Obama reflects on his "failings"
(CBS News) ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - No president since FDR has been re-elected with an economy this troubled.
When President Obama accepted his nomination last week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., he said he was "mindful of his own failings."
In his first interview since that speech, CBS News asked the president to be more specific.
More of Scott Pelley's interview with President Obama
Obama: Election year politics hurting progress
Obama: Some spending cuts won't help economy grow
Below is a transcript of his response:
Scott Pelley: You said in your acceptance speech that you are mindful of your own failings. What are they?
President Barack Obama: Well, I think Michelle could give you a much longer list.
Pelley: What is it about the work that you've done as President of the United States that you are not satisfied with that you had in mind when you wrote the words, "Mindful of my own failings?"
President Obama: You know, I am very proud of the work that we did to save the auto industry, the fact that we've created 4.6 million new jobs, half a million in manufacturing. The housing market has taken a very long time to come back. And we put forward programs initially in the first year that we thought would get more take up. They didn't move as fast as they could have. And so in the second year we got more aggressive, fine-tuned it. I think we're starting to see a lot more progress on that front.
But that's an example -- one of several -- in which you try something, it doesn't work. And then you try something again. And the point I wanted to make in the convention speech is that part of what makes America great, part of what makes our democracy great, is we're willing to try stuff. And if they don't -- if it doesn't work, then, you know, we fine tune it. We learn from our mistakes. And what I've learned as president is that the most important thing is knowing where you want to go. What's the North Star that is guiding you? And in my case that North Star is how do I make sure that every family that's willing to work hard out here can make it.