By . Daniel Bates . PUBLISHED: . 13:13 EST, 5 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 14:02 EST, 5 September 2012 . He has been criticised for being too distant and too cold. But now Barack Obama has revealed that he is just being honest with people - because that’s the way he really is. The President said that he refused to fake emotions as he wanted to be ‘authentic’ with the American people. I am who I am: President Obama, pictured in August, revealed he refuses to fake emotions as he wanted to be 'authentic' with the American people . Routine: He always wears the same thing every day - blue or grey suits - to save brain power for other matters . If people think he is too detached then...that’s because he is too detached, he admitted. In an interview Mr Obama also claimed he is so focused his job that he has delegated even the most basic tasks - like deciding what he eats. He always wears the same thing every day - blue or grey suits - to save brain power, like Jeff Goldblum’s character Seth Brundle in the 1986 sci-fi horror The Fly. Since the President took office, commentators have repeatedly criticised him for his inability to connect with voters and claimed he is too cerebral. He has been compared unfavourably to former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush who most people would feel more comfortable going for a beer with. Authentic: The president said 'I'm absolutely positive that I'm serving the American people better if I'm maintaining my authenticity' Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, however, Mr Obama said he would be lying to himself and everyone else if he tried to be too emotional. He said: ‘I feel it is an insult to the people I’m dealing with. For me to feign outrage, for example, feels to me like I’m not taking the American people seriously. 'I'm absolutely positive that I'm serving the American people better if I'm maintaining my authenticity. I'm at my best when I believe what I am saying.' ‘I’m absolutely positive that I’m serving the American people better if I’m maintaining my authenticity. ‘And that’s an overused word. And these days people practice being authentic. But I’m at my best when I believe what I am saying.’ Mr Obama, who is known for his love of basketball and golf, said that he has to exercise ‘or at some point you’ll just break down’. He said that day-to-day he has to ‘routinize’ himself so as not to waste brain power on the little things so keeps lists of things he needs to get done. He said: ‘I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Unwinding: Mr Obama, pictured playing with family dog Bo on the White House lawn in 2009, said he needs to unwind by exercising . ‘Because I have too many other decisions to make. You need to focus your decision-making energy.‘You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia’. The Obamas’ first night in the White House was bizarre, he added, and that it took him a week to get his head around it. Me and Obama: The entire interview appears in the latest issue of Vanity Fair . Mr Obama said: ‘The first night you sleep in the White House, you’re thinking, All right. I’m in the White House. And I’m sleeping here. ‘There’s a time in the middle of the night when you just kind of startle awake. There’s a little bit of a sense of absurdity. ‘There is such an element of randomness in who gets this job. What am I here for? Why am I walking around the Lincoln Bedroom? That doesn’t last long.’ Being president comes with a high price, and Mr Obama misses being able to ‘wander around’ without an entourage of Secret Service bodyguards. He and wife Michelle love to sit out on the balcony as it is the closest they come to being normal people. Mr Obama said: ‘It’s much harder to be surprised. You don’t have those moments of serendipity. You don’t bump into a friend in a restaurant you haven’t seen in years. ‘The loss of anonymity and the loss of surprise is an unnatural state. You adapt to it, but you don’t get used to it - at least I don’t.’ Another bizarre side-effect of being President is that he has got used to ‘a character people see out there called Barack Obama’ that isn’t him. Mr Obama said that the strange duality forced him to filter some things out, but not so much that he ended up living in a ‘fantasy land’.
President said in Vanity Fair interview that he must be 'authentic'
He added that feigning outrage or any other emotion would be fake .
Also reveals feelings on strange routines of the presidency .
By . Daniel Bates . PUBLISHED: . 13:13 EST, 5 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 14:02 EST, 5 September 2012 . He has been criticised for being too distant and too cold. But now Barack Obama has revealed that he is just being honest with people - because that’s the way he really is. The President said that he refused to fake emotions as he wanted to be ‘authentic’ with the American people. I am who I am: President Obama, pictured in August, revealed he refuses to fake emotions as he wanted to be 'authentic' with the American people . Routine: He always wears the same thing every day - blue or grey suits - to save brain power for other matters . If people think he is too detached then...that’s because he is too detached, he admitted. In an interview Mr Obama also claimed he is so focused his job that he has delegated even the most basic tasks - like deciding what he eats. He always wears the same thing every day - blue or grey suits - to save brain power, like Jeff Goldblum’s character Seth Brundle in the 1986 sci-fi horror The Fly. Since the President took office, commentators have repeatedly criticised him for his inability to connect with voters and claimed he is too cerebral. He has been compared unfavourably to former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush who most people would feel more comfortable going for a beer with. Authentic: The president said 'I'm absolutely positive that I'm serving the American people better if I'm maintaining my authenticity' Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, however, Mr Obama said he would be lying to himself and everyone else if he tried to be too emotional. He said: ‘I feel it is an insult to the people I’m dealing with. For me to feign outrage, for example, feels to me like I’m not taking the American people seriously. 'I'm absolutely positive that I'm serving the American people better if I'm maintaining my authenticity. I'm at my best when I believe what I am saying.' ‘I’m absolutely positive that I’m serving the American people better if I’m maintaining my authenticity. ‘And that’s an overused word. And these days people practice being authentic. But I’m at my best when I believe what I am saying.’ Mr Obama, who is known for his love of basketball and golf, said that he has to exercise ‘or at some point you’ll just break down’. He said that day-to-day he has to ‘routinize’ himself so as not to waste brain power on the little things so keeps lists of things he needs to get done. He said: ‘I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Unwinding: Mr Obama, pictured playing with family dog Bo on the White House lawn in 2009, said he needs to unwind by exercising . ‘Because I have too many other decisions to make. You need to focus your decision-making energy.‘You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia’. The Obamas’ first night in the White House was bizarre, he added, and that it took him a week to get his head around it. Me and Obama: The entire interview appears in the latest issue of Vanity Fair . Mr Obama said: ‘The first night you sleep in the White House, you’re thinking, All right. I’m in the White House. And I’m sleeping here. ‘There’s a time in the middle of the night when you just kind of startle awake. There’s a little bit of a sense of absurdity. ‘There is such an element of randomness in who gets this job. What am I here for? Why am I walking around the Lincoln Bedroom? That doesn’t last long.’ Being president comes with a high price, and Mr Obama misses being able to ‘wander around’ without an entourage of Secret Service bodyguards. He and wife Michelle love to sit out on the balcony as it is the closest they come to being normal people. Mr Obama said: ‘It’s much harder to be surprised. You don’t have those moments of serendipity. You don’t bump into a friend in a restaurant you haven’t seen in years. ‘The loss of anonymity and the loss of surprise is an unnatural state. You adapt to it, but you don’t get used to it - at least I don’t.’ Another bizarre side-effect of being President is that he has got used to ‘a character people see out there called Barack Obama’ that isn’t him. Mr Obama said that the strange duality forced him to filter some things out, but not so much that he ended up living in a ‘fantasy land’.
President said that he refused to fake emotions as he wanted to be ‘authentic’ with the American however, Mr Obama said he would be lying to and Obama: The entire interview appears in the latest issue of Vanity Fair . Mr Obama said: ‘The