, said, “Yeah, of course you can have a Black president. Why not?” And I’m confident that when we get a female president, which we will get sometime soon in my lifetime, it’ll become normalized, and that’s what we want.
Credit: Matt Sayles
MRS. OBAMA: The symbolism of his presidency wasn’t just about race — it was also about the way you show up as a leader, a man, a father and a husband. I think that what Barack offered this country was a mature president, a highly intelligent president, a selfless president, and I think that those characteristics are as important as race. I think he made this country proud in a very unique way.
MR. OBAMA: Thanks.
For more on Barack and Michelle Obama's new chapter with the Obama Presidential Center, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, now on newsstands.
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