The President:
Hello, Chicago!
(Applause.)
It's good to be home!
(Applause.)
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
All right, everybody sit down.
(Applause.)
We're on live TV here.
I've got to move.
(Applause.)
You can tell that I'm a lame duck
because nobody is
following instructions.
(Laughter.)
Everybody have a seat.
(Applause.)
My fellow Americans --
(applause)
-- Michelle and I have been
so touched by all the well
wishes that we've received
over the past few weeks.
But tonight, it's my
turn to say thanks.
(Applause.)
Whether we have seen eye-to-eye or
rarely agreed at all, my
conversations with you,
the American people,
in living rooms and in
schools, at farms, on
factory floors, at diners
and on distant military
outposts -- those
conversations are what
have kept me honest, and
kept me inspired,
and kept me going.
And every day, I have
learned from you.
You made me a better
President, and you made me
a better man.
(Applause.)
So I first
came to Chicago when I was
in my early 20s.
And I was still trying
to figure out who I was,
still searching for a
purpose in my life.
And it was a neighborhood
not far from here where I
began working with church
groups in the shadows of
closed steel mills.
It was on these streets
where I witnessed the
power of faith, and the
quiet dignity of working
people in the face of
struggle and loss.
Audience: Four more years!
Four more years!
Four more years!
The President:
I can't do that.
Audience: Four more years!
Four more years!
Four more years!
The President: This is
where I learned that
change only happens when
ordinary people get
involved and they get
engaged, and they come
together to demand it.
After eight years as your
President, I still believe that.
And it's not
just my belief.
It's the beating heart of
our American idea -- our
bold experiment in
self-government.
It's the conviction that
we are all created equal,
endowed by our Creator
with certain unalienable
rights, among them life,
liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.
It's the insistence that
these rights, while
self-evident, have never
been self-executing; that
We, the People, through
the instrument of our
democracy, can form
a more perfect union.
What a radical idea.
A great gift that our
Founders gave to us: The
freedom to chase our
individual dreams through
our sweat and toil and
imagination, and the
imperative to strive
together, as well, to
achieve a common
good, a greater good.
For 240 years, our
nation's call to
citizenship has given work
and purpose to
each new generation.
It's what led patriots
to choose republic over
tyranny, pioneers to trek
west, slaves to brave that
makeshift railroad
to freedom.
It's what pulled
immigrants and refugees
across oceans and
the Rio Grande.
(Applause.)
It's what pushed women to reach
for the ballot.
It's what powered
workers to organize.
It's why GIs gave their
lives at Omaha Beach and
Iwo Jima, Iraq
and Afghanistan.
And why men and women from
Selma to Stonewall were
prepared to give
theirs, as well.
(Applause.)
So that's what we mean when we say
America is exceptional --
not that our nation has
been flawless from the
start, but that we have
shown the capacity to
change and make life
better for those
who follow.
Yes, our progress
has been uneven.
The work of democracy
has always been hard.
It's always been
contentious.
Sometimes it's
been bloody.
For every two steps
forward, it often feels we
take one step back.
But the long sweep of
America has been defined
by forward motion, a
constant widening of our
founding creed to embrace
all and not just some.
(Applause.)
If I had told you eight years ago that
America would reverse a
great recession, reboot
our auto industry, and
unleash the longest
stretch of job creation in
our history --
(applause)
-- if I had told you that
we would open up a new
chapter with the Cuban
people, shut down Iran's
nuclear weapons program
without firing a shot,
take out the mastermind of
9/11 --
(applause)
-- if I had told you that we
would win marriage equality, and secure the right to
health insurance for another 20
million of our fellow
citizens --
(applause)
-- if I had told you all
that, you might have said
our sights were set
a little too high.
But that's what we did.
(Applause.)
That's what you did.
You were the change.
You answered people's
hopes, and because of you,
by almost every measure,
America is a better,
stronger place than it
was when we started.
(Applause.)
In 10 days, the world will witness a
hallmark of our democracy.
Audience: Nooo --
The President: No, no, no, no,
no -- the peaceful
transfer of power from one
freely elected
President to the next.
(Applause.)
I committed to President-elect Trump that
my administration would
ensure the smoothest
possible transition, just
as President
Bush did for me.
(Applause.)
Because it's up to all of us to
make sure our government can
help us meet the many
challenges we still face.
We have what we
need to do so.
We have everything we need
to meet those challenges.
After all, we remain the
wealthiest, most powerful,
and most respected
nation on Earth.
Our youth, our drive, our
diversity and openness,
our boundless capacity for
risk and reinvention means
that the future
should be ours.
But that potential will
only be realized if
our democracy works.
Only if our politics
better reflects the
decency of our people.
(Applause.)
Only if all of us, regardless of
party affiliation or particular
interests, help restore
the sense of common
purpose that we so badly
need right now.
That's what I want to
focus on tonight: The
state of our democracy.
Understand, democracy does
not require uniformity.
Our founders argued.
They quarreled.
Eventually they
compromised.
They expected us
to do the same.
But they knew that
democracy does require a
basic sense of solidarity
-- the idea that for all
our outward differences,
we're all in this
together; that we
rise or fall as one.
(Applause.)
There have been moments throughout
our history that threatens
that solidarity.
And the beginning of this
century has been one
of those times.
A shrinking world, growing
inequality; demographic
change and the specter of
terrorism -- these forces
haven't just tested
our security and our
prosperity, but are
testing our democracy,
as well.
And how we meet these
challenges to our
democracy will determine
our ability to educate our
kids, and create good
jobs, and protect
our homeland.
In other words, it will
determine our future.
To begin with, our
democracy won't work
without a sense that
everyone has
economic opportunity.
And the good news is that
today the economy
is growing again.
Wages, incomes, home
values, and retirement
accounts are all
rising again.
Poverty is falling again.
(Applause.)
The wealthy are paying a fairer share
of taxes even as the stock
market shatters records.
The unemployment rate
is near a 10-year low.
The uninsured rate has
never, ever been lower.
(Applause.)
Health care costs are rising at
the slowest rate in 50 years.
And I've said and I mean
it -- if anyone can put
together a plan that is
demonstrably better than
the improvements we've
made to our health care
system and that covers as
many people at less cost,
I will publicly
support it.
(Applause.)
Because that, after all, is
why we serve.
Not to score points or
take credit, but to make
people's lives better.
(Applause.)
But for all the real progress
that we've made, we know
it's not enough.
Our economy doesn't work
as well or grow as fast
when a few prosper at
the expense of a growing
middle class and ladders
for folks who want to get
into the middle class.
(Applause.)
That's the economic argument.
But stark inequality is
also corrosive to our
democratic ideal.
While the top one percent
has amassed a bigger share
of wealth and income, too
many families, in inner
cities and in rural
counties, have been left
behind -- the laid-off
factory worker; the
waitress or health care
worker who's just barely
getting by and struggling
to pay the bills --
convinced that the game is
fixed against them, that
their government only
serves the interests of
the powerful -- that's a
recipe for more cynicism
and polarization
in our politics.
But there are no quick
fixes to this long-term trend.
I agree, our trade should
be fair and not just free.
But the next wave of
economic dislocations
won't come from overseas.
It will come from the
relentless pace of
automation that makes a
lot of good, middle-class
jobs obsolete.
And so we're going to have
to forge a new social
compact to guarantee all
our kids the education
they need --
(applause)
-- to give workers the power to unionize for better
wages; to update the
social safety net to
reflect the way we live
now, and make more reforms
to the tax code so
corporations and
individuals who reap the
most from this new
economy don't avoid their
obligations to the country
that's made their
very success possible.
(Applause.)
We can argue about how to best
achieve these goals.
But we can't be complacent
about the
goals themselves.
For if we don't create
opportunity for all
people, the disaffection
and division that has
stalled our progress will
only sharpen in
years to come.
There's a second threat to
our democracy -- and this
one is as old as
our nation itself.
After my election, there
was talk of a
post-racial America.
And such a vision, however
well-intended, was
never realistic.
Race remains a potent and
often divisive force
in our society.
Now, I've lived long
enough to know that race
relations are better than
they were 10, or 20, or 30
years ago, no matter
what some folks say.
(Applause.)
You can see it not just in statistics,
you see it in the
attitudes of young
Americans across the
political spectrum.
But we're not where
we need to be.
And all of us have
more work to do.
(Applause.)
If every economic issue is
framed as a struggle between a
hardworking white middle
class and an undeserving
minority, then workers of
all shades are going to be
left fighting for scraps
while the wealthy withdraw
further into their
private enclaves.
(Applause.)
If we're unwilling to invest in
the children of immigrants,
just because they don't
look like us, we will
diminish the prospects of
our own children --
because those brown kids
will represent a larger
and larger share of
America's workforce.
(Applause.)
And we have shown that our
economy doesn't have to be
a zero-sum game.
Last year, incomes rose
for all races, all age
groups, for men
and for women.
So if we're going to be
serious about race going
forward, we need to
uphold laws against
discrimination -- in
hiring, and in housing,
and in education, and
in the criminal
justice system.
(Applause.)
That is what our Constitution and our
highest ideals require.
(Applause.)
But laws alone won't be enough.
Hearts must change.
It won't change overnight.
Social attitudes
oftentimes take
generations to change.
But if our democracy is to
work in this increasingly
diverse nation, then each
one of us need to try to
heed the advice of a great
character in American
fiction -- Atticus Finch --
(applause)
-- who said "You never really
understand a person until
you consider things from
his point of view...until
you climb into his skin
and walk around in it."
For blacks and other
minority groups, it means
tying our own very real
struggles for justice to
the challenges that a lot
of people in this country
face -- not only the
refugee, or the immigrant,
or the rural poor, or the
transgender American, but
also the middle-aged white
guy who, from the outside,
may seem like he's got
advantages, but has seen
his world upended by
economic and cultural and
technological change.
We have to pay
attention, and listen.
(Applause.)
For white Americans, it means
acknowledging that the
effects of slavery and Jim
Crow didn't suddenly
vanish in the '60s --
(applause)
-- that when
minority groups voice
discontent, they're not
just engaging in reverse
racism or practicing
political correctness.
When they wage peaceful
protest, they're not
demanding special
treatment but the equal
treatment that our
Founders promised.
(Applause.)
native-born Americans, it
means reminding ourselves
that the stereotypes about
immigrants today were
said, almost word for
word, about the Irish, and
Italians, and Poles -- who
it was said we're going to
destroy the fundamental
character of America.
And as it turned out,
America wasn't weakened by
the presence of these
newcomers; these newcomers
embraced this nation's
creed, and this nation
was strengthened.
(Applause.)
So regardless of the station that we
occupy, we all
have to try harder.
We all have to start with
the premise that each of
our fellow citizens loves
this country just as much
as we do; that they value
hard work and family just
like we do; that their
children are just as
curious and hopeful and
worthy of love as our own.
(Applause.)
And that's not easy to do.
For too many of us, it's
become safer to retreat
into our own bubbles,
whether in our
neighborhoods or on
college campuses, or
places of worship, or
especially our social
media feeds, surrounded by
people who look like us
and share the same
political outlook and
never challenge
our assumptions.
The rise of naked
partisanship, and
increasing economic and
regional stratification,
the splintering of our
media into a channel for
every taste -- all this
makes this great sorting
seem natural,
even inevitable.
And increasingly, we
become so secure in our
bubbles that we
start accepting only
information, whether it's
true or not, that fits our
opinions, instead of
basing our opinions on the
evidence that
is out there.
(Applause.)
And this trend represents a
third threat to our democracy.
But politics is a
battle of ideas.
That's how our
democracy was designed.
In the course of a healthy
debate, we prioritize
different goals, and
the different means
of reaching them.
But without some common
baseline of facts, without
a willingness to admit new
information, and concede
that your opponent might
be making a fair point,
and that science and
reason matter --
(applause)
-- then we're going to keep talking past
each other, and we'll
make common ground and
compromise impossible.
(Applause.)
And isn't that part of what so often
makes politics
dispiriting?
How can elected officials
rage about deficits when
we propose to spend money
on preschool for kids, but
not when we're cutting
taxes for corporations?
(Applause.)
How do we excuse ethical lapses
in our own party, but pounce
when the other party does
the same thing?
It's not just dishonest,
this selective sorting of
the facts; it's
self-defeating.
Because, as my mother used
to tell me, reality has a
way of catching
up with you.
(Applause.)
Take the challenge of climate change.
In just eight years, we've
halved our dependence on
foreign oil; we've doubled
our renewable energy;
we've led the world to an
agreement that has the
promise to save
this planet.
(Applause.)
But without
bolder action, our
children won't have time
to debate the existence of
climate change.
They'll be busy dealing
with its effects: more
environmental disasters,
more economic disruptions,
waves of climate refugees
seeking sanctuary.
Now, we can and should
argue about the best
approach to solve
the problem.
But to simply deny the
problem not only betrays
future generations, it
betrays the essential
spirit of this country --
the essential spirit of
innovation and practical
problem-solving that
guided our Founders.
(Applause.)
It is that spirit, born of the
Enlightenment, that made
us an economic powerhouse
-- the spirit that took
flight at Kitty Hawk and
Cape Canaveral; the spirit
that cures disease and put
a computer in
every pocket.
It's that spirit -- a
faith in reason, and
enterprise, and the
primacy of right over
might -- that allowed us
to resist the lure of
fascism and tyranny during
the Great Depression; that
allowed us to build a
post-World War II order
with other democracies, an
order based not just on
military power or national
affiliations but built on
principles -- the rule of
law, human rights, freedom
of religion, and speech,
and assembly, and an
independent press.
(Applause.)
That order is now being challenged --
first by violent fanatics
who claim to speak for
Islam; more recently by
autocrats in foreign
capitals who see free
markets and open
democracies and and civil
society itself as a
threat to their power.
The peril each poses to
our democracy is more
far-reaching than a
car bomb or a missile.
It represents the fear of
change; the fear of people
who look or speak or pray
differently; a contempt
for the rule of law that
holds leaders accountable;
an intolerance of dissent
and free thought; a belief
that the sword or the
gun or the bomb or the
propaganda machine is the
ultimate arbiter of what's
true and what's right.
Because of the
extraordinary courage of
our men and women in
uniform, because of our
intelligence officers,
and law enforcement, and
diplomats who support our
troops --
(applause)
-- no foreign terrorist
organization has
successfully planned and
executed an attack on our
homeland these
past eight years.
(Applause.)
And although Boston and Orlando and San
Bernardino and Fort Hood
remind us of how dangerous
radicalization can be, our
law enforcement agencies
are more effective and
vigilant than ever.
We have taken out tens of
thousands of terrorists --
including bin Laden.
(Applause.)
The global coalition we're leading
against ISIL has taken out
their leaders, and taken
away about half
their territory.
ISIL will be destroyed,
and no one who threatens
America will ever be safe.
(Applause.)
And to all who serve or have served,
it has been the honor of
my lifetime to be your
Commander-in-Chief.
And we all owe you a
deep debt of gratitude.
(Applause.)
But protecting our way of
life, that's not just
the job of our military.
Democracy can buckle
when we give in to fear.
So, just as we, as
citizens, must remain
vigilant against external
aggression, we must guard
against a weakening of the
values that make
us who we are.
(Applause.)
And that's why, for the past eight
years, I've worked to
put the fight against
terrorism on a firmer
legal footing.
That's why we've ended
torture, worked to close
Gitmo, reformed our laws
governing surveillance to
protect privacy and
civil liberties.
(Applause.)
That's why
I reject discrimination
against Muslim Americans,
who are just as patriotic
as we are.
(Applause.)
That's why we
cannot withdraw from big
global fights -- to expand
democracy, and human
rights, and women's
rights, and LGBT rights.
No matter how imperfect
our efforts, no matter how
expedient ignoring such
values may seem, that's
part of defending America.
For the fight against
extremism and intolerance
and sectarianism and
chauvinism are of a piece
with the fight against
authoritarianism and
nationalist aggression.
If the scope of freedom
and respect for the rule
of law shrinks around the
world, the likelihood of
war within and between
nations increases, and our
own freedoms will
eventually be threatened.
So let's be vigilant,
but not afraid.
(Applause.)
ISIL will try
to kill innocent people.
But they cannot defeat
America unless we betray
our Constitution and our
principles in the fight.
(Applause.)
Rivals like
Russia or China cannot
match our influence around
the world -- unless we
give up what we stand for --
(applause)
-- and turn ourselves into just
another big country that
bullies smaller neighbors.
Which brings me to my
final point: Our democracy
is threatened whenever
we take it for granted.
(Applause.)
All of us,
regardless of party,
should be throwing
ourselves into the task of
rebuilding our
democratic institutions.
(Applause.)
When voting
rates in America are some
of the lowest among
advanced democracies, we
should be making it
easier, not harder,
to vote.
(Applause.)
When trust in
our institutions is low,
we should reduce the
corrosive influence of
money in our politics, and
insist on the principles
of transparency and
ethics in public service.
(Applause.)
When Congress
is dysfunctional, we
should draw our
congressional districts to
encourage politicians to
cater to common sense and
not rigid extremes.
(Applause.)
But remember,
none of this happens
on its own.
All of this depends on our
participation; on each of
us accepting the
responsibility of
citizenship, regardless of
which way the pendulum of
power happens
to be swinging.
Our Constitution is a
remarkable, beautiful gift.
But it's really just
a piece of parchment.
It has no power
on its own.
We, the people,
give it power.
(Applause.)
We, the
people, give it meaning.
With our participation,
and with the choices that
we make, and the
alliances that we forge.
(Applause.)
Whether or
not we stand up for
our freedoms.
Whether or not we respect
and enforce the
rule of law.
That's up to us.
America is no
fragile thing.
But the gains of our long
journey to freedom
are not assured.
In his own farewell
address, George Washington
wrote that self-government
is the underpinning of our
safety, prosperity,
and liberty, but "from
different causes and from
different quarters much
pains will be taken...to
weaken in your minds the
conviction of this truth."
And so we have to preserve
this truth with "jealous
anxiety;" that we should
reject "the first dawning
of every attempt to
alienate any portion of
our country from the rest
or to enfeeble the sacred
ties" that make us one.
(Applause.)
America, we
weaken those ties when we
allow our political
dialogue to become so
corrosive that people of
good character aren't even
willing to enter into
public service; so coarse
with rancor that Americans
with whom we disagree are
seen not just as misguided
but as malevolent.
We weaken those ties when
we define some of us as
more American than others;
when we write off the
whole system as inevitably
corrupt, and when we sit
back and blame the leaders
we elect without examining
our own role in
electing them.
(Applause.)
It falls to
each of us to be those
those anxious, jealous
guardians of our
democracy; to embrace the
joyous task we've been
given to continually try
to improve this great
nation of ours.
Because for all our
outward differences, we,
in fact, all share the
same proud title, the most
important office in a
democracy: Citizen.
(Applause.)
Citizen. So, you see, that's
what our democracy demands. It needs you.
Not just when there's an
election, not just when
your own narrow interest
is at stake, but over the
full span of a lifetime.
If you're tired of arguing
with strangers on the
Internet, try talking with
one of them in real life.
(Applause.)
If something
needs fixing, then lace up
your shoes and do
some organizing.
(Applause.)
If you're
disappointed by your
elected officials, grab
a clipboard, get some
signatures, and run
for office yourself.
(Applause.)
Show up.
Dive in.
Stay at it.
Sometimes you'll win.
Sometimes you'll lose.
Presuming a reservoir of
goodness in other people,
that can be a risk, and
there will be times when
the process will
disappoint you.
But for those of us
fortunate enough to have
been a part of this work,
and to see it up close,
let me tell you, it can
energize and inspire.
And more often than not,
your faith in America --
and in Americans --
will be confirmed.
(Applause.)
Mine sure has been.
Over the course of these
eight years, I've seen the
hopeful faces of young
graduates and our newest
military officers.
I have mourned with
grieving families
searching for answers,
and found grace in a
Charleston church.
I've seen our scientists
help a paralyzed man
regain his sense of touch.
I've seen wounded warriors
who at points were given
up for dead walk again.
I've seen our doctors and
volunteers rebuild after
earthquakes and stop
pandemics in their tracks.
I've seen the youngest of
children remind us through
their actions and through
their generosity of our
obligations to care for
refugees, or work for
peace, and, above all, to
look out for each other.
(Applause.)
So that faith
that I placed all those
years ago, not far from
here, in the power of
ordinary Americans to
bring about change -- that
faith has been rewarded
in ways I could not have
possibly imagined.
And I hope your
faith has, too.
Some of you here tonight
or watching at home, you
were there with us in
2004, in 2008, 2012 --
(applause)
-- maybe you
still can't believe we
pulled this
whole thing off.
Let me tell you, you're
not the only ones.
(Laughter.)
Michelle --
(applause)
-- Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, girl of the South Side --
(applause)
-- for the past
25 years, you have not
only been my wife and
mother of my children, you
have been my best friend.
(Applause.)
You took on a
role you didn't ask for
and you made it your own,
with grace and with grit
and with style
and good humor.
(Applause.)
You made the
White House a place that
belongs to everybody.
(Applause.)
And the new
generation sets its sights
higher because it has
you as a role model.
(Applause.)
So you
have made me proud.
And you have made
the country proud.
(Applause.)
Malia and
Sasha, under the strangest
of circumstances, you have
become two
amazing young women.
You are smart and you
are beautiful, but more
importantly, you are kind
and you are thoughtful and
you are full of passion.
(Applause.)
You wore the
burden of years in the
spotlight so easily.
Of all that I've done in
my life, I am most proud
to be your dad.
(Applause.)
To Joe Biden --
(applause) --
the scrappy kid from Scranton who became Delaware's
favorite son -- you were
the first decision I made
as a nominee, and
it was the best.
(Applause.)
Not just because you have been a
great Vice President, but
because in the bargain, I
gained a brother.
And we love you and Jill
like family, and your
friendship has been one
of the great joys
of our lives.
(Applause.)
To my remarkable staff: For
eight years -- and for
some of you, a whole lot
more -- I have drawn from
your energy, and every day
I tried to reflect back
what you displayed --
heart, and character,
and idealism.
I've watched you grow up,
get married, have kids,
start incredible new
journeys of your own.
Even when times got tough
and frustrating, you never
let Washington get
the better of you.
You guarded
against cynicism.
And the only thing that
makes me prouder than all
the good that we've done
is the thought of all the
amazing things that you're
going to achieve from here.
(Applause.)
And to all of you out there --
every organizer who moved to an
unfamiliar town, every
kind family who welcomed
them in, every volunteer
who knocked on doors,
every young person who
cast a ballot for the
first time, every American
who lived and breathed the
hard work of change -- you
are the best supporters
and organizers anybody
could ever hope for, and I
will be forever grateful.
(Applause.)
Because you
did change the world.
(Applause.)
You did.
And that's why I leave
this stage tonight even
more optimistic about
this country than
when we started.
Because I know our work
has not only helped so
many Americans, it has
inspired so many Americans
-- especially so many
young people out there --
to believe that you can
make a difference --
(applause)
-- to hitch
your wagon to something
bigger than yourselves.
Let me tell you, this
generation coming up --
unselfish, altruistic,
creative, patriotic --
I've seen you in every
corner of the country.
You believe in a fair,
and just, and inclusive America.
(Applause.)
You know that
constant change has been
America's hallmark; that
it's not something to fear
but something to embrace.
You are willing to
carry this hard work of
democracy forward.
You'll soon outnumber all
of us, and I believe as a
result the future
is in good hands.
(Applause.)
My fellow
Americans, it has been the
honor of my life
to serve you.
(Applause.)
I won't stop.
In fact, I will be right
there with you, as a
citizen, for all
my remaining days.
But for now, whether you
are young or whether
you're young at heart, I
do have one final ask of
you as your President --
the same thing I asked
when you took a chance
on me eight years ago.
I'm asking you to believe.
Not in my ability to bring
about change
-- but in yours.
I am asking you to hold
fast to that faith written
into our founding
documents; that idea
whispered by slaves and
abolitionists; that spirit
sung by immigrants and
homesteaders and those who
marched for justice; that
creed reaffirmed by those
who planted flags from
foreign battlefields to
the surface of the moon; a
creed at the core of every
American whose story is
not yet written:
Yes, we can.
(Applause.)
Yes, we did.
Yes, we can.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
God bless you.
May God continue to bless
the United States of America.
(Applause.)
