Barack, Michelle Obama on new presidential center, greatest White House legacy

For former President Barack Obama and former first Lady Michelle Obama , the opening of the Obama Presidential Center Friday is the culmination of their shared journey from Chicago’s South Side to the White House.

In their first joint network TV interview since leaving office in 2017, the couple reflected on their accomplishments in their eight years in the White House and the hope they have for the country ahead.

"People are a little discouraged right now," Barack Obama told ABC News' Robin Roberts in an interview that aired Wednesday on " Good Morning America ." "But, again, I believe that we go through these cycles, and there's going to be a younger generation that pops up and there are going to be leaders who pop up."

The former president said since leaving office, he has largely refrained from inserting himself too much into public policy debates as he sees himself these days as less of a “player” and more of a “coach” for the new generation of leaders.

"You pick and choose your spots. I'm not suggesting I've done it perfectly," he said, going on to cite the example of how George Washington stepped away from politics after his time in office.

"He kind of said, 'All right, I've done my stint. And now I'm going, you know, back home,'" Barack Obama said of the nation's first president. "I think Michelle, you know, very much would prefer a quieter life for us. And on the other hand, there've been some folks who would like to see me out every day, right, banging the drum."

With the Obama Presidential Center, part of the hope, he said, is to "encourage the next generation of leadership."

The center’s campus encompasses 19 acres in Chicago’s Jackson Park, just steps from the University of Chicago. At a cost of $850 million, it includes 3.7 acres of parkland, offices for the Obama Foundation, an auditorium for public events, public art and athletic facilities, and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library.

In collaboration with the National Archives and Records Administration, the Obama presidential archives are fully digital.

The center’s centerpiece is a four-story museum that places the Obama years within a greater context of social change, starting with the Declaration of Independence and spanning the civil rights and labor movements, as well as the grassroots political movement in Chicago that led to Barack Obama’s political ascent.

Obama on his greatest accomplishment in office

When asked by Roberts what he considers the greatest accomplishment of his two terms in office, Barack Obama cited the passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010, which expanded Medicaid, provided greater consumer protections, and lowered health insurance costs, especially for households at or below the federal poverty level.

He said the legislation continues to show that his administration represented all of America.

"For all the resistance from our political opposition, the Affordable Care Act has now helped 50, 60 million people, and continues to help people even though the current Congress has tried to weaken it and taken away some of the subsidies that were really helping a lot of working people," the former president said. "I'm very proud of the message we sent to the country that we're representing everybody."

In addition to his legislative accomplishments, museum also tells the story of Barack Obama's political ascendancy and how the core messages of “hope” and “change” were critical to his campaign for his first term.

Despite the harsh partisanship of today’s political culture, Michelle Obama said those messages are still possible.

“People just have to be fed up enough. They have to want more," she said. "And I think the presidential center hopefully will remind people of just how close we are to moving this country in the direction that we want to move it in."

Michelle Obama said an exhibit in the center that reflects on the Obamas' position as the first Black first family in the history of America reflects that.

"You have one exhibit where people thought that it could never happen, that a Black man, a Black family would never live in the White House. That America would never accept that," she said. "And lo and behold, the whole country, you know, the vast majority of the country believe differently."

Amid the museum's focus on the promise of democracy, Barack Obama said Americans, in times of disagreement, can focus on making their voice heard with their vote.

"The premise of this country is everybody gets a right to say, 'No, I don't agree with that. I challenge that. No, Obama, I think you're making a mistake,' you know?" he said. "And then we have a conversation about it, and then it gets settled in an election. And if enough people decide I didn't know what I was doing, then you move on to the next person."

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