Was Obama narcissistic and vain?

ACCORDING to Steve Hilton (the former Number 10 aide), David Cameron privately considered that Barack Obama was one of the “most narcissistic, self-absorbed people” he had ever met who “never listened to anyone, always thought he was smarter than every expert in the room, and treated every meeting as an opportunity to lecture everyone else”.

David Cameron’s people deny that the former prime minister said any such thing. But it is a fact that nobody is so disliked as the most popular boy or girl in the class. And for a while among world leaders Obama was the best-looking, best-dressed, coolest, hippest kid on the block. He had a dry sense of humour and a natural grace. Everyone wanted to meet him. Which pretty much guaranteed that an awful lot of people loathed him in private but lavished praise on him in public.

And yes wasn’t there something haughty about Obama, a man with no self doubt who clearly loved the sound of his own voice? He probably was the cleverest person in the room on most occasions but there was also a flick of impatience about him, concealed by that silky charm.

Our public and private opinions of people are often at odds. Unless we’re Twitter trolls we have enough sense to park the jealous, meanspirited thoughts in a dark corner shared only with our closest confidantes. Is it hypocrisy or sensible discretion? I’m really not sure but we’re almost all guilty of it from time to time.