Washington: President Barack Obama presented the 2014 National Medals of Arts and Humanities to Pulitzer Prize winning Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri and 20 other distinguished persons at a White House ceremony.

"I always do good with writers and scientists. Those are my crew," said the president in a grey suit and violet tie as he addressed the audience starting with a quote from Emily Dickinson followed by his own joke on the political class.