President Obama's weekly address previewing his farewell speech: transcript

Key points

• Presidents since George Washington have delivered a farewell address, and Obama will give his in Chicago on Tuesday night.
• He chose Chicago because it is his hometown and where his career in public service began.
• He says change comes when ordinary people engage and work together, which is the heart of American self-government.
• He cites a growing economy with rising incomes, and 20 million more Americans with health insurance.
• He lists bringing most troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, opening a new chapter with Cuba, the Iran nuclear deal and a climate agreement.
• He calls citizenship the idea that people who love their country can change it, and invites viewers to tune in.

Chapters

1. 0:10Why the farewell address will be in Chicago
2. 0:44America's story of self-government
3. 1:18Economy and health care achievements
4. 1:57Security, diplomacy and climate progress
5. 2:28The imperative of citizenship

Full transcript

0:10Since the days of George Washington, presidents have delivered some form of final message while in office, a farewell address to the American people. On Tuesday night in Chicago, I'll deliver mine. I chose Chicago not only because it's my hometown, where I met my wife and we started a family, but also because it's really where my career in public service began. The running thread through my career has been the notion that when ordinary people get involved and get engaged and come together in collective effort, things change for the better.

0:44That's the belief at the heart of this precious American experiment in self-government. It's what gives work and purpose to each new generation. It's easy to lose sight of that truth in the day-to-day back and forth of Washington or our minute-to-minute news cycles. But remember that America is a story told over a longer time horizon, in fits and starts, punctuated at times by hardship, but ultimately written by generations of citizens who've somehow worked together, without fanfare, to form a more perfect union.

1:18Over the past eight years, we've added our own new chapter to that story. Together, we've turned an economy that was shrinking and losing jobs into one that is growing and creating jobs, with poverty falling, incomes rising, and wages that have jumped faster over the past few years than at any time in the past four decades. Together, we've achieved what eluded politicians of both parties for a century. We've moved 20 million more Americans from uninsured to insured, ending the days of discrimination against up to half of Americans who have a pre-existing condition, and secured new rights and protections for everybody with health insurance.

1:57Together, we've brought home most of our brave troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, took bin Laden and thousands of other terrorists off the battlefield for good. We've opened a new chapter with the people of Cuba, shut down Iran's nuclear weapons program without firing a single shot, and brought the world together around a climate agreement that could save this planet for future generations. By these measures, and many more, we have made America a better, stronger place for the generation that follows ours.

2:28We've run our leg in a long journey of progress, knowing that our work is and will always be unfinished. And that's the imperative of citizenship, the idea that with hard work, people who love their country can change it. That will be the focus of my farewell to you this Tuesday, and I hope you'll tune in. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Source and licence

Recording: File:2017-01-07 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm by The White House (Taken on 7 January 2017), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.