Obama’s Influential Grandmother Dies at the Age of 86

Adding a sad twist to an already hyper-eventful presidential campaign, Senator Barack Obama’s grandmother died late on Sunday. Obama made a public announcement on Monday, just one day before the election in which the Illinois senator may be chosen as the country’s first African American president. Madelyn Payne Dunham, Obama’s maternal grandmother, heavily influenced Obama’s life and raised him for several years with her husband Stanley in Honolulu, Hawaii at the time when her daughter lived overseas with her second husband. Said Obama, "She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me."

Upon learning of the news, Senator John McCain and his wife Cindy issued a statement offering condolences. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them as they remember and celebrate the life of someone who had such a profound impact in their lives." Dunham became part of Obama’s political narrative earlier in his campaign when he recounted an instance in his childhood during which he learned that his grandmother had a specific fear or mistrust of black men. Obama notes that the event was "like a fist in the stomach. I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers could still inspire their rawest fears."

Speaking of his grandmother’s death to reporters, Obama noted "She’s gone home. And she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears. I’m not going to talk about it too long because it is hard for me to talk about." Obama learned of the news on Monday morning while continuing his campaign in Florida.