Obama: Actually, I'd already decided to endorse gay marriage before the election

“I had already made a decision that we were going to take this position before the election and before the convention. He probably got out a little bit over his skis, but out of his generosity of spirit,” Obama told ABC News, in newly aired video from Wednesday’s interview in which he became the first sitting American president to indicate support for same-sex marriage.

Asked if he was upset that things had unfolded how they had, Obama said he would have preferred to make the announcement less hastily.

“Would I have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms, without there being a lot of notice to everybody? Sure. But all’s well that ends well,” Obama said.