--- title: Mother's Day: Watch President Obama Call 3 Unsuspecting Moms description: President Obama called three unsuspecting mothers to wish them a happy Mother's Day. canonical: https://time.com/3853192/obama-mothers-day/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-10T20:55:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:41.815Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch President Obama Spring a Mother's Day Surprise on 3 Moms og:description: "You're doing the most important work there is" og:url: https://time.com/3853192/obama-mothers-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf61b1df5f54ce84b/6987ef1f55a8591409a8a07e/obama-phone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Obama-happy-mothers-day-video og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch President Obama Spring a Mother's Day Surprise on 3 Moms twitter:description: "You're doing the most important work there is" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf61b1df5f54ce84b/6987ef1f55a8591409a8a07e/obama-phone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:47 video:published: 2015-05-10 section: personal-finance topics: Mother's Day, motherhood, raising children, surprise phone calls, gratitude, presidential outreach, family, public service genre: feature, human interest tones: warm, grateful, playful, sincere emotions: joy (high), gratitude (high), surprise (medium), pride (medium) sentiment: positive audience: parents, mothers, general public, politics followers people: Barack Obama, Stephanie, Patty, Dawn transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Watch President Obama Spring a Mother's Day Surprise on 3 Moms > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=272dea44-4dec-46ef-a476-f13f151d5659&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Mothers Day Surprise from President Obama [Watch (HLS stream): A Mothers Day Surprise from President Obama](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OdWt8vTO.m3u8) (1:47)  _Published 2015-05-10. A Mothers Day Surprise from President Obama_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Barack Obama places a series of phone calls to mothers who had written letters to him, thanking them for being great moms on Mother's Day. The calls cover the difficulty of raising children, the influence of his own mother, and whether the callers plan to spoil their mothers. Obama closes each call by congratulating the mother on her role. ## Key points - Obama says he decided to call letter-writing moms on Mother's Day to thank them for being great moms. (00:10) - Obama tells one caller he knows how tough it is to raise kids and do right by them. (01:01) - Obama says that if it hadn't been for his mother, he certainly wouldn't be where he is. (01:05) - Obama tells a caller she is doing the most important work there is. (01:09) - A caller says that raising four kids and serving the country makes her a mom the president is proud of. (00:38) - Obama tells a caller that her sons are going to turn out good because of her. (00:46) - One caller says that getting a phone call from the president means the world to her. (01:22) - Obama closes a call by congratulating a mom on being a great mom. (01:33) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:14] Opening calls to mothers. Obama introduces himself on the phone to the first callers and confirms it is really him. - [00:14 to 00:38] Explaining the Mother's Day calls. Obama explains that he chose to call letter-writing moms to say thank you for being great moms. - [00:38 to 01:09] Praising a mom's family and service. Obama praises a mother for raising four kids while serving the country and talks about the challenge of raising children. - [01:09 to 01:47] Final thanks and goodbyes. Obama reflects on his own mother's influence, thanks the remaining callers, and ends the calls. ## Key quotes - [00:14] Barack Obama: "I decided on Mother's Day I should call up some letter writer moms and say thank you for being great moms." - [01:05] Barack Obama: "if it hadn't been for my mother, I certainly wouldn't be here." - [01:09] Barack Obama: "You're doing the most important work there is." - [00:42] Barack Obama: "You know everything you've done, raising four kids and, and, you know, serving our country" ## Questions this video answers - Why did Obama decide to call these mothers? [00:14] - What does Obama say about the difficulty of raising children? [01:01] - What influence does Obama credit his own mother with? [01:05] - How do the callers respond to receiving a call from the president? [01:22] - What does Obama say about the work of being a mother? [01:09]  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 10, 2015 8:55 PM UTC A Mothers Day Surprise from President Obama  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 10, 2015 8:55 PM UTC Three mothers got a totally unexpected Mother’s Day gift this year: a surprise phone call from President Obama. “I decided on Mother’s Day I should call up some letter writers and moms, and say thank you for being great moms,” Obama explains to a stunned mother in a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hcrx0uwluk) shared Sunday by the White House. “You’re one of the moms I want to say thank you to. You still don’t believe me.” The [lucky three](http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/10/politics/barack-obama-mothers-day/), who hail from Minnesota, Arizona and Florida, had each written letters to Obama over the past year thanking him for supporting a [higher minimum wage](http://time.com/2169/obama-to-hike-minimum-wage-for-federal-contractors/) and for signing the Affordable Care Act in March 2010. “I know how tough it is to raise kids and do right by them. If it hadn’t been for my mother, I certainly wouldn’t be here,” said Obama, whose own mother, Ann Dunham, died of cancer in 1995\. “You’re doing the most important work there is.” ### Life Before Equal Pay Day: Portrait of a Working Mother in the 1950s  Jennie Magill with her family in the background. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Working mother Jennie Magill shopping with her children at the super market. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie and Jim Magill in the kitchen. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill and family in the kitchen. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Wifely kiss is Jim's reward for helping with the dishes. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill at work. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Companionable lunch with the girls from store is lots better, says Jennie, than a sandwich in solitude at home. "Through Jennie's friends at work," says Jim, "I've met a lot of people I wouldn't have met otherwise." Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Her work is a source of pride to Jim. "She' has done a terrific job. And when I tell her about my work she doesn't brush it off." Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Going home, Jim always picks Jennie up at Carson Pirie Scott branch. The ride home is a chance to talk without domestic distractions. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie and Jim Magill coming home from work. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Taking over the family reins when she gets home, Jennie holds Jackie, 2, who tests cake which he "helped" housekeeper Sophia Flewelling (left) to bake. Sophie runs household smoothly while parents are gone. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill and family. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill ironing with her daughter. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill with her children. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill comforting her crying daughter. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill with her children. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill reading a story to her children. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Bill-paying is disagreeable, but it reminds them of how well they live because Jennie works. "It's nice not to have that lost feeling," says Jim. "Now when we see a piece of furniture we want, we buy it." Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jennie Magill kisses her children goodbye. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ## Transcript [00:00] Hi, Stephanie? Yes. Hi, this is Barack Obama. Your [00:04] president. Hi, Patty. Hi, yes. Hey, this is Barack [00:08] Obama. How are you? Nah- uh. Yeah, it is. No way. [00:10] Yeah, way. I decided on [00:14] Mother's Day I should call up some letter writer moms [00:18] and say thank you for being great moms. That is [00:22] amazing. Yeah, it's kinda cool. And you're one of the [00:25] moms I want to say thank you to. You still don't believe [00:32] me. [ LAUGH ]. Oh, it's me. I. Okay. Give me, give me a [00:35] test. What kinda [ UNKNOWN ]. Ask me, ask me about [00:38] anything. I was so proud of. You know everything [00:42] you've done, raising four kids and, and, you know, [00:46] serving our country, and, you know, they, those boys [00:48] are gonna turn out good cuz of you. It's our president, [00:51] Barack Obama, on the phone. Do you wanna say hello? [00:53] Hi. We decided that, on Mother's Day we need to call [00:57] some moms who are out there. Hi. How are you? I [01:01] know how tough it is, you know, to, to raise kids. And [01:05] do right by them, and, you know, if it hadn't been for [01:09] my mother, I certainly wouldn't be here. You're, you're [01:13] doing the most important work there is. Well I sure [01:16] appreciate hearing you say that. So are you guys [01:19] gonna, are, are you gonna spoil mom on Mother's Day? [01:22] Oh, most definitely. It sure means the world to get [01:26] a phone call from you. Well, it's wonderful, wonderful [01:29] to talk to you guys. And, and Dawn Congratulations on [01:33] being a great mom. All right, thanks. All right, bye bye. 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