Michelle Obama Opens Up About 30-Year Marriage to Barack: ‘Compromise Ain’t Always Fun’

Michelle Obama is sharing the secret behind the success of her 30-year marriage to Barack Obama in hopes of inspiring the new generation of married couples.

Making it through three decades together, raising two daughters, and serving two terms in the White House, the former first lady appeared on CBS Mornings with Gayle King Thursday and admitted how “hard” marriage is, and it’s “impossible” to like “everybody every day.”

“If I fell out with him for 10, and we had (a) great 20 years, I’d take those odds anytime,” Michelle said of their 30-year union.

“I share these things because marriage is hard. And a lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment.”

Now, she’s offering her advice to the new generation of marrieds and reminding them what a real union is about.

“We glamorize marriage. And in this day and age, marriage is more about the dress, and the dresses, and the proposal, and the honeymoon and all the stuff around it, and young people aren’t ready for the real of marriage,” Obama told King.

“So I think once again, it’s incumbent upon us, people who have had successful marriages, to be really honest about the fact that making a commitment to be with someone means you compromise, and compromise ain’t always fun.”

Michelle, 58, and Barack, 61 met in 1989. She was assigned to be his mentor at the Chicago firm of Sidley Austin since the two were both Harvard students, she once told ABC News.

They married in 1992 and welcomed their children, daughters Malia, 24, and Sasha, 21. In December 2022, Michelle got candid about how challenging it was during the early days of raising their girls.

“There were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband,” Michelle told Revolt TV. “And guess when it happened? When those kids were little.”