STEVE KROFT:

So have you gotten into a routine?

BARACK OBAMA:

I have. You know, I-- typically work out in the morning. Michelle's often there with me.

STEVE KROFT:

What time?

BARACK OBAMA:

After the workout, have breakfast, read the papers, re-- read-- my morning security briefing. And then I come down here and talk to our National Security team. Then we talk to the economic team. After that, who knows? Anything goes. But-- typically-- between seven and 10:00 I sort of know what I'm doing.

STEVE KROFT:

And this is the living quarters.

BARACK OBAMA:

This is the living quarters, up on the second floor. We got a gym right over there-- up on the third floor. And-- the second floor is-- our bedroom's on this side, and-- we got a dining room on that side. And-- yeah, pretty nice digs.

STEVE KROFT:

How are you finding the job?

BARACK OBAMA:

It's exhilarating. It's challenging you know, I-- I find that-- the governance part of it, the decision making part of it-- actually comes-- comes pretty naturally. I think I've got a great team. I think we're making good decisions. The hardest thing about the job is staying focused. Because there's so many demands and decisions that are pressed upon you.

STEVE KROFT:

What's the hardest decision you've had to make in the last 60 days?

BARACK OBAMA:

Well, I would say that-- the decision to send more troops-- into Afghanistan. You know, I think it's the right thing to do. But it's-- a weighty decision because we actually had to make the decision prior to the completion of-- strategic review-- that-- we were conducting. When I make a decision to send 17 thousand young Americans to Afghanistan, you can understand that intellectually – but understanding what that means for those families, for those young people when you end up sitting at your desk, signing a condolence letter to one of the family members of a fallen hero, you’re reminded each and every day at every moment that the decisions you make count.

STEVE KROFT:What is the most frustrating part of the job?

BARACK OBAMA:

(SIGH) The-- the fact that-- you are often confronted with bad choices that flow from less than optimal decisions made a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, when you weren't here. A lot of times, when things land at my desk-- it's a choice between bad and worse. And as somebody pointed out to me-- the only things that land on my desk are tough decisions. Because, if they were easy decisions, somebody down the food chain's already made them."

STEVE KROFT:

Uh-huh (AFFIRM). How many decisions do you have to make a day?

BARACK OBAMA:

Can't count 'em.

STEVE KROFT:

Lots.

BARACK OBAMA:

Yeah, lots.

STEVE KROFT:

Every time somebody walks in your office.

BARACK OBAMA:

There's a decision. Otherwise, they don't get a meeting.

STEVE KROFT:

And you're briefed for all that before it happens.

BARACK OBAMA:

I am. I spend a lot of time reading. People keep on asking me, "Well, what are you reading these days?" Well, mostly briefing books. You know, you get a little time to read-- history or-- you know, policy books that are of interest. But there's a huge amount of information that has to be digested, especially right now. Because the complexities of Afghanistan-- are matched, maybe even dwarfed, by the complexities of the economic situation. And there are a lot of moving parts to all of that.

STEVE KROFT:

Do you take a day off?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

I do. Its never a full day, but typically Saturdays and Sundays. I’ll wander down to the oval office I’ll do some work, but I’ll still have time for the kids.

KROFT NARRATION:

ON MOST DAYS THE PRESIDENT SAYS HE AND THE FIRST LADY ARE ABLE TO HAVE A FAMILY DINNER WITH THEIR CHILDREN. AND HE USUALLY SEES HIS TWO DAUGHTERS IN THE AFTERNOON WHEN THEY COME HOME FFROM SCHOOL AND PAY HIM A VISIT IN THE WEST WING. HE CAN LOOK OUT THE WINDOW OF THE OVAL OFFICE, AND WATCH THEM PLAY ON THEIR NEW SWING SET.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

Pretty spectacular swing set. I have to say that-- I was not-- the purchaser of this. The admiral, our chief usher, Admiral Steve Rochon, took great interest when we said that we should get a swing set, and found what I assume must be-- the-- (CHUCKLE) Rolls Royce of swing sets.

STEVE KROFT:

You didn't have one of these when you were a kid?

BARACK OBAMA:

I sure did not. I thought (CHUCKLE) we were going to get like two swings. But-- but they went all out.

STEVE KROFT:

Have-- the girls had kids over after school?

BARACK OBAMA:

They have. And-- they've tested this out. And it-- it got a thumbs up.

STEVE KROFT:

Are they liking it here?

BARACK OBAMA:

You know, they-- they are adapting remarkably-- in ways-- that I just would not have expected. I mean--

STEVE KROFT:

Well, this is pretty cool.

BARACK OBAMA:

Well-- it's cool, but-- what's interesting is actually how unimpressed they are with it. (CHUCKLE) I mean they-- they're going to school. They are unchanged. They're the same sweet, engaging, happy-- unpretentious kids that they were…

STEVE KROFT:

And they're having fun.

BARACK OBAMA:

They do seem to be having fun. And-- and Michelle is thriving as well. I mean she just started a-- a-- a vegetable garden out here.

STEVE KROFT:

Ah, where's-- where's that?

BARACK OBAMA:
That's--
STEVE KROFT:

Is that nearby? Is that--

BARACK OBAMA:

1No, that's pretty far down. But they just actually-- all the chefs-- from the White House staff-- went down there with her. And they started digging-- digging ground. And they're going to be planting stuff. And this is part of the message that she wants to send about good nutrition.

KROFT NARRATION:

MICHELLE OBAMA HAD BROKEN GROUND FOR THE VEGETABLE GARDEN A FEW HOURS EARLIER ON SOUTH LAWN—WITH THE HELP OF SOME WASHINGTON SCHOOL CHILDREN. JUST A SMALL PATCH OF LAND ON THE SPRAWLING WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS THAT COVER 18 ACRES. AS FOR THE 55-THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT HOUSE, THE FIRST FAMILY IS STILL EXPLORING THE 132 ROOMS AND 35 BATHROOMS.

STEVE KROFT:

Have you gotten lost in here yet?

BARACK OBAMA:

I have. Repeatedly. (LAUGHTER)

STEVE KROFT:

Harry Truman called the White House-- "The Great White Jail." And-- (CHUCKLE) and-- and Bill Clinton said he couldn't make up his mind whether it was the-- finest public housing in America or-- the jewel of the prison system.

BARACK OBAMA:

The bubble that the White House represents is tough. And one of the things that I am constantly struggling with is how to break out of it. And I've taken to the practice of reading-- ten letters selected from the 40,000 that we get-- every night, just to hear from voices outside of my staff. The inability to just go, and you know, sit at a corner coffee shop and have a chat with people, or just listen to what folks are saying at the next table, that I think, is something that, as president, you’ve gotta constantly fight against.