President Barack Obama appeared on the ABC daytime talk show The View on Thursday, July 29, 2010. The appearance was historic, as it was the first appearance by a sitting president on a daytime talk show. Barbara Walters appeared on the show, making her first appearance on the show since having heart surgery early in the summer. Obama was interviewed by Barbara Walters and The View co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Although The View is a show that promotes different women with differing viewpoints, the left leaning hosts typically talk over the right leaning hosts, so the show was more of a forum to allow Obama to list his accomplishments than a hard interview. The show opened with a video of Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. Barack Obama made history as the first black president of the United States. Obama received a warm greeting from the audience and from the co-hosts of The View.
Barbara Walters stated that Obama has been taking a beating lately and asked if being on an interview show with five women who never shut up would be calming. Obama said that he was trying to find a show that First Lady Michelle Obama would watch. Obama stated that this was his second time on the show, but the co-hosts chimed in and corrected him, reminding him that it was his third appearance on The View. Obama appeared on the show twice before being elected to the presidency.
The Rose and the Thorn
Barbara Walters asked Obama whether he and his family still did 'The Rose and the Thorn,' a review of events that looks at the positive and negative. Obama replied that they still do it, but right now it is just with Michelle, because daughters Malia and Sasha are away with other activities. Walters then asked, 'In the last month what has been the rose? And what has been the thorn?'
Obama's rose was the recent family vacation to Maine, '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, 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.
To answer the question about what the thorn was, Obama joked, 'Where do I begin?' Obama talked about the challenges facing the country, including the job loss situation, the shrinking economy, the Gulf Oil Spill, two wars and the H1N1 pandemic. '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. Obama continued '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.'
President Obama and Popular Culture
Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is getting married on July 31, 2010. Obama said that he was not invited to the wedding, and rightfully so, because having two presidents at one wedding would cause a commotion with the added security. He then said that when his daughters got married, the Clintons would not be invited, for the same reason.
In a quick question and answer session, Obama revealed that he knew that Lindsay Lohan was in jail, and that Mel Gibson was being threatened with jail. Obama did not know who Snooki (Jersey Shores) was. The president does not have an iphone, but does have an ipod. When asked what songs he had on the ipod, Obama said he has everything on there, including Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra and Marie Callas. He admitted that he did not have Justin Bieber, but that he had met Bieber at the White House and he was a 'very nice young man.'
The View offered President Barack Obama a forum to get an overview of his story out to the country in a relaxed and admiring environment.
