"Look, by dint of biography, by dint of experience, the basic..." — Barack Obama

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Look, by dint of biography, by dint of experience, the basic optimism that I articulate and present publicly as President is real. It’s what I teach my daughters. It is how I interact with my friends and with strangers. I genuinely do not assume the worst, because I’ve seen the best so often. So it is a mistake that I think people have sometimes made to think that I’m just constantly biting my tongue and there’s this sort of roiling anger underneath the calm Hawaiian exterior. I’m not that good of an actor.

— Barack Obama

as transcribed by David Remnick

Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency

Presidency Optimism

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