President Obama says he "didn't overpromise" on his administration's plan to repair the struggling U.S. economy. "And I didn't underestimate how tough this was going to be," he added in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

Instead, Obama said, he has always believed the economic recovery would be a "long-term project."

"For individual Americans who are struggling right now, they have every reason to be impatient. Reversing structural problems in our economy that have been building up for two decades, that's going to take time," Obama said. "It's going to take more than a year, it's going to take more than two years, it is going to take more than one term. It probably takes more than one president."

Less than a year before voters will decide whether to give Obama a second term, 54 percent say he doesn't deserve one in the latest CBS News poll, released today.  Obama's approval rating stands at 43 percent.

Obama told CBS he likens his role in managing the economy to being a ship's captain. 

"No matter how well we're steering the ship, the boat's rocking back and forth, people are getting sick. They're being buffeted by the winds and the rain. At a certain point if you ask them are you enjoying the ride right now, folks are going to say no. And are they going to say do you think the captain's doing a good job? People are going to say you know a good captain would have had us in smooth waters and sunny skies at this point," he said.

"I don't control the weather. What I can control are the policies we've put in place to make a difference in people's lives."