Barack Obama Admits He Cried After Dropping Malia Off At College
Barack Obama taught the American public countless life lessons during his tenure as president, but perhaps one of the most important teachings he passed on is that it’s totally OK to cry in public.
Be it at events, press conferences, funerals, or the signing of new legislation, Obama has never shied away from his emotions. And on Monday, Obama wore his heart on his sleeve once more by telling the audience at an event for the Beau Biden Foundation that he let the waterworks flow when he dropped off Malia, his eldest daughter, at college.
“For those of us who have daughters, it just happens fast. I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill (Biden) that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery,” Obama said during his surprise appearance in front of the 600 attendees of the event.
“I was proud that I did not cry in front of her,” Obama added. “But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren’t hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough.”
Beyond his frequent and unabashed tears, Obama has also spoken out more than once on the importance of family and just how much fatherhood has meant to him. In fact, during his farewell address to the nation, Obama looked to his daughters Sasha and Malia and said, “Of all that I’ve done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.”
At the event honoring the life and legacy of Beau Biden, Obama noted that saying goodbye to his daughter as he dropped her off for her freshman year at Harvard is “a reminder that, at the end of our lives, whatever else we’ve accomplished, the things that we’ll remember are the joys that our children—and hopefully way later, our grandchildren—bring us.”
He added that he was there to honor Beau, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden who tragically died of brain cancer in 2015, because he wanted to lend his “support to a family that (he cares) deeply about, to honor a man that (he) thought the world of, and to say thank you to all of you for supporting this wonderful cause.”
The event’s mission was to raise funds for the Foundation, which Delaware Online explained works to “expand and continue work training adults in child abuse prevention and kids and families in bully prevention.”
“It is proper and right that somebody as thoughtful and genuine and strong as Beau made it one of his missions that every child has protection,” Obama said in his speech.
Overall, the event raised more than $400,000 for the incredible cause, according to Delaware Online. While thanking his friend for his appearance at the event and sharing such a personal story about fatherhood, Biden joked, “Mr. President, you’ve been a great friend. Everybody, I think what they miss most is our memes. Mr. President, I can’t surprise you by giving you a medal of freedom, but I can give you a group of people who think you brought a lot of freedom to this country.”