NEW YORK, July 29 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama discussed jobs, the economy, race, his legacy, Afghanistan and Lindsey Lohan Thursday on "The View."

Even though he's been overseeing the country during its worst economic time since the Great Depression, Obama said he was gratified that the economy was stabilizing and growing again, even though unemployment remains high.

"We're bouncing back," Obama said, "but not as quickly as we need to be."

Veteran journalist and "View" founder Barbara Walters interrupted her recovery from heart surgery to appear on the show billed as "Red, White and View" in promos. Obama's appearance on the hour-long show was taped in New York Wednesday.

Obama, the first president to appear on a daytime talk show, said he understands frustration voiced over the slow pace of the recovery, but pointed to a recent report by two independent economists that said if his administration hadn't taken steps to address the swooning economy, "millions more jobs would have been lost and we would be in a great depression."

Americans who have been hard hit by the downturn "are the folks I draw inspiration from," he said.

He recognized racist attitudes exist, but as long as people treat others with fairness and try to see the world from another's perspective, "then progress is being made."

He said people must fight against "a reptilian side of the brain" that reacts negatively to someone different because "we are all Americans" with shared hopes, dreams aspirations and struggles.

Each generation's attitude toward race moves ahead of the previous generation's, he said.

For example, Obama said, his daughters, Sasha and Malia, "have a better attitude" than he or his wife Michelle.

Obama said Afghanistan still must be stabilized and Pakistan must move away from being a sanctuary for terrorists while reiterating the administration's plan to begin to thin U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan beginning July 2011.

A trip to Maine was a rose and a list of issues were the thorns for President Barack Obama during the last month, the president said, referring to an Obama tradition of listing roses and thorns.

Obama said his time in Maine on vacation with his family was "a great couple of days."

The thorns for the past month, Obama said, were many, including jobs and the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

He said he wanted his presidency remembered as a time "when we tackled a bunch of problems that we've been putting off for too long," including health care, education and financial reforms.

"I am so optimistic about America because I'm optimistic about the American people," Obama said, adding he has adopted a long view about actions he has taken. "They are strong. They are resilient. They are full of imagination. They are full of pluck."

In a "lightning round" of pop culture questions, Obama said he knew that troubled actress Lindsey Lohan was in jail but not quite sure why he knows that tidbit.

He declined to answer a question about whether actor Mel Gibson should go to anger management based on several recent outbursts, saying he'd rather answer questions about Afghanistan.

Finally, Obama admitted he didn't have a clue who "Jersey Shore" hottie Snookie is.

He doesn't have an iPhone, but does have an iPod filled with an eclectic play list, including rapper Jay-Z, opera diva Maria Callas and crooner Frank Sinatra -- but nothing from teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.

And, no, he wasn't invited to the wedding of former first daughter Chelsea Clinton. He said Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were right to keep the day focused on her daughter and fiance.