Chicago – Forceful And Tearful, Obama Says Goodbye In Emotional Speech

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    President Barack Obama wipes his tears as he speaks at McCormick Place in Chicago, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, giving his presidential farewell address. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)Chicago – Conceding disappointments during his presidency yet offering vigorous encouragement for the nation’s future, Barack Obama issued an emotional defense Tuesday night of his vision to Americans facing a moment of anxiety and a dramatic change in leadership.

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    Obama’s valedictory speech in his hometown of Chicago was a public meditation on the trials and triumphs, promises kept and promises broken that made up his eight years in the White House. Arguing his faith in America had been confirmed, Obama said he ends his tenure inspired by America’s “boundless capacity” for reinvention, and he declared: “The future should be ours.”

    His delivery was forceful for most of his speech, but by the end he was wiping away tears as the crowd embraced him one last time.

    Reflecting on the corrosive recent political campaign, he said, “That potential will be realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the decency of our people. Only if all of us, regardless of our party affiliation or particular interest, help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.”

    He made no mention of Republican Donald Trump, who will replace him in just 10 days. But when he noted the imminence of that change and the crowd began booing, he responded, “No, no, no, no, no.” One of the nation’s great strengths, he said, “is the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.”

    Earlier, as the crowd of thousands chanted, “Four more years,” he simply smiled and said, “I can’t do that.”

    Soon Obama and his family will exit the national stage, to be replaced by Trump, a man Obama had stridently argued poses a dire threat to the nation’s future. His near-apocalyptic warnings throughout the campaign have cast a continuing shadow over his post-election efforts to reassure Americans anxious about the future.

    Indeed, much of what Obama accomplished over the past eight years — from health care overhaul and environmental regulations to his nuclear deal with Iran — could potentially be upended by Trump. So even as Obama seeks to define what his presidency meant for America, his legacy remains in question.

    Even as Obama said farewell to the nation — in a televised speech of just under an hour — the anxiety felt by many Americans about the future was palpable, and not only in the Chicago convention center where he stood in front of a giant presidential seal. The political world was reeling from new revelations about an unsubstantiated report that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about Trump.

    Steeped in nostalgia, Obama’s return to Chicago was less a triumphant homecoming and more a bittersweet reunion bringing together Obama loyalists and loyal staffers, many of whom have long since left Obama’s service, moved on to new careers and started families. They came from across the country — some on Air Force One, others on their own — to be present for the last major moment of Obama’s presidency.

    Seeking inspiration, Obama’s speechwriters spent weeks poring over Obama’s other momentous speeches, including his 2004 keynote at the Democratic National Convention and his 2008 speech after losing the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton. They also revisited his 2015 address in Selma, Alabama, that both honored America’s exceptionalism and acknowledged its painful history on civil rights.

    After returning to Washington, Obama will have less than two weeks before he accompanies Trump in the presidential limousine to the Capitol for the new president’s swearing-in. After nearly a decade in the spotlight, Obama will become a private citizen, an elder statesman at 55. He plans to take some time off, write a book — and immerse himself in a Democratic redistricting campaign.


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    24 Comments
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    bsnow
    bsnow
    7 years ago

    I’m so happy to see this guy leave. I give him a F- everything got worse under him. He was a radical leftist who destroyed everything.
    He made everything political.
    Made race relations far worse.
    The world is a mess.
    Obama will go down as the worst president.
    Good riddance!

    ALTERG3
    ALTERG3
    7 years ago

    Thank you Obama, we wish you all the best, you war a good president we all liked you.

    rogergreen
    rogergreen
    7 years ago

    tears r fake! man has no human emotions.i’ve never seen him laugh or cry.NEVER!
    always fake chuckle or fake dab of the eyes.i truly believe he was most incompetent,unproductive prez in history.thats a literal statement!

    Phineas
    Phineas
    7 years ago

    I thought his first term was excellent. I thought his second term was much less so.

    TruthIsIt
    TruthIsIt
    7 years ago

    THIS IS SO FUNNY !
    The public has been crying for 8-years !!

    7 years ago

    Obama spent eight years bowing down (literally) to various countries, which couldn’t stand us. He spent too much time fundraising, and using Air Force One on trips which were a waste of taxpayer money. I think that he received too much credit for the killing of Bin Ladin, as the CIA had been tracking Bin Ladin, since 9/11/01. It should be noted that the federal deficit, and the resulting federal debt ballooned under Obama. Last, that rabble rousing race baiting anti-semite, by the name of Al Sharpton, was invited numerous times to the White House by Obama. With Trump, Sharpton will NEVER be invited to the White House.

    Meloah
    Meloah
    7 years ago

    Although I did not like the Iran deal, I am happy he did not force Israel into deals it didn’t want to. I think Obama is much less worse then Jimmy Carter or James Baker under senior Bush. Not only that, but we got a bigger military aid for the next 10 years.

    I thank Hashem that Obama did not end up being one of our worst nightmares, and that Israel was able to grow economically during that time. We survived Obama.

    Shimon
    Shimon
    7 years ago

    I wish it were really true that this is the last major speech we’ll hear from this shanda of a human being. Unfortunately, the media who have deified him for the last eight years, will give him the exposure for future narishkeit.

    ALTERG3
    ALTERG3
    7 years ago

    Thank you Obama, we wish you all the best, you war a good president we all liked you.

    marcia
    marcia
    7 years ago

    Oh Boo-Hoo..Another Snowflake Melts..Clean Up the Puddle & Lets Move On Please…