Here is an unedited transcript of
President Obama’s prepared remarks during his farewell address in Chicago, as provided by the White House.
It’s good to be home. My fellow Americans, Michelle and I
have been so touched by all the well-wishes we’ve received over the past
few weeks. But tonight it’s my turn to say thanks. Whether we’ve seen
eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the
American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory
floors; at diners and on distant outposts – are what have kept me
honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from
you. You made me a better president, and you made me a better man.
I
first came to Chicago when I was in my early 20s, still trying to
figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. It was
in neighborhoods 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. This is where I learned that
change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and
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.
This
is the great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our
individual dreams through our sweat, toil, and imagination – and the
imperative to strive together as well, to achieve 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, pushed women to reach for the ballot, 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.
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,
contentious and sometimes 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.
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…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, and take out the mastermind of 9/11…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 – you might have said our
sights were set a little too high.
But that’s what we
did. 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.
In 10 days,
the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful
transfer of power from one freely elected president to the next. I
committed to President-elect Trump that my administration would ensure
the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me.
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. After all, we remain the wealthiest, most powerful, and
most respected nation on Earth. Our youth and drive, our diversity and
openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention mean that the
future should be ours.
But that potential will be
realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the
decency of the 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.
That’s what I want to focus on tonight – the state of our democracy.
Understand,
democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and
compromised, and 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 are all in this together; that we rise
or fall as one.
There have been moments throughout our
history that threatened to rupture that solidarity. 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 prosperity, but 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.
Our
democracy won’t work without a sense that everyone has economic
opportunity. Today, the economy is growing again; wages, incomes, home
values, and retirement accounts are rising again; poverty is falling
again. 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. Healthcare costs are
rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And if anyone can put together a
plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to
our healthcare system – that covers as many people at less cost – I will
publicly support it.
That, after all, is why we serve – to make people’s lives better, not worse.
But
for all the real progress 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. But stark inequality is also
corrosive to our democratic principles. While the top 1% has amassed a
bigger share of wealth and income, too many families, in inner cities
and rural counties, have been left behind – the laid-off factory worker;
the waitress and healthcare worker who struggle to pay the bills –
convinced that the game is fixed against them, that their government
only serves the interests of the powerful – a recipe for more cynicism
and polarization in our politics.
There are no quick fixes to this long-term trend. I agree
that our trade should be fair and not just free. But the next wave of
economic dislocation won’t come from overseas. It will come from the
relentless pace of automation that makes many good, middle-class jobs
obsolete.
And so we must forge a new social compact – to
guarantee all our kids the education they need; 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 the new economy
don’t avoid their obligations to the country that’s made their success
possible. 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 – one as old as our nation itself.
After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a
vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a
potent and often divisive force in our society. I’ve lived long enough
to know that race relations are better than they were 10, or 20, or 30
years ago – you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes
of young Americans across the political spectrum.
But
we’re not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After
all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a
hard-working white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers
of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy
withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest
in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we
diminish the prospects of our own children – because those brown kids
will represent a larger share of America’s workforce. And 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.
Going
forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination – in hiring, in
housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That’s what our
Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone won’t be
enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this
increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice
of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, 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 minorities, it means tying our
own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this
country face – the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the
transgender American, and also the middle-aged white man who from the
outside may seem like he’s got all the advantages, but who’s seen his
world upended by economic, cultural, and technological change.
For
white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and
Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ‘60s; that when minority groups
voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or
practicing political correctness; that when they wage peaceful protest,
they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our
Founders promised.
For native-born Americans, it means
reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were
said, almost word for word, about the Irish, Italians, and Poles.
America wasn’t weakened by the presence of these newcomers; they
embraced this nation’s creed, and it was strengthened.
So
regardless of the station we occupy; we have to try harder; 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 like we do;
that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love
as our own.
None of this is easy. For too many of us,
it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our
neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or 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, 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 accept only
information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of
basing our opinions on the evidence that’s out there.
This
trend represents a third threat to our democracy. Politics is a battle
of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll 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 is making a fair point, and
that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other,
making common ground and compromise impossible.
Isn’t
that part of what makes politics so 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?
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.
Take the challenge of climate change. In just eight
years, we’ve halved our dependence on foreign oil, doubled our renewable
energy, and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save
this planet. 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: environmental disasters, economic disruptions, and waves of
climate refugees seeking sanctuary.
Now, we can and
should argue about the best approach to the problem. But to simply deny
the problem not only betrays future generations; it betrays the
essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that guided
our Founders.
It’s 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 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, and
build a post-World War II order with other democracies, an order based
not just on military power or national affiliations but on principles –
the rule of law, human rights, freedoms of religion, speech, assembly,
and an independent press.
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,
open democracies, 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 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, and the
intelligence officers, law enforcement, and diplomats who support them,
no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed
an attack on our homeland these past eight years; and although Boston
and Orlando remind us of how dangerous radicalization can be, our law
enforcement agencies are more effective and vigilant than ever. We’ve
taken out tens of thousands of terrorists – including Osama bin Laden.
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. To all
who serve, it has been the honor of my lifetime to be your
Commander-in-Chief.
But protecting our way of life
requires more than 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. That’s why, for the past eight years, I’ve
worked to put the fight against terrorism on a firm legal footing.
That’s why we’ve ended torture, worked to close Gitmo, and reform our
laws governing surveillance to protect privacy and civil liberties.
That’s why I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans. That’s why
we cannot withdraw from global fights – to expand democracy, and human
rights, women’s rights, and LGBT rights – no matter how imperfect our
efforts, no matter how expedient ignoring such values may seem. For the
fight against extremism and intolerance and sectarianism 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. ISIL will try to kill innocent people.
But they cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our
principles in the fight. Rivals like Russia or China cannot match our
influence around the world – unless we give up what we stand for, 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. All of us,
regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding
our democratic institutions. When voting rates are some of the lowest
among advanced democracies, we should make it easier, not harder, to
vote. 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. When Congress
is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians
to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes.
And all
of this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the
responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of
power swings.
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 – with our
participation, and the choices we make. Whether or not we stand up for
our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law.
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;” that we should preserve it 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.
We weaken those ties when
we allow our political dialogue to become so corrosive that people of
good character are turned off from public service; so coarse with rancor
that Americans with whom we disagree are not just misguided, but
somehow 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 blame the leaders we elect without examining our
own role in electing them.
It falls to each of us to be 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 all share the same proud title:
Citizen.
Ultimately, 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 to talk with
one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do
some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials,
grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.
Show up. Dive in. Persevere. Sometimes you’ll win. Sometimes you’ll
lose. Presuming a reservoir of goodness in others can be a risk, and
there will be times when the process disappoints you. But for those of
us fortunate enough to have been a part of this work, 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.
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’ve 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, and our wounded warriors 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 of our obligations to care for refugees, to work in peace, and
above all to look out for each other.
That faith 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
couldn’t possibly have imagined. I hope yours has, too. Some of you
here tonight or watching at home were there with us in 2004, in 2008, in
2012 – and maybe you still can’t believe we pulled this whole thing
off.
You’re not the only ones. Michelle – for the past
25 years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, but my
best friend. You took on a role you didn’t ask for and made it your
own with grace and grit and style and good humor. You made the White
House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its
sights higher because it has you as a role model. You’ve made me
proud. You’ve made the country proud.
Malia and Sasha,
under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young
women, smart and beautiful, but more importantly, kind and thoughtful
and full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so
easily. Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your
dad.
To
Joe Biden,
the scrappy kid from Scranton who became Delaware’s favorite son: You
were the first choice I made as a nominee, and the best. Not just
because you have been a great vice president, but because in the
bargain, I gained a brother. We love you and Jill like family, and your
friendship has been one of the great joys of our life.
To
my remarkable staff: For eight years – and for some of you, a whole
lot more – I’ve drawn from your energy, and tried to reflect back what
you displayed every day: heart, and character, and idealism. I’ve
watched you grow up, get married, have kids, and start incredible new
journeys of your own. Even when times got tough and frustrating, you
never let Washington get the better of you. The only thing that makes
me prouder than all the good we’ve done is the thought of all the
remarkable things you’ll achieve from here.
And to all of
you out there – every organizer who moved to an unfamiliar town and
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 anyone could hope for, and I will forever be
grateful. Because, yes, you changed the world.
That’s
why I leave this stage tonight even more optimistic about this country
than I was 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 you can make a difference; to
hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourselves. This generation
coming up – unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic – I’ve seen you
in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, just, inclusive
America; you know that constant change has been America’s hallmark,
something not to fear but to embrace, and you are willing to carry this
hard work of democracy forward. You’ll soon outnumber any of us, and I
believe as a result that the future is in good hands.
My
fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I
won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for
all my days that remain. For now, whether you’re young or 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 am 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.
Yes We Did.
Yes We Can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
