Here Are the Very Best Bits from President Obama’s Emotional Farewell Speech

“Reality has a way of catching up with you.”


President Barack Obama gave his farewell address on Tuesday night from McCormick Place, a huge convention center in Chicago.

News cameras captured images of the jubilant, 20,000-strong crowd crying and waving smartphones throughout Obama’s speech. “Four more years!” they chanted. (“I can’t do that,” Obama joked.)

The speech capped a turbulent day in the political life of the country, which began with sometimes-fractious confirmation hearings of attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, and ended with news that intelligence officials told president-elect Donald Trump that Russia might be keeping a compromising dossier on him.

And Obama didn’t waste any time mentioning the upcoming inauguration. “In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next,” he said. “I committed to President-elect Trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me.”

He didn’t mention Trump again.

Obama argued he was now leaving the country in better shape than when he took office in 2008—a big applause line came when he spoke about securing “the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens”—while warning that “there are no quick fixes” to some of the country’s most entrenched problems.

Watch some of the best bits from Obama’s final speech above.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate