President Obama Flaunts His Natural Gray

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

If anyone earns gray hair, it's the president of the United States - the international situation, the situation with Congress, teenage daughters. This week, President Obama talked about the advance of gray on his crown before an audience of students in Kuala Lumpur. A Cambodian student asked Mr. Obama for life advice, quote, "since you yourself are aging to a very senior life."

The first thing I want from young people is to stop calling me old, the president replied. When I came into office, I had no gray hair, and now I have a lot. I don't dye my hair, and a lot of my fellow leaders do. I won't say who, but their barbers know, their hairdressers.

So let's guess. Vladimir Putin? Maybe all his bare-chested photos are to distract attention from his thinning hair. Angela Merkel? She seems beyond such vanity. Justin Trudeau is new to the club. He might welcome a touch of silver. In any case, the student who asked that question may not be bound for a career in diplomacy. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.