Obama walked out to the now seemingly obligatory screams and cheers from the audience before kissing all five of the show’s female hosts – including Whoopi Goldberg.
“Well this is fun,” Obama exclaimed, before immediately being brought back to earth by the 80-year-old Walters, one of the most revered broadcast journalists in the US.
“Well we hope so,” Walters said. “But you know you’ve gone through a little bit of a beating over the last month, do you really think being on a show with five women who never shut up is going to be calming?”
Unperturbed, the president claimed he had been “trying to find a show that Michelle [Obama] actually watched”, adding: “And so I thought this is it, right here.”
Despite Walters’ warning, the footage released so far suggest the appearance was actually relatively calming, with Obama appearing relaxed, talking about family life in the White House.
Asked by Walters to describe “what has been the rose, and what has been the thorn in the last month”, the president was quick to describe his floral moment.
“The rose has to be a couple of days we took in Maine with Michelle, Sasha and Malia, and we went on bike rides and hikes,” he said.
“The girls are getting old enough now where they’re not quite teenagers yet, so they still like you,” he explained, to laughter from the audience.
“They’re full of opinions and ideas and observations, and its just a great age.”
Describing the thorn, Obama had to think a little harder – protesting “where do I begin here”.
“Obviously the country has gone through a tough stretch since I took office,” he said.
The president recalled the “non-stop effort” to stabilise the economy over the last 20 months, adding that the oil spill, two wars and the H1N1 pandemic had also had to be managed, however he insisted that “as much as you [Walters] said it’s been tough for me, the truth is it’s not tough for me”.
“I’ve got people, pundits on the news who may say things about me, but you think what the American people have gone through . . . those are the folks who I draw inspiration from.”
“So I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about me, I spend a lot of time worrying about them.”
George Bush appeared on the Dr Phil show in 2004 but the interview was pre-recorded at their ranch months before it aired.