I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States
of America will endure, that it will prevail, that the dream
of our founders will live on in our time.
Barack Obama
At the Lincolm Memorial concert on National
Mall in Washington, January 18, 2009, two days before his inauguration
as US President. |
To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all
share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military
on the planet.
Barack Obama
December 2008. |
I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on
that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And
I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and
parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the
world.
Barack Obama
On CBS 60 Minutes, November 16, 2008. |
Our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously,
a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.
Barack Obama
On choosing a dog for his children as they
go into the White House. |
Change has come to America.
Barack Obama
Victory speech in US presidential election,
home state of Chicago, November 4, 2008. |
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America
is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders
if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still
questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
Barack Obama
Victory speech in US presidential election,
home state of Chicago, November 4, 2008. |
To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn: I may
not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your
help, and I will be your President, too.
Barack Obama
Victory speech in US presidential election,
home state of Chicago, November 4, 2008. |
She was the cornerstone of our family and a woman of extraordinary
accomplishment, strength and humility. She was the person who
encouraged and allowed us to take chances.
Barack Obama
In joint statement with his sister, on
death of 86-year-old grandmother Madelyn Dunham on eve of US
presidential election 2008. |
On Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show', in satellite interview,
October 29 2008:
Stewart: Are you concerned in some respects, you know,
and I don't even know how to bring this up. Obviously your mother
is from Kansas. She's a white woman. Your father, African. Are
you concerned that you may go into the voting booth and ...
Obama: I won't know what to do.
Stewart: Your white half will all of a sudden decide,
"I can't do this."
Obama: That's a problem ... |
Mr Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been
involved in this campaign. And he will not advise me in the
White House.
Barack Obama
On alleged links to former radical Bill
Ayers, who carried out a series of bombings in the 1960s, said
during final US TV presidential debate, October 15, 2008. |
You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig.
Barack Obama
In an apparent attack on Republican vice-president
nominee Sarah Palin, September 2008. |
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John
McCain doesn't get it.
Barack Obama
At Democratic Party's Denver convention,
August 2008. |
America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to
turn the page of the policies of the past.
Barack Obama
Claiming Democratic presidential nomination
victory over Hillary Clinton after his triumph in Montana primary,
June 3, 2008. |
I honor -- we honor -- the service of John McCain, and I respect
his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine.
Barack Obama
Speech following Montana primary, June
3, 2008. |
Im not denouncing the church, and Im not interested
in people who want me to denounce the church. Its not
a church worthy of denouncing.
Barack Obama
On resigning membership of Trinity United
Church of Chjrist, May 31, 2008. |
Ive known Reverend Wright for almost twenty years. The
person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met twenty
years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive,
but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey
on hate and I believe that they do not portray accurately the
perspective of the black church. They certainly dont portray
accurately my values and beliefs and if Reverend Wright thinks
that's political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know
me very well and based on his remarks yesterday, well I may
not know him as well as I thought either.
Barack Obama
At press conference following Reverend
Jeremiah Wright's speech at Press Club event, April 29, 2008. |
You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot
like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been
gone now for 25 years and nothings replaced them. And
they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration,
and each successive administration has said that somehow these
communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So its
not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns
or religion or antipathy towards people who arent like
them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as
a way to explain their frustrations.
Barack Obama
At San Francisco fundraiser, April 6, 2008. |
I've got two daughters, nine years old and six years old.
I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals.
But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with
a baby.
Barack Obama
Town Hall Meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania,
March 29, 2008. |
The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors
any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white
person who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't
know, there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences
that don't go away, and that sometimes comes out in the wrong
way, and that's just the nature of race in our society.
Barack Obama
Interview with WIP, March 20, 2008. |
John McCain once opposed these tax cuts - he rightly called
them unfair and fiscally irresponsible. But now he has done
an about face and wants to make them permanent, just like he
wants a permanent occupation in Iraq. No matter what the costs,
no matter what the consequences, John McCain seems determined
to carry out a third Bush-term. That's an outcome America can't
afford. Because of the Bush-McCain policies, our debt has ballooned.
Barack Obama
Speech on the cost of war, March 20, 2008. |
We've got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country.
We've got a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness and misunderstanding.
... This country wants to move beyond these kinds of things.
Barack Obama
Speech on race, March 18, 2008. |
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.
I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother
a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and
again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything
in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black
men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one
occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made
me cringe.
Barack Obama
Regarding inflammatory racial remarks of
his Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah White, speech on race, March 18, 2008. |
But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish
it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only
serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between
the races.
Barack Obama
Speech on race, March 18, 2008. |
This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation
has shown that it can always be perfected.
Barack Obama
Speech on race, March 18, 2008. |
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Barack Obama
Speech following Super Tuesday results,
Feb 5, 2008. |
I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
Barack Obama
Interview in Christianity Today, January
22, 2008. |
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics
who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to
come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been
warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been
anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible
odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we
shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have
responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
Barack Obama
Speech following New Hampshire Primary
January 8, 2008. |
I did. It's not something that I'm proud of. It was a mistake
as a young man, but you know? I mean not going to -- I never
understood that line. The point was to inhale. That was the
point.
Barack Obama
About his marijuana use, When asked "did
you inhale?", November 2007. |
If I sit down with the leader of Iran, I will send him a strong
message that Israel is our friend, that we will assist in their
security and that we don't find nuclear weapons acceptable....
That's not going to be a propaganda coup for the president of
Iran.
Barack Obama
CNN/YouTube debate, July 23, 2007. |
Nobody's suffering more than the Palestinian people from this
whole process. And I would like to see if we could get
some movement from Palestinian leadership what I'd like
to see is a loosening up of some of the restrictions on providing
aid directly to the Palestinian people.
Barack Obama
Response to question in Iowa, March 11,
2007 in "Iowans get an up-close view of Obama" in
USA Today. |