President Barack Obama’s Farewell Speech
Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
My fellow Americans, 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.
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 and 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.
So I first came to Chicago when I was in my
early twenties, and I was still trying to figure out who I was; still searching
for a purpose to 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.
(CROWD CHANTING “FOUR MORE YEARS”)
I can’t do that.
Now 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, the 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. 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 has been contentious. Sometimes it has
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 — 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 — 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 — 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. That’s what you
did. You were the change. The answer to 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. No, no, no, no, no. 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. 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. 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.
And 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, and 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.
There have been moments throughout our
history that threatened 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.
(APPLAUSE)
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 fair 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, anyone can put together a plan that is
demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to our health care system,
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 idea. While the top 1 percent has amassed a
bigger share of wealth and income, too many of our 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
interest of the powerful. That’s a recipe for more cynicism and polarization in
our politics.
Now there’re 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...
(APPLAUSE)
... to unionize for better wages.
(CHEERS)
To update the social safety net to reflect the way
we live now.
(APPLAUSE)
And make more reforms to the tax code so
corporations and the individuals who reap the most from this new economy don’t
avoid their obligations to the country that’s made their very success possible.
(CHEERS)
(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...
(APPLAUSE)
... 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 highest ideals
require.
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 the way it should 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, 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, that 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 all the 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; 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)
For 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 were 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 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)
(CHEERING)
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. In 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. Look, 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, then
we’re going to keep talking past each other.
(CROWD CHEERS)
And we’ll make common ground and compromise
impossible. 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
pre-school 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,
it’s selective sorting of the facts. It’s self-defeating because, as my mom
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, we’ve doubled our renewable
energy, we’ve led the world to an agreement that (at) 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.
(CROWD CHEERS)
It is that spirit — 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 seek free markets in 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. They represent 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.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
And although...
(APPLAUSE)
... 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.
(CHEERS)
(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.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
And all who serve or have served — it has been the
honor of my lifetime to be your commander-in-chief.
(CHEERS)
And we all owe you a deep debt of gratitude.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
But, protecting our way of life, that’s not just
the job of our military. Democracy can buckle when it gives into 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...
(CHEERS)
... who are just as patriotic as we are.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
That’s why...
(APPLAUSE)
That’s why we cannot withdraw...
(APPLAUSE)
That’s why we cannot withdraw from big global
fights to expand democracy and human rights and women’s rights and LGBT rights.
(APPLAUSE)
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. 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, 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. When Congress is
dysfunctional, we should draw our 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. We, the people, give it meaning — with our
participation, and with the choices that we make and the alliances that we
forge.
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 course 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.
(APPLAUSE)
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.
(CROWD CHEERS)
It falls to each of us to be those anxious,
jealous guardians of our democracy. Embrace the joyous task we have 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 type, 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 you 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.
(CROWD CHEERS)
If you’re disappointed by your elected
officials, grab a clip board, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.
(CROWD CHEERS)
Show up, dive in, stay at it. Sometimes
you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose. Presuming a reservoir in goodness, 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 part of this one 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. Mine sure has been.
(APPLAUSE)
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. 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 and 2008,
2012.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
Maybe you still can’t believe we pulled
this whole thing off.
(CHEERS)
Let me tell you, you’re not the only ones.
(LAUGHTER)
Michelle...
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson of the South
Side...
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
... for the past 25 years you have not only
been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend.
(CHEERS)
(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.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
You made the White House a place that
belongs to everybody.
(CHEERS)
And a new generation sets its sights higher
because it has you as a role model.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
You have made me proud, and you have made
the country proud.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
Malia and Sasha...
(CHEERS)
... under the strangest of circumstances
you have become two amazing young women.
(CHEERS)
You are smart and you are beautiful. But
more importantly, you are kind and you are thoughtful and you are full of
passion.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
And...
(APPLAUSE)
... you wore the burden of years in the
spotlight so easily. Of all that I have done in my life, I am most proud to be
your dad.
(APPLAUSE)
To Joe Biden...
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
... the scrappy kid from Scranton...
(CHEERS)
... who became Delaware’s favorite son. You
were the first decision I made as a nominee, and it was the best.
(CHEERS)
(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 try 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 are
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 forever be grateful. 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; 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; 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 any 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. 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 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.
(APPLAUSE)
Yes, we did.
(APPLAUSE)
Yes, we can.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. God bless you. And may God
continue to bless the United States of America. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
END