Washington, December 24: As they approach their 20th wedding anniversary next fall, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle revealed personal insights about themselves and their relationship during a recent interview in the Green Room of the White House.
In an exclusive pre-Christmas interview with an ABC News host, the US First Lady and the 44th President answered questions drawn by the host from the late-nineteenth century Proust Questionnaire, which is a series of personality questions made famous by French author Marcel Proust.
The first question put before them was about the trait they “deplore” in themselves as well as in others.
“Laziness. Nothing frustrates me more than when people aren’t doing their jobs. The thing actually that I most dislike is cruelty. I can’t stand cruel people. And if I see people doing something mean to somebody else, just to make themselves feel important it really gets me mad. But, with myself, since I tend not to be a mean person, you know, if I get lazy, then I get mad at myself,” ABC News quoted the president as saying.
“When people are unwilling to compromise. I just think that particularly in a society with big views, big differences, that, you know, the truth is often somewhere right in the middle. And, a lot of times, we don’t want to give up anything. And I don’t like it when I see that in myself,” Michelle said.
The next question was “on what occasion do you lie?”.
“Usually, the only time I lie is very personal interactions with family members, who you say, ‘You look great,’ and they don’t. ‘Wonderful dress…’ Uh, not so much,” the president said.
“Things where the truth would hurt other people,” Michelle said.
“Right, the things where truth would hurt other people. Not too many big things. I said during the campaign that I’ll always tell you what I think, and I will, always tell you where I stand. I’m not perfect, but you’ll know what I believe,” the president said.
“I think the same thing. When it would hurt somebody else’s feelings. When the truth isn’t helpful,” Michelle said.
The last and most interesting question was the biggest misconception about the 50-year-old.
“Me being detached, or Spock-like, or very analytical. People who know me know that I am a softie. I mean, stuff can choke me up very easily. The challenge for me is that in this job I think a lot of times the press or how you come off on TV people want you to be very demonstrative in your emotions. And if you’re not sort of showing it in a very theatrical way, then somehow it doesn’t translate over the screen,” the president said.
“Someone said that there’s a perception out there that I feel confined or trapped in some way. To the extent that people have that perception, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I feel very blessed in this role,” Michelle added.