Barack Obama stated elevating a son would have been more durable as a consequence of his personal lack of a father determine and stated he might need been “more judgmental.”

Barack Obama opened up about fatherhood and private shortcomings throughout a revealing dialog on Michelle Obama‘s podcast, admitting he’s grateful he didn’t have to lift a son as a result of he believes it will have been “more difficult.”

The former president, now 63, joined his spouse on her present, Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, the place he mirrored on parenting their daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, and why he’s relieved they by no means had a son.

“I think we did a pretty good job of raising our girls, but I’ve said often that I think I would have had more difficulty raising a son,” Barack Obama stated. Michelle, 61, didn’t hesitate to again him up, replying, “I agree.”

Obama defined that his concern wasn’t about self-discipline or expectations—it was empathy. “I think I might’ve been more judgmental, harder,” he admitted.

He additionally pointed to his personal upbringing, which lacked a constant male position mannequin.

“I would’ve tried to—I’d like to think I would have been more self-aware enough to combat that,” he stated. “But I just think father-son relationships, for me, particularly if I don’t have a dad around to show it to me, might’ve been more difficult.”

Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., was largely absent from his life.

In a 2021 Instagram publish, the previous president wrote, “I didn’t really know my father—he left my mother and me when I was two years old, and only traveled from Kenya to visit us once, when I was ten. That trip was the first and last I saw of him; after that, I heard from him only through the occasional letter.”

The episode provides one other layer to Obama’s long-standing reflections on fatherhood, identification and the emotional gaps left by his father’s absence. The podcast was launched in 2024.

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