"When I turn over the keys to the federal government to the next president of the United States," Obama told interviewer Jann S. Wenner. "I can say without any equivocation that the country is a lot better off: The economy is stronger, the federal government works better, and our standing in the world is higher. And so I can take great pride in the work we've done. I can take great satisfaction in the people we've helped."

"You start reading folks saying, 'Oh, you know, working-class families have been neglected,' or 'Working-class white families have not been paid attention to by Democrats,'" Obama told Rolling Stone. "Actually, they have. What is true, though, is that whatever policy prescriptions that we've been proposing don't reach, are not heard, by the folks in these communities. And what they do hear is Obama or Hillary are trying to take away their guns or they disrespect you."

"I think sitting behind that desk is sobering, and that it will have an impact on him as it has on every president," said President Obama. "But I think the most important constraint on any president is the American people themselves, of an informed citizenry that is active and participating and engaged."

"I think the thing that I will miss the most about this place, the thing that can get me sentimental — and I try not to get too nostalgic, because I still got a bunch of work to do — it's the team we built here. The number of young people in this place who are just amazing," Obama told Wenner.