Video: President Obama Delivers Inspirational Father’s Day Message

“I know how important it is to have a dad in your life, because I grew up without my father around. I felt the weight of his absence,” he said in the message delivered as his weekly address the day before the observance of Father’s Day. “So, for Michelle and our girls, I try every day to be the husband and father my family didn’t have when I was young. And every chance I get, I encourage fathers to get more involved in their children’s lives, because what makes you a man isn’t the ability to have a child—it’s the courage to raise one.” “And while there’s nothing that can replace a parent, any of us can do our part to be a mentor, a sounding board, a role model for a kid who needs one,” he said. “Earlier this year, I launched an initiative called My Brother’s Keeper—an all-hands-on-deck effort to help more of our young men reach their full potential.