Michelle Obama thinks US is ready for first female president

Michelle Obama said the U.S. is ready for its first female president, but she stopped short of endorsing Hillary Clinton for the job.

“Yes, I think the country is ready for it. It’s just a question of who’s the best person out there,” the first lady told Parade magazine in an interview published Thursday.

Obama said she is expects to see a female president in her lifetime but avoided saying it could be Clinton.

“She hasn’t announced anything, so I’m certainly not going to get ahead of her,” Obama said of the former secretary of State.

Clinton is widely seen as the Democratic front-runner if she runs for the White House in 2016.

{mosads}Obama was quick to say “no” to running for office herself one day.

Obama also spoke to Parade about her anti-childhood obesity campaign Let’s Move, her family and life in the White House. 

Asked why she’s no longer sporting her much-talked-about bangs, the first lady joked: “You know, it’s hard to make speeches with hair in your face!”

Obama, who originally said she got the bangs as part of mid-life crisis when she turned 49, said she was upbeat about turning 50 in January.

“I have never felt more confident in myself, more clear on who I am as a woman. But I am constantly thinking about my own health and making sure that I’m eating right and getting exercise and watching the aches and pains. I want to be this really fly 80-, 90-year old.”

She was also asked about an earlier remark, where she called herself a “single mother” and then quickly walked it back.

She acknowledged the comment came from the pressure of making decisions about Malia and Sasha while President Obama focuses on running the country.

“When you have a husband or a partner who’s either traveling for work or has huge responsibility … and I give my husband credit — he knows who their friends are, he knows what their schedule is. But he’s not making the calls to the dance studio to figure out what classes they’re taking next year … I think it’s important for both parents to shoulder that [responsibility]. I tell my kids, ‘I am thinking about you every other minute of my day.'”

She declined to talk about where 15-year-old Malia will apply for college, saying “kids are under unreasonable pressure, and it can destroy a high school experience.”

The full interview will be in this weekend’s Parade magazine.