Charlie Rose Talks to American Express CEO Ken Chenault

What’s your take on our economic recovery and the steps we’ve taken, like Dodd-Frank, to prevent a repeat?
The fact that we’ve been able to come out of the financial crisis as we did speaks to the resilience of this country. For all the criticism of our political system and the frustration we’ve all had, it speaks to the strength of that political system. If you’d said to me, in 2009, we’d be here economically in 2014, I would have said you are way too optimistic. With the regulation that’s been put in place, it doesn’t mean we won’t fall back, but I think the progress we’ve made is substantial.

I know you’re a friend of the president’s, but what kind of grades do you give him?
At the end of the day, the focus has to be on outcomes. We’ve come a long way. If we hadn’t, people would clearly say, “Real problem with the president.” So we’ve made progress on the economy. I would like to have seen even more of an effort on job creation, because I think that’s so essential to our economy and the well-being of our society.