The only seven times Barack Obama shed tears during his eight years in office as US president

Dorothy Height, the “Godmother of American civil rights,” marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and passed away in 2010 at 98, still advocating into her nineties. In 2012, the Sandy Hook massacre left 20 children and six teachers dead, prompting an emotional Barack Obama to say, “You’re not alone in your grief.” At his 2017 farewell speech in Chicago,

Obama cried mentioning his family, saying, “I’m most proud to be your dad.” He also mourned his grandmother Madelyn Dunham’s death in 2008, noting, “She has gone home.” At Senator Daniel Inouye’s funeral in 2012, Obama reflected, “He hinted to me what might be possible in my own life.” In 2016, Obama pushed for new gun laws, saying Sandy Hook “gets me mad.” At a 2015 Carole King tribute, Aretha Franklin’s performance of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” moved Obama deeply.