Obama says gratified that US economy is turning around for the better

Washington, July 29 (ANI): Reflecting on 20 months of crises that have plagued his administration, President Barack Obama has said that he is gratified that the depressed American economy is in turnaround mode, and praised the inspiration he draws from American people for doing his job.

Appearing on ABC's "The View", which was presented by a panel that included veteran journalist Barbara Walters and actress Whoopi Goldberg, and will be shown in full today, Obama tells the panel it is "fun" to be on the show for the first time since he became president.

"Where do I begin here?" he jokes.

The challenges included, "a non-stop effort to restart the economy, we have also had the oil spill, we have also had two wars, we have also had a pandemic-H1N1 that we had to manage," he explains.

"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.

He adds: "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..."

Obama says: "Of course, you think about what the American people have gone through losing jobs, seeing their home values go down, their 401Ks [retirement savings plans] 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."

On a brighter note, the president nominated a weekend vacation in Maine this month with his daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, as one of his recent highlights.

"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," he said. (ANI)