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PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's good to see ya!
INTERN QUESTION: So, we've heard a
lot in the past Speaker Series that we've had with all the amazing staff
about your relentless optimism.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I
am...relentlessly optimistic [imitating in good humor].
INTERN QUESTION: I was wondering if
you could talk a little bit more about that -- how you remain
optimistic; or maybe you're not, but people still think that you are.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Ahhh. Some of this
is temperamental. People just have different temperaments. I -- I tend
to be a pretty happy guy. I'm pretty sure this is because I was born in
Hawaii. And so I spent most of my early years in really pleasant weather
all the time, splashing in waves and things. That helped.
As I get older, and certainly in this job, what -- what helps me a lot is taking the long view on things. I -- I think so much pessimism and so much stress arises out of looking at things in this very narrow here and now. But the day-to-day sort of ups and downs and swings, it's like the weather. I mean, you know, okay, get an umbrella sometimes. Sometimes you take off your jacket. But if you can keep your eye on the long view...not only does that relieve stress, but it also allows you to make better decisions.
The things that last, the things that are important
usually have to do with, how did you behave? How did you -- How'd you
treat other people? Did you work as hard as you could have? Did you do
your best? The things that you have control over. When I'm on my
deathbed, the things I will remember will be, you know, walking a
four-year-old Malia to the park. I'm not going to remember some
headline. I think that's helpful. But that's just me. It's mostly the
Hawaii thing.
INTERN QUESTION: What kind of legacy
would you like to leave in the African-American community?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's hard for me to
say what I've meant to the African-American community be -- I --I can
say what Michelle's meant to the African-American community. Michelle's
the bomb. What concretely I can say is that the work this
Administration's done has made a difference in the lives of people who
are struggling. And those folks are disproportionately people of color.
So, whether it's the
Affordable Care Act and making sure people have
health care, or it's, you know, expanding Pell Grants, or it's, you
know, programs to deal with low-income communities to help them rebuild
and provide better job training, you know, in each of those areas, there
are lot of people who are better off than they otherwise would have been
because of the concrete actions that we took.
There's a second category of issues that have to -- that have to do with
government action and are specifically related to civil rights, voting
rights. We now have an outstanding
Civil Rights Division in the Justice
Department that is actively filing suits and winning lawsuits to make
sure people have the right to vote, to make sure that discriminatory
practices are rooted out. You know, that's a -- that's another category.
I'd -- I'd put in that same category the work we've been doing around
criminal justice reform and reshaping how we do commutations and, you
know, how we are working with law enforcement around best practices for
policing. All right, so that's a whole category of issues.
And then, you know, there's just the cultural and psychological issues.
It's interesting. I...think the impact may be not just with, you
know, black kids taken for granted -- that somebody who looks like them
can be President, but their white peers taken for granted -- that
somebody that doesn't look like them can be President. All of you are
young enough that, in some ways, it's plausible to you maybe that race
relations have gotten worse; but actually it's a testimony to how much
better they've gotten that this shocks you; evidence that, you know,
there may be racial bias in our criminal justice system, you're --
you're hurt; whereas 25, 30 years ago, that was a given. So -- So,
sometimes progress involves improvement but then raising expectations.
Things are a lot better but now our expectations are a lot higher.
Look, we -- we, you know, we got -- we got a long way to go when it
comes to -- to racial issues. You know, history can go backwards as well
as forwards.1
But the overall trajectory, I think, is positive. And the
-- the caution I have for this cohort, because, you know, there's
probably some self-selection going on. You guys are -- if you're
interning here with Obama, then you're probably -- you have certain --
you're more likely to have certain political views. So -- So, I just
want to caution all of you to make sure that in wanting to improve race
relations, you -- you don't become so rigid and sensitive in terms of
your own views that instead of opening up dialogue, [you] sort of
harden lines and divisions.
All right. All right, guys' turn. Yes sir, right here.
INTERN QUESTION: How do you deal
with, you know, knowing when to compromise, and how do you learn how to
compromise, and how to more or less stick to your guns?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Maybe -- Maybe my
rule of thumb is...if the issue we're working on, I've got a particular
objective, and the compromise thwarts that objective, then that's a bad
compromise. If the compromise makes things better, but just not as good
as I think they need to be, then my instinct is that's a good
compromise. And probably the best example of this is the debate we had
around healthcare. Once we get the -- the structure in place, it's like
a starter home. And it would be nice if we had, you know, granite, you
know, countertops in the kitchen, but we can't afford those yet. There's
no porch. But it -- it beats sleeping outside. And I think I've been
proven right on this be -- because I've got 20 million people with
health insurance who didn't have it before.
Now...it's -- it's far from
our ideal, but every single step in...social progress in this country
has started with a starter home. The political process is in this
country is incremental [sic]. Democracies of our sort require reform as
a general proposition and not revolution. And that's okay. You
know...there's nothing wrong with better. Because you -- you hold out
for the best and that means that whoever was going to be helped by
better, you know, doesn't have healthcare that year or isn't, you know,
isn't getting as much help on going to college as they otherwise would
have.
All right, well you guys -- you guys have been great. I always say this
to all of you, so...even though it's boilerplate, I'm going to repeat
it: Don't get bored. Don't get cynical. You guys are the most privileged
people at the most prosperous, secure period in human history. And so,
no griping and...no moping. The possibilities of -- of what you can do
are...enormous. And that doesn't mean, you know -- becoming President
involves a lot of luck. Becoming, you know, Steve Jobs or, you know,
Quentin Tarantino, you know, that -- that requires a...there are a
certain amount of breaks that you get. It's not because you're so much
better than everybody else. Being Picasso's because you're better than
everybody else. But...a lot of times it's just, you know, happenstance
or things worked out. But being useful and having a satisfying life and
making a contribution, that is entirely within your control. Orient
yourself towards having an impact and making a difference, and you will.
And...you'll be happy doing it.
All right? What have I got here? You've just been waiting for this. Oh,
this is so nice. Look at this. And, like, glitter on the sides. You got
help, didn't you? Your parents helped you. It's just like the science
projects.
INTERN COMMENT: Yeah, absolutely.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is so nice.
Well, thank you, everybody.
INTERN COMMENT: Yeah, happy
birthday, almost.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right. Almost. Good luck,
everybody. You're going do great.
1 Notwworthy paradox
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