President Barack Obama’s father was an absentee dad. The president wrote Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance in part to exorcise some of the old paternal-related demons in 2004. Yet, he managed to become a wonderful father himself to his two daughters Malia and Sasha. They grew up in the White House, which is never an easy feat, given the fishbowl environment surrounding them. The book’s description reaches into long shadows of this president’s father-son. relationship.
The couple could not have had an easy relationship either, given all the publicity. Yet, the love in Michelle Obama’s tweet chimes a chord within us all. She tweeted:
‘Thank you for the way you love our girls—and all the young people in this country, no matter who they are or where they come from. We feel your warmth and generosity today and everyday. Happy #FathersDay , Barack!’
Barack Obama book’s publisher described the president’s life:
‘Elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama was offered a book contract, but the intellectual journey he planned to recount became instead this poignant, probing memoir of an unusual life. Born in 1961 to a white American woman and a black Kenyan student, Obama was reared in Hawaii by his mother and her parents, his father having left for further study and a return home to Africa.
‘So Obama’s not-unhappy youth is nevertheless a lonely voyage to racial identity, tensions in school, struggling with black literature? With one month-long visit when he was 10 from his commanding father. After college, Obama became a community organizer in Chicago. He slowly found place and purpose among folks of similar hue but different memory, winning enough small victories to commit himself to the work? He’s now a civil rights lawyer there.
‘Before going to law school, he finally visited Kenya; with his father dead, he still confronted obligation and loss, and found wellsprings of love and attachment. Obama leaves some lingering questions?his mother is virtually absent, but still has written a resonant book. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.’
Michelle Obama grew up in a family with both parents. She has spoken proudly as she described his fight against multiple sclerosis for years. He even maintained a full-time job at the Post Office in spite of his illness.
She said, according to The Fabiosa magazine:
‘He never stopped smiling and laughing even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my mom a kiss.’
The former White House couple spoke to The Washington Post about their privacy and security in a digital world:
‘White House officials on Monday urged Web sites to take down a wire service report about a spring-break trip to Mexico by one of the president’s daughters. The story, officials said, violated an unwritten rule guiding news coverage of the president’s family — that is, that the media don’t report on routine or mundane activities involving Obama’s children.’
Spokesperson for First Lady Michelle Obama, Kristina Schake, issued a statement that read, “We have reminded outlets of this request in order to protect the privacy and security of these girls.”
‘From the beginning of the administration, the White House has asked news outlets not to report on or photograph the Obama children when they are not with their parents and there is no vital news interest,” said Kristina Schake, the spokeswoman for first lady Michelle Obama in a statement early Tuesday. “We have reminded outlets of this request in order to protect the privacy and security of these girls.”‘
‘But the administration decided to acknowledge the trip after an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck Mexico on Tuesday, potentially imperiling Malia Obama, 13, and her friends. That spurred questions from reporters about Malia’s safety, compelling the administration to issue a statement that she was in Mexico and safe.’
The ban on such coverage has existed through many administrations by informal agreement with the White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the interests of journalists who cover the president.
Presidential administrators have long been protective of each of the first families’ minor children. Reporters in Washington have generally. observed the taboo: No stories or photographs of them outside official and semi-official events, according to The Washington Post.
Reuters’ White House reporter Caren Bohan said:
‘There’s a general feeling among the press corps that it wants to be respectful” of the president’s children. I’m a parent of two school-age children myself, so I completely understand that their parents want privacy for them. I think a lot of reporters respect that.’
She added:
‘The problem with the Internet is that everyone sees themselves as a newsmaker.’
In an ABC News interview Mrs. Obama said she told White House staff::
‘That was the first thing I said to some of the staff when I did my visit. Don’t make their beds. Make mine. Skip the kids. They have to learn these things.’
The president had left the Oval Office to be available for dinner with his family every night at 6:00 p.m. He went to parent-teacher conferences.
Michelle Obama’s goal was:
‘Both [parents] are committed to keeping their daughters grounded their friends and aides say.
President Obama added:
‘Right now, they’re not self-conscious. You know, they don’t have an attitude And I think one of our highest priorities over the next four years is retaining that.’
Both of the girls’ parents have been great believers of “rules and routine” to help children thrive. Senior Adviser to the 44th president Valerie Jarrett said in an interview:
‘Michelle won’t keep them up just to talk to their father. Bedtime is part of their normalcy. It isn’t going to be interrupted because he’s at a fund-raiser.’
However, even though both of the Obama’s value healthy, organic food, they allowed “the girls eat cake at birthday parties and often indulged in ice cream and other snacks on the campaign trail.”
Michelle Obama’s brother Craig Robinson said in an interview:
‘Those are some special girls, and everyone is rooting for them to make it through this intact.’
Twitter world caught fire with the former First Lady’s Fathers Day wish. Check out some of the responses below:
Happy Father’s Day President Obama!!! Have a beautiful, safe and blessed day. God bless you ❤ 🙏 pic.twitter.com/C2GTeFOUEI
— Vivianbray14 (@VivianBray14) June 21, 2020
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