Clearly in a reflective mood at the twilight of his tenure, President Obama told Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of her show Thursday night that he will miss Air Force One the most after leaving office.
He also made no bones about his plans to eschew commercial airlines for private jets after he leaves office.
When DeGeneres asked him if he would go back to flying on commercial airlines as a private citizen he replied with an emphatic “No,” according to an account in the New York Times, citing excerpts of the taped show, which is scheduled to air Friday afternoon.
“I don’t miss flying commercial,” the president said. “Taking your shoes off, and all that.”
Secret Service security requirements prevent former presidents from flying commercial but Obama is hoping they won’t prevent him from enjoying some more basic aspects of life as a private citizen.
He told the audience he relished the thought of being able to go for a simple walk on a nice day. The constant 24-hour security detail and throngs of people wanting to talk to him has been suffocating from the beginning of his time in office when he asked his aides about the possibility of venturing out of the White House in disguise.
In 2017, after leaving the White House in his rear view mirror he said he hopes the Secret Service might let him drive a convertible.
“Maybe they can tail me,” he said. “That’s my hope.”
The nearly one-hour taping of the show in Burbank, Calif., wasn’t all ruminative and somber. The president and his playful host spent plenty of time clowning around.
At one point, the president recited a Valentine’s Day poem to his wife, Michelle, after watching her read a poem to him via videotape from the White House.
“Roses are red, violets are blue, you are the president, and I am your glue,” the first lady said, adding that DeGeneres was the only person with whom she would share her husband on Valentine’s Day.
Obama then delivered his devotional poem to his wife.
“Somebody call the Situation Room because things are about to get hot,” Obama said, according to the Times. The president was standing on a floor strewn with rose petals as the show’s band struck up romantic background music.
“Michelle, this Valentine’s Day, I’m going to treat you right,” he said.
In reality, the president won’t be spending Sunday with Michelle but playing golf in Rancho Mirage, Calif., instead before participating in a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders next week.
While happy to play along with DeGeneres’ light-hearted topics, the president drew the line at busting a move and boogieing along in the traditional dance she does with all her guests at the beginning of the show. What a difference seven years in the Oval Office make: in the fall of 2007 when he was a long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, he happily grooved along with the host.
