Barack Obama Selected Speeches Read online

  Barack Obama

  Selected Speeches

  Barack Obama

  Selected Speeches

  Introduction by Ken Mondschein, PhD

   Canterbury Classics

   An imprint of Printers Row Publishing Group

   9717 Pacific Heights Blvd, San Diego, CA 92121

   www.canterburyclassicsbooks.com • [email protected]

  Compilation © 2021 Canterbury Classics

  Some speeches appear under a Creative Commons license:

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Printers Row Publishing Group is a division of Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC.

  Canterbury Classics is a registered trademark of Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC.

  Correspondence concerning the content of this book should be sent to Canterbury Classics, Editorial Department, at the above address.

  Publisher: Peter Norton • Associate Publisher: Ana Parker

  Art Director: Charles McStravick

  Production Team: Julie Greene, Rusty von Dyl

  Cover design: James Dean Johns and Rusty von Dyl

  Photo used in front cover design: AP Photo/Mannie Garcia

  Photo for endpapers: Brooks Kraft/Corbis Historical via Getty Images

  Photo on page x: obamawhitehouse.archives.gov

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64517-893-4

  eBook Edition: September 2021

  Editor’s Note: The pieces in this book have been published in their original form to preserve the author’s intent and style.

  CONTENTS

  ____________________

  Preface

  Introduction

  Pre-Presidential Speeches

  2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

  Senatorial Election Night Speech

  Keynote Address on Faith and Politics

  An Honest Government, a Hopeful Future

  2009

  First Presidential Inaugural Address

  State of the Nation Address to Congress

  A New Foundation Speech

  A New Beginning Speech

  Speech to Joint Session of Congress on Health Care

  Remarks on Job Creation

  Acceptance Speech for the Nobel Prize Award

  2010

  First State of the Union Address

  Unannounced Briefing on Health Care and Jobs

  Vote Push on Health Care Reform

  Health Care Speech (George Mason University)

  Address at the Pentagon Memorial

  2011

  Second State of the Union Address

  Announcement of Osama Bin Laden’s Death

  Address Regarding the Middle East and North Africa

  Speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference

  Address to the Nation on Debt Compromise Agreement

  Speech on Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction

  Speech on Ending the War in Iraq

  Speech on the Economy (Osawatomie, Kansas)

  2012

  Third State of the Union Address

  Speech on Supreme Court Affordable Care Act Ruling

  Second Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech

  Address at the American Red Cross on Hurricane Sandy Recovery

  Second Presidential Election Victory Speech

  Speech at the Sandy Hook Elementary School Interfaith Prayer Vigil

  2013

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address

  Fourth State of the Union Address

  Boston Interfaith Prayer Service Speech

  Statement on the Affordable Care Act and the Government Shutdown

  Address on the Affordable Care Act

  Address on Improvements to the Affordable Care Act

  Address at the Public Memorial for Nelson Mandela

  2014

  Fifth State of the Union Address

  Speech on Opportunity for All: Making Work Pay and the Minimum Wage

  Address on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

  2015

  Sixth State of the Union Address

  Address on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma March

  Address on the Supreme Court Ruling of the Affordable Care Act

  Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney

  Statement on Supreme Court Decision on Marriage Equality

  2016

  Final State of the Union Address

  Building Better Politics Speech

  Speech at the Dallas Police Memorial

  Address at the 9/11 Memorial Service

  National Museum of African-American History and Culture Dedication Speech

  2017 and Post-Presidential Speeches

  Farewell Address

  Town Hall Speech on George Floyd Protests

  Eulogy for John Lewis

  Speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention

  PREFACE

  ____________________

  The rise of Barack Obama on America’s political stage was nothing less than meteoric. It began in the 2004 United States Senate Democratic primaries when he received more than 52 percent of the vote, far ahead of his closest Democratic rival. If that wasn’t impressive enough, in November that year, Obama won the U.S. Senate seat with an overwhelming 70 percent of the vote, the largest victory margin in Illinois history. Only three years later, he became the first African American to secure from a major political party the nomination for president. He won the nomination by a narrower margin, but was chosen over a formidable opponent—Senator Hillary Clinton. Like the Founding Fathers he often references, his place in the history books was assured in 2008 when he became the first African American to be elected president of the United States.

  Through the years, Obama’s vision for “a more perfect union” was masterfully conveyed to the public through the strength of his writing and oration. Although he had speechwriters on his staff, few Americans may realize how much time the president himself dedicated to getting the words just right. In media interviews, Jon Favreau, former Director of Speechwriting, reflects on late nights spent with the President discussing ideas and making edits before a big speech, and last-minute adjustments in the motorcade. Campaign posters focused on optimism rose up from independent artist Shepard Fairey and were approved by the Obama campaign, forever linking Obama’s name to the words “hope” and “change.” Obama’s oratory compelled all Americans to embody those words in their desire for the future, whether for economic security, social equality, universal health care, or another poetic cause. His messages of unity, compassion, patriotism, and the need for action from a more positive perspective consistently reached out and asked all citizens and civil servants to examine who they were as individuals, then make decisions that reflected the best version of our nation as a whole.

  This book is not a comprehensive collection of every one of Obama’s speeches, but rather a selection of highlights from his oratory, spanning from his emergence onto the national stage at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (page 1) to his post-presidency appearances. Readers of this volume can appreciate the challenges the editors faced in determining which of the president’s speeches to include and which to exclude. When so many of his public pronouncements were considered significant, what criteria should be used to narrow down the selection? During his eight year
s in office, President Obama championed many causes, including (but certainly not limited to) job creation, education, national security, climate change, and economic growth. The speeches in this volume touch on each of these topics, and they primarily focus on what is generally considered his key policy initiative: health care. Also included are numerous speeches that Obama gave in response to the major moments, events, and anniversaries that affected American life and the trajectory of American history during his time in office. As the years continue to pass since Obama’s administration came to an end, time allows us to view the importance of these speeches from a historical perspective, and also to rediscover and appreciate anew his ability to connect with all Americans— not just those who represented his base or supported his policies, but citizens across the political spectrum. It was all Americans together who experienced the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings (page 290), the relief of the killing of Osama bin Laden (page 173), and the grief mingled with inspiration experienced at the funeral of a slain reverend (page 394). In these seminal moments in American life, citizens facing sadness, joy, or uncertainty looked to their president for guidance, for understanding, and for the comfort that comes from knowing their leader shared their fears and their concerns—and, more important, their abiding hope.

  You may view the volume you hold in your hands as a selection of speeches, but it is also a book of stories—tales of individual American citizens, as well as the nation as a whole—covering more than a decade of our history. Obama often kept his audiences engaged by relating the points of his speeches to stories of everyday Americans, past and present, and their struggles to reach higher ideals. It is said that his mastery of human anecdotes will prove an important part of his legacy, as engaging stories tend to be remembered and retold, changing minds and influencing opinions—something politicians with lesser speaking skills rarely accomplish long-term. Who doesn’t relish a layered tale of heroism relating a journey with highs and lows, surprises, and a happy ending? The way Obama tells it, every U.S. citizen is a hero on a journey.

  Right from the beginning, in his 2004 acceptance speech for the U.S. Senate (page 6), Obama relates how he met Margaret Lewis, an African American woman, who was 104 years old and very proud to have voted for him—indeed, very proud to have the right to vote for him. In his speech, he reflects on the incredible changes she saw over her lifetime; he lays out the changes he hopes yet to make for a better future, and invites the audience on a journey to reach that destination. He states that he stands before them because the nation “believed in the possibility of a government that was just as decent as the American people are.” In his 2009 address to a joint session of Congress (page 76), Obama explains how he’s found hope in unlikely places, such as Miami bank president Leonard Abess, who took care of his employees financially during hard times; the town of Greensburg, Kansas, which was destroyed by a tornado and was rebuilding as an environmentally greener city; and a little girl in South Carolina who wrote to Congress asking for help to fix leaks in her school’s roof. When he addressed the public in 2012 after the favorable Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (page 241), he referenced a framed letter on his office wall from Natoma Canfield, a cancer survivor who had to surrender her health insurance because her rates became unaffordable. And in his address on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma March (page 381) and his eulogy for John Lewis (page 472), he related the story of the civil rights icon who led peaceful protestors across a bridge to a more just and inclusive America. Each one of Obama’s speeches, and the stories of heroic citizens contained therein, have inspired enormous faith in our country, and in our fellow countrymen.

  One of the five youngest presidents to grace the White House, Obama’s amiable nature and sense of humor shone in many of his addresses, especially those given to university crowds. Not one to pass up a “dad joke” or a good pun, he and speechwriter David Litt ensured each dissertation was entertaining as well as informative. Even during more serious speeches, such as his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize Award (page 99), his first State of the Union address (page 109), or some of the memorials at which he spoke, Obama knew just how to relieve the tension by inspiring smiles.

  Barack Obama was a unique president, not just for being the first African American to hold the highest political office in our nation, nor for his bipartisan peacemaking abilities, nor even for his masterful storytelling skills, but for his unwavering vision of an optimistic America where every citizen enjoys the freedoms set forth in our Constitution.

  The selection of speeches contained in this volume are a tribute to his view of E pluribus unum—out of many, one. They are reminders that in each of us there is a neighbor, a friend, a family member, a good Samaritan—we can each make a difference in the lives of others simply through our hope and our choices. They are reminders of Obama’s belief in our ability to bring about change—that together, we can do great things.

  INTRODUCTION

  ___________________________

  The presidency of Barack Obama was simultaneously one of the most hopeful and one of the most divisive periods in recent American history. While successfully shoring up the nation’s economy through a major recession, weathering storms in foreign policy, and attempting widespread structural reforms—most notably in health care—Obama led a house divided against itself. America from 2008 to 2016 was a nation wrestling with questions of national identity, a changing economy, a dragging war in the Middle East, and a public discourse increasingly characterized by demagoguery, tribalism, and snap reactions on social media instead of reason, universalism, and careful discussion. These led to Obama spending much of his term of office fighting an obstructionist Congress that sought to thwart many of his policy initiatives, and culminated in the unexpected and contentious election of Donald Trump in 2016.

  Moreover, the election of the first African American president proved not to be the hoped-for balm to heal the race wound inflicted on the United States at its founding; though the injury seemed to have superficially healed over, a fever still raged inside. The Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2014 and took on increasing importance with the killing of George Floyd in 2020, has proven a particular flash point. With Donald Trump’s White House responding by roiling the already-troubled waters rather than pouring oil upon them, many again turned to Obama for leadership.

  Yet, against a climate of increasing radicalization on both the right and the left, Obama was, and has remained in his post-presidential years, steadfastly moderate—“No Drama Obama” as his senior advisor David Axelrod dubbed him. He has maintained a fundamental belief in American institutions and called for change through the political process. His message was always one of hope, tolerance, cooperation, calm optimism, and logical solutions. Ironically, these policies fueled a disconnect with the more liberal wing of his own party as well as a heartland frustrated with resentful out-of-touch meritocratic elites who were distrustful of expertise, suspicious of the “deep state” and centralized government, and terrified of losing what little privilege they possessed. During Obama’s terms of office, the disconnect was made manifest by a Congress that sought to wind the clock back on the progress accomplished in the administration’s first two years. Thus, the hope promised by Obama’s far-reaching vision was dimmed by the reality of factional politics. To his detractors on the Left, Obama seemed a sort of Hamlet— well educated, sympathetic, but marred by a fatal indecision when faced with villainy. Those on the Right, conversely, read him as Richard III—a sort of misbegotten monster, given to devious scheming, and a foe of liberty.

  Now that the four years of the Trump administration have yielded to that of Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, Obama’s policies have a new lease on life—though Biden still has to contend with both a growing right-wing populist movement that bases its decisions on feelings rather than facts and the left wing of his own party, which has been simultaneously energized by the reactionary Trump
regime and alienated by more moderate democrats. While the passage of a mere four years has not allowed the fruits of Obama’s presidency to fully ripen in a way that affords us to truly evaluate his legacy, the speeches he gave while a candidate, as Chief Executive, and in his post-presidential years are valuable primary sources for examining both the hopes and disappointments of his two terms of office, as well as a lens for viewing a pivotal moment in the history of the republic. While we cannot yet say what the conclusion of this chapter of American history will be, we can look and see with what ink the page will be written.

  Barack Obama’s Early Life

  _______________

  Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961, less than two years after Hawaii achieved statehood. His mother, Kansas-born Ann Dunham, was white; his father, Barack Obama Sr., was from Kenya. They married six months before he was born. These facts would later take on outsized significance because of the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory, which denied that Obama was a U.S. citizen—a visceral rejection of the idea that he could be a “real” American. While the birther slander is not worthy of serious consideration, Obama’s interracial heritage, and his unquestioned acceptance by Ann Dunham’s parents, were indeed unusual for mid-twentieth century America: Loving v. Virginia, in which the Supreme Court declared any ban on interracial marriage unconstitutional, would not be decided until 1967. However, Hawaii had a long history as a racial, ethnic, and cultural melting pot, and Obama’s heritage was not seen as being too unusual in his home state.

  Obama’s mother and father divorced in 1964. The elder Obama, who went on to earn a master’s degree in economics from Harvard and became a finance minister in Kenya, would visit his son in Hawaii only once before he was killed in an automobile accident in 1982. In fact, the younger Obama spent his childhood from 1967–71 in Indonesia after his mother remarried to Lolo Soetoro, whom she met when Soetoro was an international exchange student. Obama returned to Honolulu in 1971 to live with his grandparents and attend a private high school; his mother would divorce his stepfather in 1982 and go on to earn a PhD in anthropology in 1992 before dying of uterine and ovarian cancer in 1995. As Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of Obama’s foremost African American chroniclers and critics has observed, the international upbringing of the first black president was far from typical: He was raised by a highly educated, multicultural family in an unusually tolerant place for the time, and was able to attend excellent schools. He chose to become, rather than having been born, a member of the African American community.