Excerpts:Obama on "The View" Select Conversations from Pres Obama's Historic Appearance on"The View"

Excerpts: Obama on "The View"SELECT CONVERSATIONS FROM PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S
HISTORIC APPEARANCE ON “THE VIEW”

Full Interview Airs Tomorrow, Thursday, July 29 at 11:00 a.m., ET on ABC

(Conversation #1)

BARBARA WALTERS: We all remember that day. This is a historic day for “The View.” We are honored to welcome the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thank You. Thank You. Thank you very much. This is fun.

BW: Well we hope so. But you know, you've gone through a little bit of a beating the last month. Do you really think that being on a show with a bunch of women, five women who never shut up, is going to be calming?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Look, I was trying to find a show that (First Lady) Michelle (Obama) actually watched, and so I thought this is it, right here. All those new shows, she's like, eh, let me get the clicker

BW: Have you ever watched us?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Of course

BW: No kidding?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Of course. Well, this is the second time I've been on now.

BW: That's right. That doesn't mean you have to watch it.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG/JOY BEHAR/SHERRI SHEPHERD/ELISABETH HASSELBECK/BW: The third time

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Actually I think it's the third time. You did the book first, I wasn't here, but I heard. You did the book first, and then when you were running, and now sir, here you are, as President of the United States of America

(Conversation #2)

BW: But you know we said this has been a kind of difficult time for you, between the oil and questions of racism and Afghanistan and a few other little things. We understand that you sit at night with your daughters and your wife and you do the rose and the thorn, right? Do you still do it?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We still do it. Although Malia is now at camp and Sasha is away at a friend's house, so it's just me and Michelle.

BW: We'll do it for you. We'll do it for you. In the last month what has been the rose? And what has been the thorn?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well in the last month the rose has to be a couple of days we took in Maine with Michelle and Sasha and Malia, and we went on bike rides and hikes, and the girls are getting old enough now where they're not quite teenagers yet, so they still like you (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER), but they are full of opinions and ideas and observations, and it's just a great age. Malia just turned 12 and Sasha just turned nine, and it couldn't have been a better couple of days.

BW: Thorn?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, where do I begin here? (AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)

BW: At the top.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Obviously the country has gone through a tough stretch since I took office. When I was sworn in, I know you showed the Inauguration, we were losing at that time 750,000 jobs per month, the economy was shrinking at a pace of about 6.5%, which is unheard of since the Great Depression, and so the last 20 months has been a non-stop effort to restart the economy, to stabilize the financial system, to make sure that we're creating jobs again instead of losing them, and in the midst of all that we've also had the oil spill, we've also had two wars, we've also had a pandemic, H1N1, that we had to manage, and a whole host of other issues. What has been gratifying is the fact that the economy now is starting to stabilize and grow again, and what's been satisfying is seeing how resilient the American people are. As much as you said it's been tough for me, the truth is, it's not tough for me; you know I've got people, pundits on the news who may say things about me.

BW: You noticed?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Of course, you think about what the American people have gone through, losing jobs, seeing their home values go down, their 401Ks declining, those are the folks who
I draw inspiration from because I get letters every night from them and I read them. And as tough as it's been, they remain hopeful, they remain optimistic about America, and so I don't spend a lot of time worrying about me. I spend a lot of time worrying about them.

http://thepage.time.com/excerpts-obama-on-the-view/