Michelle Obama lived in the White House for eight years under the constant watch of the Secret Service. Since leaving office in 2017, some of her former agents have spoken about what it was like to work closely with her. It gave an inside look at her personality and the way she handled life under the spotlight.
Cory Allen, who served on her security detail and wrote Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent, had nothing but praise. “I was assigned to Michelle, and she knew me by first name — I was spending a lot of time with her on drives or flights, in close environments,” Allen told Katie Couric Media in 2023. “The Obamas were very cordial and very authentic. They would ask, ‘How are you? How are things?’”
Evy Poumpouras, author of Becoming Bulletproof, remembered watching Michelle Obama handle moments of blatant insult with dignity. “As the first Black First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Obama had to withstand certain kinds of disparagement that none of her predecessors ever faced,” Poumpouras said. She recounted one drive to a school when they passed a person holding a shockingly sign. “I remember feeling outraged, but if the First Lady saw the sign, she gave no indication of it,” she said.
Allen described Michelle Obama as “bubbly and genuine.” He said she and Barack were grounded even after leaving office and achieving massive post-presidency success. Allen got to see her on the Becoming book tour, selling out stadiums and connecting with fans around the world. “The power of her story, the way she tells it, and the way she can just be herself certainly inspired me,” he said.
Even after leaving the detail in 2019, Allen stayed in touch. He attended a dinner with the Obamas and a few former Secret Service colleagues, and the encounter stuck with him. On Medium, he wrote, “She saw me and lit up, asking how I was, what I was doing now, meeting my date, etc. I was assigned to her for two years, so it’s natural she’d recognize me, but she radiated warmth and caring, because that’s who she is.”
From sold-out book tours to moments in the car unnoticed by the public, these stories reveal a side of Michelle Obama that few ever see. A true combination of warmth, authenticity, and grace under pressure.
