Barack Obama on Letting Sasha and Malia "Figure Out Who They Are on Their Own"

Former President Barack Obama started writing his new memoir, A Promised Land, four years ago – long before any of us could have predicted what 2020 would bring. Even so, the book’s release feels especially vital and timely in a year that has been so momentous in both presidential and American history. In its resonant pages, Obama looks back at some of the most critical and challenging moments from his early days as commander in chief, but he also shares a more personal, intimate picture of how life in the White House and public eye impacted Michelle and his young daughters, Sasha and Malia. A Promised Land is also forward looking, charting a course for American progress, and speaking to young people about the role they have to play moving the country forward.
POPSUGAR editors asked Obama to give us a look into his writing process, divulge the life lessons he’s shared with his own daughters, and speak to young people who are eager for change – but might be discouraged by its pace – in an interview that was both political and personal.