Obama reflects on 20 months of crises

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday reflected on 20 months of crises that have plagued his administration, in a rare interview with a daytime television talk show.

Obama taped an appearance with ABC's "The View" which is presented by a panel including veteran journalist Barbara Walters and actress Whoopi Goldberg. It will be shown in full on Thursday.

In brief excerpts released by ABC, Obama reflected on a difficult last 20 months, joking "where do I begin here?"

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," Obama said.

But Obama said he was gratified to see the economy growing again and said that though he had been getting a tough ride from the pundits, the plight of the American people was what mattered.

"I don't spend a lot of time worrying about me, I spend a lot of time worrying about them."

On a lighter note, the president also praised his daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, saying they were "full of ideas, and opinions and observations -- it's just a great age."

He also nominated his weekend vacation in Maine this month as one of his recent highlights.

Obama earlier held an event at a sandwich store in New Jersey to promote his plan for small businesses, and was later to attend two fundraisers in New York City for his Democratic Party.