Barack Obama on his relationship with Michelle:

Former President Barack Obama touched on a slew of big issues facing the country in an exclusive interview with” CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson — but it also got personal.

Obama said that when it comes to his relationship with his wife, Michelle Obama, “it sure helps to be out of the White House, and to have a little more time with her.”

He said that when their kids, Malia and Sasha, were growing up, including while the Obamas were in the White House, the girls were Michelle Obama’s top priority.

“And so I did not fully appreciate, I think — as engaged of a father as I was — the degree of stress and tension for her knowing that not just me and Michelle were under scrutiny and in this strange environment, but that we were raising our daughters in a kind of situation that just wasn’t normal,” he said.

He said that now that the girls are “doing good,” Michelle is “a little more forgiving” of all his flaws.

The former first lady has been open about her marriage struggles, saying last year she “couldn’t stand” her husband for about a decade when their two children were little. She told “CBS Mornings” last month that she opens up about these things “because marriage is hard.”

“And a lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment,” she said. “We’ve been married for 30 years. If I fell out with him for 10, and we had a great 20 years. I’d take those odds anytime.”

She said that at a time when marriage is glamorized and “more about the dress,” it is incumbent upon people who have had successful marriages to be honest about the fact that making a commitment to be with someone means compromise, which “ain’t always fun.”

She said adding kids to the mix makes it even harder.