Obama Says Leaving Malia at College Was ‘Like Open-Heart Surgery’
Malia, 19, took a gap year after high school and opted to attend Harvard this year, despite her father’s advice
that she could get a good education even if she did not attend “some name-brand, famous, fancy school.”
Both Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended law school at Harvard.
Mr. Obama has let the tears flow in public on a number of occasions, including when he spoke shortly after the death of his grandmother in November 2008; when he thanked his campaign staff after winning re-election in November 2012;
and during a speech about gun violence in January 2016
Mr. Biden introduced Mr. Obama at the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware on Monday, calling him a “great friend.”
Beau fought to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Barack Obama described that moment on Monday in a speech for the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children,
which was named for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s older son, who died of brain cancer in 2015.
The former president said some kind words about Beau
and his parents, Joe and Jill Biden, before talking about the joys and sorrows of watching children grow up.
