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Obama's Surprising Post-Presidency Plans

by Seth Millstein

President Obama is considering doing something that no president since Woodrow Wilson has done. No, he’s going to let sheep roam the White House lawn, although that would be charming as well. He may, however, break recent presidential tradition by continuing to live in Washington D.C. after leaving office. It’ll depend, the president says, on what Michelle and Sasha want to do. While Malia, the president’s oldest daughter, will presumably be in college by the time her dad leaves the White House, Sasha will only be a high school sophomore. Moving from D.C. would significantly upheave her social life, as well as her mom’s, so the family may stay in the city past January 2017, when, we can only assume, Ted Cruz will be taking the oath of office.

“Sasha will have a big say in where we are,” Obama said in an interview with Barbara Walters that will air late Friday. “We gotta make sure that she’s doin’ well…until she goes off to college.” He added that the Michelle and the girls “have made a lot of sacrifices on behalf of my cockamamie ideas, the running for office and things.”

It’s probably a smart choice, as switching schools midstream is generally a big pain, but it’s also a tad surprising, given the president’s love for Chicago and — perhaps more significantly — his disdain for D.C. Then again, the pressures of living Washington generally subside a bit when you're no longer president of the United States.