It's clear that the president wants to be accepted as just another American citizen on as many levels as feasible; no imperious king he. In turn, so many people appreciate his accessibility, his genuine friendliness, his sincerity -- all of which go a long way in compensating for his shortcomings, not that they are egregious ones, but rather the shortcomings of any human being.
In so many ways, he reminds me of Harry Truman, who, after he did what needed to be done, retired back home to Independence, MO, shunned the public spotlight (except to occasionally give one of his brilliant lectures on American History for TV--I wonder if they've been preserved; they were not to be missed).