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>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY.
WELCOME BACK TO A "LATE SHOW."
HONOR TO BE SITTING DOWN WITH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
I TALKED TO YOUR WIFE ABOUT THIS.
Y'ALL SEEM STRIKINGLY NORMAL.
LIKE IF I STILL LIVED IN CHICAGO, IF I HAD STAYED THERE,
I'M SURE WE WOULD RUN INTO EACH OTHER.
>> WE WOULD HANG OUT.
>> Stephen: YOU SEEM LIKE PEOPLE WE WOULD KNOW.
NOT EVERYBODY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. SEEMS THAT WAY
AFTER BEING HERE FOR 40 YEARS.
THEY'RE LOVELY PEOPLE, BUT THEY DON'T SEEM LIKE JUST FOLKS.
>> RIGHT.
>> Stephen: WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU GOT FROM, AND YOU TOUCH ON
THIS IN THE BOOK, BEING A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, TO SNSHT,
TO PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO OUT, THAT ALLOWED YOU
TO ATTAIN A LITTLE BIT OF YOUR HUMANITY OR YOUR COMMONALITY OF
THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE?
>> YOU KNOW, I THINK PART OF IT WAS MY POLITICAL SUCCESS
HAPPENED LATE.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU THINK ABOUT, LET'S SAY, BILL CLINTON, HE WAS,
I THINK, THE YOUNGEST GOVERNOR EVER IN ARKANSAS.
JOE BIDEN WAS A U.S. SENATOR AT 29.
YOU KNOW, AT 40, I HAD JUST LOST A CONGRESSIONAL RACE, I MAXED
OUT ON MY CREDIT CARDS, YOU KNOW, I'M GOING TO THE GROCERY
STORE WITH MARIA AND SASHA IN TOW -- MALIA AND SASHA IN TOW.
ACTUALLY MALIA, BECAUSE SASHA WAS BORN A YEAR LATER.
AND, SO, WE HAD LIVED A NORMAL, MIDDLE CLASS LIFE WITH STUDENT
LOANS AND WASHING YOUR OWN CAR AND, YOU KNOW, WAITING FOR
LUGGAGE AT THE AIRPORT, YOU KNOW, COMING BACK FROM, YOU
KNOW, A VACATION.
AND, SO, WE THEN GET KIND OF SHOT OUT OF A CANON.
BUT YOU'RE FORMED BY THAT POINT, YOU KNOW.
AS I USED TO DESCRIBE TO FOLKS RIGHT AFTER I GAVE THAT SPEECH
AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, I WASN'T SMARTER THE
DAY AFTER THAT SPEECH THAN I HAD BEEN THE DAY BEFORE.
MY FIRST BOOK WAS NO DIFFERENT, THE ONE THAT SOLD 14,000 COPIES
AND THEN SOLD 3 MILLION COPIES AFTER THAT SPEECH, RIGHT.
IT'S JUST, SUDDENLY, YOU'RE GETTING ALL THIS ATTENTION.
SO, I THINK, FOR MICHELLE AND FOR ME, WE BOTH TOOK THE
OUTSIZED FAME WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.
AND THEN, AS I WRITE ABOUT IN THE BOOK, IT ALSO HELPED TO HAVE
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW AROUND, WHO IS THE LEAST PRETENTIOUS PERSON I
KNOW.
>> Stephen: I HAVE MET HER.
HE'S DOWN TO EARTH AND SHE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ALL THE FUSS,
AND, YOU KNOW, AND SHE WAS GREAT TO HAVE AROUND, ALSO, WITH THE
GIRLS.
I WRITE ABOUT THE FACT THAT PROBABLY MAYBE ONE OF MY
GREATEST SUCCESSES AND MICHELLE'S GREATEST SUCCESS IN
THOSE EIGHT YEARS WAS RAISING THESE GREAT GIRLS WHO DON'T HAVE
AN ATTITUDE AND DON'T FEEL ENTITLED, BUT PART OF IT IS
BECAUSE MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, IF SHE SAW THEM ACTING BRATTY OR -- YOU
GUYS HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING, WHY ARE YOU ACTING SPECIAL?
YOU'RE JUST HERE FOR THE RIDE, YOU KNOW.
AND THEY'D SUDDENLY GO, YOU'RE RIGHT, GRANDMA.
SO SHE WAS A HUGE BLESSING.
>> Stephen: IN THAT SPEECH IN 2004 IN THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL
CONVENTION, I WAS IN BOSTON WATCHING IT FROM ACROSS THE
STREET, WE WERE STRUCK -- I WAS WATCHING IT WITH ME AND JON
STEWART AND SOME OTHERS WERE WATCHING YOU GIVE THIS SPEECH
AND WERE SAYING, WHO'S THIS BARACK OBAMA GUY?
AND I BELIEVE THAT'S THE SPEECH WHERE YOU THREW IN I AM THE
GRANDSON OF A GOAT HERDER.
BOOM!
THAT IS THE HUMBLE BEGINNINGS NEUTRON BOMB.
DID YOU KNOW, LET'S PUT THIS IN HERE AND I'LL BLOW SON OF A MILK
MAN OFF THE STREENCHTS GOAT HERDER IS HARD TO TOP.
YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO LOG CABIN DAYS TO BEAT GOAT HERDER.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO PAY THE BILLS AGAIN.
EVERYBODY STICK AROUND.
BACK WITH MORE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
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