Michelle Obama jokes that Barack wanted to seek a second term so he could keep their daughters under Secret Service guard in their teen years

obama familyThe Obama family is pictured together in April 2015. From left to right: Malia, Michelle, Barack, and Sasha.

  • Michelle Obama appeared on the "Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon Tuesday night.
  • During the interview, Obama joked that her husband was fueled to seek a second term so that their daughters would spend their teen years under the guard of the Secret Service.
  • "He was like, 'We've got to win, because I don't want those girls walking around,'" Obama recalled.

Forget gun control and healthcare reform - former President Barack Obama had a personal reason for wanting to win a second term so badly.

During an appearance on the "Tonight Show" Tuesday night, former first lady Michelle Obama said her husband was fueled to win re-election because he wanted to keep their daughters under the guard of the Secret Service.

"I've always said, as quiet as it's kept, the second term of the presidency was really fueled by Barack's desire to keep them with their agents into their teen years," she said.

"He was like, 'We've got to win, because I don't want those girls walking around.' He wanted men with guns with them. He worked extra hard on those votes. He's like, 'Come on voters!'" Obama recalled.

The couple's daughters, Malia and Sasha, were 14 and 11 years old respectively when their father was inaugurated to his second term in the White House.

The family decided to stay in Washington, DC after Obama's second term was up so that Sasha, now 17, could finish high school. Eldest daughter Malia, now 20, is in her second year at Harvard.

Malia ObamaREUTERS/Kevin LamarqueU.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia walk in the rain from Marine One to board Air Force One upon their departure from Los Angeles, California April 8, 2016.

During the interview, Obama said she enjoys the relationship she has with her daughters, now that they are older.

"I love the baby stage. I'm like you - I love every age, but now they're really interesting. We're friends," she said. "There are boyfriends we can talk about. You know, they drive, so they can earn money, so they ask for less. I love it."

Obama appeared on the show to promote her new memoir, "Becoming," which is currently at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction.

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