A little bit of post-Oval Office shine is natural for most presidents, so perhaps it’s not surprising that at a time when people are even looking fondly back on George Bush’s two disastrous terms, Obama is already getting the rose-tinted treatment. The latest laudatory claim comes from Obama himself, who said in a recent interview that his administration “didn’t have a scandal that embarrassed us.”

This is technically true, given that Obama was talking strictly about the kind of intra-White House drama that spills out onto the pages of the newspapers. But Obama has rolled out this talking point before in different contexts, at one point saying that his was “the first administration in modern history that has not had a major scandal,” a talking point meant to illustrate how he changed Washington. Former members of his administration have done likewise, as have various commentators ranging from David Brooks to Paul Waldman. In fact, they’ve been saying this since at least two years before the end of his presidency.

If you hold a narrow definition of “scandal” that refers only to juicy court gossip, the revelation of embarrassing and tawdry details of someone’s personal life, or dramatic political conspiracies, then this claim passes muster. Obama didn’t pay a porn star to keep quiet about their affair, nor was he investigated for potentially colluding with a foreign government to win an election, all while doing everything possible to further incriminate himself.