There has never been a first couple like Barack and Michelle Obama. The 44th President of the United States and his accomplished wife have been together for roughly 32 years and married for 30, celebrating their recent anniversary on October 3, 2022. After time as the State Senator of Illinois, two terms in the White House, and book tours and family trips alike, this couple has endured so much and made history along the way. Take a look back at Barack and Michelle’s romance with this timeline of their relationship.
Meeting In 1989
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At just 25 years old, Michelle was working as an attorney in the Southside of Chicago when she was asked to mentor Barack. While their relationship remained strictly professional at first, Barack eventually built up the courage to ask Michelle on a date. “Once [Barack and I] started talking and became friends, he was very clear — just like, ‘I want to date you.’ At least in my experience up until then, men would be coy. They would, you know, sort of look around the room. It was all so complicated, and it felt, a little immature,” Michelle recalled to Conan O’Brien.
“What struck me about Barack was his, lack of pretense,” Michelle said. “I mean, he was somebody who knew what he wanted, and wasn’t afraid to say it. And, I thought, ‘well, if he’s that in tune with his emotions that he can say out loud to somebody that doesn’t know.’ He didn’t know whether I liked him back! He was like, ‘look, let me tell you, this is what I think about you: I think you’re special, I think you’re different, and I would like to take you out.’ And that was rare. And it was attractive.”
Wedding Bells In 1992
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Three years after their first date in the Southside of Chicago, Michelle and Barack exchanged their ‘I dos’ on October 3, 1992. Over the course of their nearly three-decade marriage, the couple have reflected on that day in the fall when they pledged their love for one another in front of family and friends. “You can’t tell it from this photo, but Barack woke up on our wedding day in October, 1992 with a nasty head cold,” Michelle began the caption to a photo she posted a few months before their 26th wedding anniversary.
“Somehow, by the time I met him at the altar, it had miraculously disappeared and we ended up dancing almost all night. Twenty five years later, we’re still having fun, while also doing the hard work to build our partnership and support each other as individuals. I can’t imagine going on this wild ride with anybody else.”
Welcoming Malia In 1998
“We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken. That’s one of the reasons why I think it’s important to talk to young mothers about the fact that miscarriages happen. I think it’s the worst thing that we do to each other as women, not share the truth about our bodies and how they work.” Thankfully, after IVF treatment, Michelle and Barack welcomed daughter Malia Ann Obama on July 4, 1998. But the family-of-three would soon have a new member to welcome!
Sasha Is Born In 2001
“They’re reflective of their generation in the sense they want to make a difference and they think about their careers in terms of: How do I have a positive impact? How do I make the world better?” the former president shared in a November 24, 2020 interview. “What particular paths they take in doing that, I think are going to change and vary between the two of them.”
Illinois Senate In 2004
The 2008 Election
Re-Election In 2012
“It was as if, confined as we were within the walls of the White House, all her previous sources of frustration became more concentrated, more vivid, whether it was my round the clock absorption with work, or the way politics exposed our family to scrutiny and attacks, or the tendency of even friends and family members to treat her role as secondary in importance.” Since leaving the White House, Michelle and Barack have been open about their marital struggles and have been completely transparent about attending marriage counseling. But after two terms in office, everything they endured made them so much stronger.
30 Years Later
After 30 years of marriage and counting, Michelle and Barack Obama are seemingly as in love as ever. The two regularly gush about one another on social media, and there is no denying that the spark of their love is still very much alight. “Even with everything going on, I wanted to take a moment to say happy anniversary to the love of my life. Every day with [Michelle Obama] makes me a better husband, a better father, and a better human,” Barack wrote in a caption for the couple’s 28th wedding anniversary.
“I love [Barack Obama] for his smile, his character, and his compassion,” Michelle scribed for her own post on October 3. “So grateful to have him as a partner through everything life throws at us.” We cannot wait to see the Obamas love story continue to unfold for years to come.
Despite their now close-knit bond, the lovebirds aren’t afraid of speaking out about previous hard times they had in their marriage. In 2022, Michelle talked about how there was a period of “10 years” when she “couldn’t stand” Barack. “People think I’m being catty by saying this — it’s like, there were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband. And guess when it happened? When those kids were little,” she told Revolt.
“And for 10 years while we’re trying to build our careers and, you know, worrying about school and who’s doing what and what, I was like, ‘Ugh, this isn’t even.’ And guess what? Marriage isn’t 50/50, ever, ever,” she continued.
“There are times I’m 70, he’s 30. There are times he’s 60, 40, but guess what? Ten years — we’ve been married 30,” she added. “I would take 10 bad years over 30 — it’s just how you look at it. And people give up … ‘Five years; I can’t take it.'”
In 2023, Barack reacted to Michelle’s comments by admitting that he was glad to be out of the White House because it’s made things better for them. “Let me just say this: it sure helps to be out of the White House. And to have a little more time with her,” he told CBS Mornings‘ Nate Burleson.
The doting husband said it also helped that their two daughters, Malia and Sasha are now adults. “Michelle — when our girls were growing up, that was priority number one, two, three and four,” he explained. “And so, I did not fully appreciate, I think, as engaged of a father as I was, the degree of stress and tension for her, knowing that not just me and Michelle were under scrutiny and in this strange environment, but that we were raising our daughters in a kind of situation that just wasn’t normal.”