PRESIDENT Barack Obama has admitted hes far from the perfect father to his two daughters. In a letter to Malia and Sasha issued ahead of Fathers Day he said: I know I have been an imperfect father. I know I have made mistakes. There were many days out on the campaign trail when I felt like my family was a million miles away and I knew I was missing moments of my daughters lives that Id never get back. It is a loss I will never fully accept. Writing for a US magazine, Mr Obama called on other fathers to be involved with their childrens lives. We need fathers to step up, to realise that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one. Mr Obama also recalled the moment he became a father for the first time when daughter Malia was born 10 years ago. I think back to the day I drove Michelle and a newborn Malia home from the hospital nearly 11 years ago - crawling along, miles under the speed limit, feeling the weight of my daughters future resting in my hands, he said. I think about the pledge I made to her that day: that I would give her what I never had - that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father. Mr Obama, who has often spoken about the strength and support he derives from his family, was asked to write an open letter to Malia, 10, and Sasha, 8, by Parade magazine. The president reflected on his own childhood when his father was absent from his life. Obama was brought up by his single parent mum and grandparents. He said the experience of missing a father had taught him the importance of fatherhood. Daily Telegraph