CBS's Reid: Despite 'Immense Power,' Obama Can't Quit Smoking

On Monday's CBS Evening News, correspondent Chip Reid reported on President Obama's annual physical exam and lamented: "For all his immense power, there's at least one adversary President Obama seems unable to defeat, his addiction to cigarettes." One wonders how "immense" Obama's power is amid sinking poll numbers and an inability to pass health care reform. [Audio available here]

Reid noted how the President's smoking is "a battle he's been waging since he was a teenager" and played a clip of Obama joking with reporters last year that he was "95% cured" but adding "there are times where I mess up." Sounding like a worried mother, Reid continued: "Eight months later, he's still struggling....when and where he does smoke and where he gets the cigarettes is a White House mystery."

Near the end of the report, Reid listed a series of other Democratic president's who have enjoyed having a smoke: "FDR was a chain smoker, known for keeping his cigarette holder at a jaunty angle. JFK enjoyed the occasional cigar. And President Clinton often chewed on unlit cigars while playing golf." Is that the only thing Clinton enjoyed doing with a cigar?