President Barack Obama says the Supreme Court’s recent gay marriage orders may have the biggest impact of any ruling of his presidency.

Obama told The New Yorker that the court’s Oct. 6 rejection of appeals from states seeking to preserve gay marriage bans is the best of his tenure.

The former law professor says although the court was not ready to expand gay marriage rights nationwide,

“Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states. But, as you know, courts have always been strategic.

There have been times where the stars were aligned and the Court, like a thunderbolt, issues a ruling like Brown v. Board of Education, but that’s pretty rare.

And, given the direction of society, for the Court to have allowed the process to play out the way it has may make the shift less controversial and more lasting.”

President Barack Obama

The rejection effectively made gay marriages legal in 30 states and could lead to an expansion nationwide.

Obama says he doesn’t see himself ever serving on the Supreme Court because it would be too “monastic” for him.