President Barack Obama’s visit to a Michigan college really hit home on Wednesday, reminding him that his eldest daughter will soon be leaving the White House to start a college career of her own.
“Just yesterday, Malia started her first day of senior year. You know, I was sitting in her room because I was going to see her off her first day of school,” Obama said in a speech at Maycomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan, where he promoted his plans for free community college. “She puts her head on my shoulder and she says, ‘Daddy, you know, you realize this is probably going to be the last time that you ever send me off for my first day of school.'”
While Malia’s choice of school is still unknown, the 17-year-old has been busy at work touring some of the Country’s most elite Ivy Leagues, such as Harvard, Tufts, Yale and Stanford, where she may go into the field of filmmaking or television production.
As the audience “awwed” the President continued, “And I started – I had to look away. I didn’t want to just be such a crybaby. It makes no sense. Michelle and I are way too young to have daughters who are both almost in college now. So as a parent, I was a little freaked out.”
“The truth is the girls are wonderful,” the family man told Extra in June, praising Malia and his youngest daughter, Sasha. “You know they work hard, they work a lot harder than I ever did when I was a kid.”
He added, “Most importantly, they’re kind, they’re respectful, they don’t have an attitude,” he said. “Partly because maybe my mother-in-law was here, you know we say we don’t want to see any attitude out of them. And they’ve been terrific.”
Obama tends to take a winter break in Hawaii, where he was born and raised, and a summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard. In between, he plays basketball and has been known to do some skeet shooting at Camp David. His favorite pastime, no matter the location, has become easy to spot: golf.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty ImagesFishing is in the Bush family DNA: for blues off the coast of Maine or anything with fins, almost anywhere else. George W. Bush relaxed as president by jogging and clearing brush on his Texas ranch near Waco. Since leaving office, he has become an avid mountain biker and, more recently, has taken up painting.Charles Ommanney—Getty ImagesClinton was never much good at vacationing. His staff had to practically force him to go on vacation his first year in office; his idea of relaxing was reading books while enjoying a cigar (chewed, not smoked). He sometimes played golf, but his somewhat elastic interpretation of the rules could drive his partners crazy.Bob McNeely—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesVice President George Bush tries to catch a fish in August, 1983 in Kennebunkport, Maine. The small town would sometimes be clogged with traffic when Bush, as Vice President and later as President, would visit, reporters in tow. Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images"There is nothing so good for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse." That's what Nancy Reagan liked to say about why her husband often liked to go horseback riding while on vacation as his ranch near Santa Barbara, California. Above, the 'horse' was a riding mower.Reagan FoundationPresident Ford and First Lady Betty chose Mauna Kea Beach, Hawaii on the Big Island for a getaway vacation in 1974, but they couldn’t escape the prying eyes of the press. Here, the president, a former All American football player at Michigan, turned his movie camera on a familiar photographer.David Hume Kennerly—Getty ImagesJohnson preferred his 2,700 acre Texas Hill country ranch to posh resorts, and he hosted guests there year-round. He owned 400 head of cattle and delighted in playing cowboy for visiting dignitaries. He also took guests for a ride in his tricked out amphibious car, surprising them by turning off road and into a pond.Bettmann/CorbisJohnson relaxes in his pool with his grandson Lyn and the First Family's new dog, Yuki, in 1968.Yoichi Okamoto—CorbisJFK began competitive sailing in his youth. The president often snuck away for a bit of solitude on the Honey Fitz, his 92-foot power yacht on the Potomac. But being a talented sailor, his favorite was the Manitou, a 62-foot sailing yacht he first spotted as a young senator. Robert Leroy Knudsen—National ArchivesIn 1928, Calvin and Grace Coolidge spent their last presidential Thanksgiving at a beautiful Italianate villa, the Swannanoa Country Club, near Rockfish Gap on the summit of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia. The palatial mansion reportedly pleased the first lady. APFDR's polio limited his vacation options. He began visiting Warm Springs, Georgia in 1924 for its curative waters and later built a 2000 acre polio treatment center nearby. He liked to cruise the Potomac on the presidential yacht and three times as President returned to Campobello, in New Brunswick, Canada.Bettmann/CorbisClinton, his daughter Chelsea, center, and wife Hillary walk with Buddy from the White House toward a helicopter as they depart for vacation en route to Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Robert A. Reeder—The Washington Post/Getty Images
