President Obama's Quote About His Mother's Unconditional Love Will Make You Choke Up

When you think about Barack Obama's upbringing in Hawaii to his run as Illinois senator and his presidency of the United States, it's safe to consider him a success story by all measures. During a recent interview with CNN's David Axelrod for The Axe Files podcast, Obama reflected on his childhood and how it played a role in his achievements. "For all the ups and downs of our lives, there was never a moment where I didn't feel as if I was special, that I was not just this spectacular gift to the world," Obama said of his mother Ann Dunham's parenting style.

Obama has previously attributed his accomplishments to his late mother, writing in his 2004 memoir Dreams From My Father how Dunham's love played a huge part in his successful career. During the candid podcast chat with Axelrod, who used to be Obama's senior adviser, the president revealed what he learned about unconditional love from Dunham, who gave birth to him when she was just 18 years old.

"In some ways, by the time I was 12, 13, she's interacting with me almost like a friend as well as a parent," Obama recalled. "I didn't always necessarily handle that well. It's not sort of a recipe for ideal parenting. But what I did learn was that unconditional love makes up for an awful lot, and I got that from her."

Dunham died in 1995 at the age of 52, a year before Barack Obama was sworn in as United States Senator from Illinois. Listen to the entire 58-minute interview — including Obama's description of his mother's "eccentric ways" at the 18-minute mark — here.