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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.
You may view the volume you hold in your hands as a collection 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 1), 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 29), 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 311), 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 his address on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma March (page 550) related the story of John Lewis, 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. Events such as Obama’s address on Father’s Day (page 176), his White House visit with the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors (page 609), and his final annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon (page 657) are full of one-liners and pauses for laughter, but even during more serious speeches, such as his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize Award (page 105), his first State of the Union address (page 115), 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. In his 2014 speech on preparing for college (page 508), he states:
“There’s no limit to what you can do. That’s what America is all about.”
The 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.
