Malia Obama was ready to strike out on her own after high school, let alone once she finished college.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still under her parents’ purview, if not always their roof.
It “was a lot of work” keeping daughters Malia, who’s turning 27 on July 4, and Sasha Obama, 24, out of the tabloids when they were kids, Michelle Obama admitted in April on SiriusXM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, “and it got harder as they got older.”
The former first lady explained, “They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things—and every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six.”
But while the Obamas were under the most glaring spotlight in the land, being a first kid wasn’t exactly a negative in the grand scheme of things.
Even though Malia Ann has since dropped the Obama from her professional moniker.
“We call that the Obama tax for them,” Michelle quipped. “You’ll have it the rest of your life, but you also have a lot of benefits.”
She added, “I’m trying to make this feel normal to them, because you don’t want them to start thinking, number one, they’re full of themselves, that any of this is about them and that their job is to go about their lives.”
After committing to Harvard following her graduation from Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C., Malia spent a gap year traveling and interning in New York, almost like a normal kid, not counting the Secret Service escort.
She started off with a trip to Liberia and Morocco in July 2016 with Sasha, their mom and grandmother Marian Robinson to promote the Let Girls Learn Initiative. The Obama family went on their usual summer getaway to Martha’s Vineyard.
And toward the end of that year, Malia spent 83 days in Peru and Bolivia, where she lived with a family in the town of Tiquipaya, a trip so unpublicized that no one knew she was gone until after she got back to the U.S.
“She was very humble, chatty, spoke Spanish very well,” Gregorio Mamani, one of the guides on a five-day hike Malia took through the Cordillera Real mountain range, told The New York Times. “She was mesmerized by the Bolivian landscape.” Minus the added security, all of those on the excursion were expected to look after themselves and Malia reportedly acquitted herself admirably, doing her share of the cooking and other chores.
She spent a few months as an intern at The Weinstein Company in early 2017 (after reports detailing years of sexual assault and harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein came out later that year, the Obamas said they were “disgusted”), her second entertainment gig after a stint on the set of Girls in 2015.
The Obama family spent 10 days vacationing in Bali. And then, that August…it was time for Michelle and Barack Obama to drop their eldest child off at Harvard.
“I was proud that I did not cry in front of her,” the former president said at an event about a month after moving Malia into her dorm. “But on the way back, the Secret Service was looking straight ahead pretending they weren’t hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough.”
Malia wasn’t the first-ever daughter of a former U.S. president to enroll at the storied Ivy League institution in Cambridge, Mass., but Caroline Kennedy in the 1970s didn’t have to deal with social media in the dorm where Facebook was created.
The eldest Obama daughter lived in the White House from when she was 10 years old to 18, young enough for a bit of an Eloise-at-the-Plaza type of experience but old enough to be privy to plenty of the criticism directed at her family from the vast world of cable news, Twitter (now X) and, more than a few times, Capitol Hill.
“When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal,” Michelle reflected to Kelly Ripa. “Imagine setting up the first play date or the first time the kids get invited to a play date. The process of having my children at your house meant that an advanced team had to come and question and search your house and ask if you had drugs and guns.”
There’s been no such thing as a presidency that didn’t exist under a microscope—Chelsea Clinton left for Stanford just in time, in the fall of 1997—but a lot of the mundane daily scrutiny usually saved for the president himself broadened to encompass the first lady and their children at an unprecedented level during the Obama years.
No stranger to attention because their dad was the president, Jenna Bush Hager and twin sister Barbara Bush offered some words of wisdom to the Obama sisters in 2017 about navigating life after the White House.
“Enjoy college. As most of the world knows, we did,” they wrote in an open letter. “And you won’t have the weight of the world on your young shoulders anymore. Explore your passions. Learn who you are. Make mistakes—you are allowed to.”
“Continue to surround yourself with loyal friends who know you, adore you and will fiercely protect you,” the continued. “Those who judge you don’t love you, and their voices shouldn’t hold weight. Rather, it’s your own hearts that matter.”
From the department of snoozy headlines, before she moved into school, Malia went to Lollapalooza in Chicago—and reportedly ended up needing to make a detour to an Apple Store when she lost her iPhone.
Otherwise, sheltered within the centuries-old walls of Harvard Yard, Malia had for all intents and purposes a very normal college experience, if not for the fame that preceded her. On day one of her freshman year she politely shook the hand of a Boston Globe reporter but declined an interview and wouldn’t offer any first-day-of-school anecdotes, but for the most part she was noticed yet left to her own devices.
Michelle said at a 2018 event that she did give Malia a key piece of advice: “‘Don’t end up on Page Six.’ I don’t know if she managed that.” (As dutifully reported by Page Six.)
Malia didn’t hide from the spotlight—she could be seen tailgating at football games and hanging out with friends, and even going on the occasional date—but she didn’t run toward it, either. And her fellow Crimson let her be, though her off-campus excursions were often snapped by long-lens-toting paparazzi.
But there really wasn’t any way that she could make people un-interested in her, whether she was spotted holding a cigarette at the football stadium or wearing braids and workout clothes after Soul Cycle.
“Sometimes we treat our children too preciously because of the issues they’ve dealt with,” Michelle said in November 2017 at the Obama Foundation summit in Chicago, per InStyle. “Barack and I, we thought about with Malia and Sasha, okay, we could’ve spent eight years feeling sorry for them that they were living in a bubble that every misstep for them would be on YouTube, that their privacy, they didn’t have access to their father in a way…We could’ve felt bad for them, and there would’ve been a truth there. But our view was this is their life, and we can’t apologize for the life they have because a whole lot of it is good.”
The Obamas’ hands-on-but-not-with-kid-gloves approach seems to have served both of their relatively drama-free daughters well.
“I threaten them that I’m going to buy an apartment near their campus and visit and sit in their classes, but that’s an idle threat,” Michelle told Entertainment Tonight in May 2017. “I’m going to be happy to see them thriving on campus, work study jobs, traveling and having all these wonderful independent experiences that are going to make them phenomenal people.”
Both daughters are now out in the world, Sasha graduating from USC in May 2023 and Malia celebrating the premiere of her short film The Heart at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The budding auteur followed that up by getting behind the camera to direct WNBA star A’ja Wilson’s latest Nike commercial.
“I think she’s so intelligent,” Swarm star Dominique Fishback told E! News in April 2023 of Malia, who was a writer on the Prime Video series. “She’s so cool. I just want to know what she wants to do next.”
And despite being a bold-faced name from day one, Malia wasn’t in for any special treatment, Swarm co-creator Donald Glover—whose company also produced The Heart—assured Vanity Fair.
“We can’t be easy on her just because she’s the president’s daughter,” he cracked. “Nah, she’s very down to earth, and cool. So, it’s not a problem at all.”
Nor does she seem like the “do you know who I am?” type.
Since graduating from Harvard with a degree in Visual and Environmental Studies in 2021, Malia has remained more tight-lipped than a member of the royal family.
Like, queen-level tight-lipped. She avoids interviews, stays out of the kind of trouble that ends up in public records and, if she has a social media presence, reserves it for a closely vetted inner circle.
Which is why, due in part to the D.C. machine that protected her but also thanks to her own graceful behavior, she has nary a scandal or even a questionable quote to her name.
“To see them grow up to be incredible women, independent women,” said fellow erstwhile first daughter Jenna of Malia and Sasha, “I mean, I think we knew they would be.”
From when they first moved into the White House, “we saw those bright lights even then,” the TODAY host told E! News in November 2022. “But to think about how much their lives—and mine—have changed in 14 years, makes me so proud, slightly emotional. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years.”
Their mom highlighted a particularly noticeable change, telling Ellen DeGeneres in April 2022 that both of her daughters had boyfriends—but, as tends to be the case, that was a bit of a misnomer.
Ellen recalled that she first met Malia and Sasha when their mom brought them to her show to watch the Jonas Brothers perform before the 2008 election.
“Now they’re bringing grown men home,” Michelle said. “Before it was just a pop band. Now, they have boyfriends and real lives.”
And thanks to Malia’s discrete ways, her real life is all her own.
But since they do indeed grow up so fast, take a stroll down memory lane with Malia and Sasha Obama through the years:
College Bound
After taking a gap year, Malia is enjoying her college years at the prestigious Harvard University. As for little sis Sasha, she is enrolled at the University of Michigan.
End of an Era
The Obama family don their finest ensembles for their final Christmas card in the White House.
Air Force Wonderful
The sisters stick close to their respective parents while arriving in Martha’s Vineyard for a weekend getaway in 2016.
Star Struck
Malia flashes her little sis an approving thumbs up while she earned some one-on-one time with none other than Ryan Reynolds at their first state dinner in 2016.
Rain, Rain Go Away
Upon touching down in Cuba in 2016, the Obama ladies look more than ready for their historic trip.
All Grown Up
Former President Barack Obama’s little girls prove they’re not so little anymore while arriving at the 2015 turkey pardoning over the Thanksgiving holiday.
That’s Amore
Malia and Sasha join their extremely accomplished mama on a trip to Italy in 2015.
Mama’s Girls
The three Obama women cuddled closely for an adorable snapshot taken while visiting the Great Wall of China in 2014.
Come On, Dad
The teenagers begrudgingly carry on the Turkey Day tradition in 2013.
Purple Reign
The pair rock matching purple coats for their father’s second inauguration ceremony after the 2012 presidential election.
Hello, America!
Right before delivering his 2012 acceptance speech, Obama graces the stage with the three most important women in his life.
Happy Holidays
Malia, Sasha and Michelle kick off the 2012 holiday season with the epic delivery of their 19-foot Christmas tree.
There’s Our Guy
The 2012 Democratic National Convention brought the pair and their mama together in celebration of Obama’s nomination.
Jingle Bells
The 2011 Christmas in Washington gala wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from its most high-profile residents.
Together for the Holidays
TNT’s Christmas in Washington event in 2010 brings the family together yet again.
Gobble, Gobble
The sisters are all smiles at their first-ever turkey pardoning event at the White House in 2009.
All Together Now
Malia and Sasha lovingly wrap their arms around their ‘rents for the official family portrait in 2009.
Rest and Relaxation
As is the tradition in the Obama family, the trio enjoys Christmas 2008 in Hawaii.
Meet the Obamas
The nation was introduced to the Obama girls early on during the 2008 presidential election.
Father-Daughter
A young Malia shares a bonding moment with her proud pops while on the campaign trail in 2007.
Humble Beginnings
When the White House was just a twinkle in this foursome’s eyes, Obama’s 2004 Senate run delivered this precious picture.
(Originally published July 2, 2018, at 12:55 p.m. PT)
