AS CLICHED as it sounds, it surely is a sign of the times.
The US economy is going through the most serious downturn since the Depression. There’s a rising tide of public anger against fraud and mismanagement in the financial sector.
The American people, and by extension the world, are looking for some reassurance.
So what does the president of the United States do? He goes on one of the country’s most popular late-night talk shows.
If you think about it, US President Barack Obama’s appearance on The Tonight Show was the perfectly natural thing to do.
After all, his presidential campaign saw him bantering on-air with every talk show host from Ellen Degeneres to Jon Stewart.
So he was on comfortable ground; after all, The Tonight Show is hardly 60 Minutes.
And in spite of his gaffe about the Special Olympics, Mr Obama was everything he always is: almost supernaturally calm, measured and unflappable.
Mr Obama fielded softball everyman questions (“Where’s all the money from the bailout gone?”), drawing much applause from the audience. In simple, concise language, he gave the appearance of being very much in control (“Ultimately, all this stuff is my responsibility.”)
Perhaps even more importantly, the President was entertaining. He found time to joke about his daughters, college basketball and even plans for a White House dog.
In other words, he was the ideal talk show guest.
So why did Mr Obama choose to become the first sitting American president to appear on a US talk show?
Perhaps it was simply due to the well-known fact that more Americans get information about current events from the talk shows than from daily news programmes.
His appearance certainly drew attention; the Tonight Show saw its fourth-highest ratings in its 16 year history.
Maybe it also had something to do with his approval ratings taking a dip recently, in tandem with the public’s fears about the faltering economy.
A Pew Research Center poll taken this month found that his ratings had slipped to - a still very much respectable - 59 per cent from 64 per cent last month.
To be fair, Mr Obama’s appearance didn’t please everyone. Some accused him of cheapening the office of the president, while others said he was risking overexposure.
Such criticism misses the point. In these times, Americans naturally want to know that the country is headed in the right direction.
So Mr Obama did what he does best: he communicated. More importantly, he did so effectively, via arguably the most effective tool.
And maybe it’s important to do so at a point in his presidency when he is still immensely popular, and people are still prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.
In other words, he needs to show that yes, he still can.