Most of us have heard that President Obama somehow handled an American hostage situation during his walk-down to deliver his 2012 State of the Union speech. Details are now starting to emerge about the Navy SEAL operation in Somalia, which is said to have been much more cut-and-dry than the takedown of Osama bin Laden last year.

The Commander-in-Chief sat down with NBC’s Diane Sawyer to explain why he said “Good job!” to the U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and recounted the split-second discussion which resulted in Jessica Buchanan’s rescue. “On this one, they were moving so fast that I actually had to give the order and the directions and then they were out,” Obama said. “It was not a situation where I could actually talk to the folks [on the ground], and it was still ongoing while we were in the middle of the State of the Union speech.”

Buchanan, who was held captive for three months, and a Danish hostage were placed in rough conditions as their captors spurned a $1.5 million ransom offer. Somalia has been widely considered a no-go area for U.S. ground troops since the 1993 Black Hawk Down fiasco. Will this impeccably timed action sway voters? How will Republicans somehow spin this to belittle the 44th President of the United States?