What Barack Obama's Relationship With His Grandparents Was Like

Barack Obama's presidency led to a considerable number of achievements for the former U.S. leader during his eight years in office. He rescued the economy after the biggest financial ruin the country had seen since the Great Depression. He expanded the parameters around eligibility for Medicaid, making health care much more accessible to a larger demographic. He even ordered the Special Forces raid of a secret compound in Pakistan, which ended in Osama Bin Laden's demise. While it's not up there in his top 10 achievements as president, Obama even made time during his presidency to enact a day to celebrate, with the rest of America, his love for his grandparents.

National Grandparents Day falls annually on the first Sunday of September after Labor Day, and it honors the love and sacrifices that grandparents make for their grandchildren. The official 2013 proclamation states: "We owe so much of who we are and what we have to our grandparents. With grit and dedication, they helped define a new age and open doors of opportunity for us all." As a doting grandchild, himself, Obama has made his appreciation for his own grandparents very apparent throughout his career.

When Barack Obama was 10 years old, he moved to Hawaii to live with his grandparents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, while his mother worked as an anthropologist in Indonesia. One of the biggest traits the 44th U.S. president says he inherited from his grandparents was their work ethic. In his 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention, he noted his grandfather's bravery and strength during his time in the Army after Pearl Harbor, as well as his grandmother's strenuous climb to a successful career. He added of his grandmother, "She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life."

Obama's grandfather died in 1992, just three years before his mother lost her battle to cancer. His grandmother, whom he referred to as "Toot," died in November 2008, shortly before her grandson won the presidential election. The politician has always shared his closeness to the couple who raised him, as well as the challenges they faced. In an interview with David Maraniss for his book "Barack Obama: The Story," Obama recounted his grandparents' struggles with alcoholism while he was growing up. Their heavy drinking after work reminded Obama of the characters in the hit TV drama "Mad Men." "It explains my grandparents, their tastes," he told Maraniss (via Associated Press).

Nonetheless, he admired his grandparents greatly, keeping their values close to his heart during his presidency. He was reminded of their personalities during the 2016 Democratic National Convention when he explained (via Associated Press), "They valued traits like honesty and hard work. Kindness and courtesy. Humility; responsibility; helping each other out." Those are the qualities Obama says he teaches his own children.