Michelle Obama's new novel 'Becoming' is causing waves all over the country and, apart from giving a stinging criticism of Donald Trump, the book also speaks about quite a few sweet moments that the former First Family shared, including untold details about daughter Malia’s prom night. According to the book, which officially hits the stands on Tuesday, a 16-year-old Malia reportedly begged the First Lady and the President to "be cool" on her special night. “Just be cool please, okay?” she said to her parents.
In 2015 spring, Malia told her parents that she’d been invited to prom “by a boy she kind of liked,” wrote Michelle in the book. At the time, Malia and her sister Sasha, who were inherently First Daughters owing to their father's presidential post, weren’t permitted to travel in vehicles with anyone who wasn’t in the Secret Service.
But, for that particular day, Barack decided to make an "exception" for his daughter's sake. “On the appointed evening, her date arrived in his car,” the former first lady wrote. She added, “...clearing security at the southeast gate of the White House, following the path up and around the South Lawn by which heads of state and other visiting dignitaries normally arrived, and then gamely — bravely — walking into the Dip Room dressed in a black suit.”
It was then that Malia asked her parents to be cool. “Her embarrassment [had] already [begun] to smolder as we rode the elevator downstairs,” she wrote in the book. “I was barefoot, and Barack was in flip-flops. Malia wore a long black skirt and an elegant bare-shouldered top. She looked beautiful and about twenty-three years old.”
While Malia “still laughs” and remembers their encounter with her date as “a bit excruciating,” Michelle says in her book that she and her husband did manage to pull off their daughter’s request after all. However, there is a special reason as to how the former president was able to calmly handle the situation, something he discussed in a 2016 interview.
“The truth is, I’m pretty relaxed about it for two reasons,” he said at the time. “One is Michelle — she’s such a great example of how she carries herself, her self-esteem, not depending on boys to validate how you look or not letting yourself be judged by anything other than your character and intelligence.” He added, “Hopefully I’ve been a good example in terms of how I show respect to my wife.” The second reason he doesn’t worry about his daughters is more straightforward: “They have Secret Service.”
When remembering Malia’s prom night, Michelle also delved into how she also took comfort in knowing her daughter had a Secret Service detail. “Barack and I shook the young man’s hand, snapped a few pictures, and gave our daughter a hug before sending them on their way,” she wrote.
“We took what was perhaps unfair comfort in the knowledge that Malia’s security detail would basically ride the boy’s bumper all the way to the restaurant where they were going for dinner before the dance and would remain on quiet duty throughout the night.”
