From me growing up with a large family and everybody singing around the Christmas tree, it was a wonderful, wonderful upbringing.

Naughtiness is a part of growing up. It starts when you're a toddler and never ends.

La Marseillaise' sounds best ringing around a packed sports stadium. Its lyrics evoke revolution, conflict, taking up arms, preparing for the fight - everything my music does not! Even in our largely peaceful times, it retains its rousing, martial air that gives it a power that hasn't diminished.

I know I haven't spent a lot of time with my children because my job takes me all over the world and takes me away from my children, but I've given them a good education and security. If anything happens to me, my children's future is well-secured. So I think I've done well as a father.

When the state or federal government control the education of all of our children, they have the dangerous and illegitimate monopoly to control and influence the thought process of our citizens.

I think one of the problems when we discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict is people talk too much in terms of, 'What's your preference?,' like politics is a Chinese menu - I'll take one from column A and two from column B. That's not what politics is about.

We have held forums here at the White House on workplace flexibility, and the first major bill signed into law by President Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Lilly was here a few weeks ago because we were trying very hard to push paycheck fairness through the Congress. Unfortunately, we fell two votes short.

I have great confidence in Taiwan's democracy. I have great confidence in the universal value and in basic human rights, and I have great confidence that referenda will eventually take root and become part of our daily lives in Taiwan.