President Obama on President Obama: 'Maybe I could have done that a little better'

Brett T. | 5:05 PM on February 11, 2016

President Obama took a stroll down memory lane yesterday, with the president stopping to spend some time in old office where he served as an Illinois state senator and was known as the young, charismatic and idealistic politician with unlimited potential and a tendency to vote “present.”

Christi Parsons of the Los Angeles Times had the opportunity to visit the president as he relived the old, less contentious days, even before his very first presidential beer summit. The president even admitted that he was “partly to blame for the hyperpartisan environment by failing to reach out more to Republicans.”

It was this quote that the Times chose to pull from the interview and highlight: “There is no doubt that every step of the way, every day that I’m in that office, maybe I could have done that a little better,” he said.

@latimespolitics @latimes Ya think?

— Jim Hanford (@RetiringOne) February 11, 2016

President Obama on his legacy: https://t.co/hH4AFFecIY pic.twitter.com/Cioe66b1VL

— L.A. Times Politics (@latimespolitics) February 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/EF517_V2/status/697869053096906752

@EF517_V2 @latimespolitics @latimes It's like they think he actually has the ability to reflect on his mistakes. Narcissists do not.

— Redneck Renee (@jrwensel) February 11, 2016

@latimespolitics The Legacy of @potus will be he divided America culminating with a Socialist vs a Nationalist in the 2016 General Election

— Niel Bohr (@bohratom) February 11, 2016

@latimespolitics @cbellantoni No, he did MORE than enough to screw this nation up. Come Jan '17 we begin undoing EVERYTHING he imposed!

— Elise StefaniKKK, Low IQ Human Scum (@TinPotDickTator) February 11, 2016

This was the president who gave himself a “good, solid B+” for his first year’s performance in the White House. Maybe that’s part of his curse of always thinking he could a done a little better, or worked harder to forge relationships with Republicans and be less of a polarizing figure. “I suspect that when I’m done being president, suddenly people will start saying, ‘Oh, you know that guy, he wasn’t a bad guy.”