Transcript: Robin Roberts Interviews President Barack Obama

Read Robin Robert's exclusive interview with President Barack Obama.

ABC News

January 20, 2009, 5:57 PM ET

2 min read

Jan. 20, 2009— -- The following is a transcript of Robin Roberts' exclusive interview with President Barack Obama, on his opening day as the nation's first black president.

ROBIN ROBERTS: "Mr. President." Sound good, doesn't it.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: It's got a certain ring to it.

ROBERTS: It was beautiful, watching you dance with your wife, just one of the highlights of this long day. When you walked out and you saw the sea of humanity all the way back to Lincoln, what are you going to remember most?

OBAMA: I think it is just the way that the American people have made this about more just than an election. You get a sense that kids are rethinking their priorities, neighbors are starting to think about each other differently. And that kind of spirit, part of what I wanted to communicate in my inauguration speech, which was that government is going to work, we're going to make it work. But it's ultimately the American people coming together that is going to determine what we accomplish and how we get through some very difficult challenges.

ROBERTS: During, taking the oath of office, Chief Justice Roberts inadvertently switched some words up, you were trying to help him out there a little bit it seemed with your look.

OBAMA: Well, listen, I think we were up there, we've got a lot of stuff on our minds and he actually, I think, helped me out on a couple of stanzas there. Overall, I think it went relatively smoothly and I'm very grateful to him.

ROBERTS: In a few hours you'll be walking in the Oval Office -- what's the first thing on your To Do list?

OBAMA: Well, we're going to have a lot of work. So, tonight, probably, I'm going to soak in the atmosphere. Starting tomorrow we'll be making a series of announcements both on domestic and foreign policy that I think will be critical for us to act swiftly on. We're not going to be able to delay, but there's been a lot of things that have been pressing. Fortunately, we've seen Congress immediately start working on the economic recovery package. Getting that passed and putting people back to work -- that's going to be the thing we'll be most focused on.