Michelle Obama: The White House Is 'a Really Nice Prison'

At the African First Ladies Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama sat down with former First Lady Laura Bush for a candid, laughter-filled conversation — and offered a memorable description of life in the White House.

What did Michelle Obama actually say?

Moderator Cokie Roberts recalled that Martha Washington, America's first First Lady, once described living in the White House as being a "chief state prisoner." Obama picked up the thread: "There are prison elements to it," she said, to laughter. "But it's a really nice prison." Bush added: "With a chef." "You can't complain," Obama said. "But there are definitely elements that are confining."

The exchange was lighthearted, not a complaint. Obama had just called the First Lady's role "probably the best job in the world," noting that while husbands react to crises minute by minute, first ladies get to work on what they're passionate about — "a very freeing and liberating opportunity."

What about the bangs?

The two women also laughed over the media frenzy around Obama's famous fringe haircut earlier that year. "While people are sorting through our shoes and our hair — whether we cut it or not — whether we have bangs," Obama said. "We take our bangs and we stand in front of important things that the world needs to see. And eventually, people stop looking at the bangs, and they start looking at what we're standing in front of." Bush's dry addition: "We hope."

Read the full transcript of the conversation

Why did the summit matter?

The two-day summit, hosted by the George W. Bush Institute, brought together the wives of African leaders to talk about women's economic empowerment and health across the continent. The "prison" joke made headlines — but the point of the gathering was the platform itself: two first ladies, from rival parties, arguing that the role is a podium for change.