Obama tears up over nurse who wrote to him at age 7

When Emily Smith was just 7 years old and grieving her mother's death from cancer, she wrote a letter to President Barack Obama. She told him one of her mother's final acts was voting for him.

Obama, who lost his own mother to cancer at a young age, wrote back immediately. "My mom died of cancer too, so I know how you feel," he told Emily, adding that both their mothers were surely in heaven and proud of them.

That letter became one of thousands Obama answered during his presidency. But this story didn't end there.

Now 24, Smith recently graduated with her bachelor's degree and became a registered nurse specializing in mental health. When she learned her childhood letter was on display at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center, she recorded a video message for the former president.

"I feel a lot of emotions right now," Smith said in the video. "Mainly peace and pride knowing that my mother's legacy continues to live on, not only through myself, but now at the Obama Presidential Center."

During a recent podcast appearance on Today's Glass Half Full, host Craig Melvin showed Obama the video. The former president became visibly emotional watching Smith's message.

Obama explained that he made a point of reading and responding to 10 letters from Americans every single day during his eight years in office. "Those letters would come every night, along with a stack of memorandum about war and peace and the economy," he said.

Some of his favorite letters came from people who disagreed with nearly all his policies. Even then, they wrote to say they appreciated that he seemed like a good dad.

Why This Inspires

Those nightly letters became Obama's compass as president. "I used to tell my staff, 'You run elections and get elected. But the endpoint is, are you delivering something to make the lives of folks a little bit better who sent you?'" he recalled.

The letters reminded him that every decision he made about Social Security, war, or the environment wasn't abstract. They affected real people "doing amazing things in the face of hardship."

Smith thanked Obama for "everything he's done for this country and that he continues to do," as well as for reminding her "to dream big dreams." Her journey from a grieving 7-year-old to a mental health nurse helping others shows the power of those dreams coming true.

Obama hopes Smith's letter and others like it at the Presidential Center offer proof that America can still be "a multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, raucous, noisy democracy" where leaders remember who they serve.