President Barack Obama and his family will continue calling Washington home after he departs the White House next year — at least for a little while.
Long rumored, the first family’s plans were revealed Thursday by the President himself, who said during lunch in Milwaukee that he planned to remain living in the capital until his younger daughter finishes high school.
“We’re going to have to stay a couple of years in D.C. probably so Sasha can finish,” he said. “Transferring someone in the middle of high school? Tough.”
Obama’s daughters attend Sidwell Friends in Washington, a private day school they entered when Obama took office in 2009. Malia, currently a senior, is expected to leave home for college next year. Sasha will be a sophomore in high school when Obama departs office in January 2017.
The President said Thursday that his plans beyond Sasha’s graduation weren’t yet clear.
“We haven’t figured that out yet,” he said when asked by one of his guests whether he would return to Chicago, where he lived before becoming president, or Hawaii, where he was born.
“Hawaii’s home for me but I spent almost 30 years in Chicago. It’s where I met Michelle, it’s where she grew up. It’s where our daughters were born,” he said.
Obama’s presidential library will also be situated in Chicago, and he still owns a home in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The President and first lady don’t currently own any other properties, though rumors have swirled about potential purchases in places like Palm Springs and Oahu.
It’s rare for a president to remain in Washington after leaving office — the last to do so was Woodrow Wilson. George W. Bush returned to Texas, while Bill Clinton moved to New York as wife Hillary began a Senate career representing the state.
