President Obama's Farewell Speech BBC News Special

I'm Laura Trevelyan, here in the city where Barack Obama,

President of the United States for eight years, will shortly

He's returned to the city where he launched his political

career and he will make a parting plea to Americans not to lose faith

in their future, no matter what they think about their next

This is where he met his wife, Michelle, who will be at his side

tonight, and in 2008 he made a victory speech in Chicago. It is a

very important city to him, which is why he has chosen to come here. This

is a speech he has been poring over, thinking about since long before

that more election campaign. This is a speech that his aides say is going

be beyond politics. His supporters tonight, thousands of loyal

supporters, have queued up in the cold to get their free tickets that

were given out. They are here tonight, wanting to hear from him, a

way ahead. For those who did not vote for Donald Trump, this is an

anxious moment. They are seeking reassurance from the man they have

seen in the White House for the last eight years. President Obama's aides

said the speech is not just for his supporters, but for all Americans.

Barack Obama is now taking to the stage in Chicago, let's listen in to

his message to the American people. Hello, Chicago! It's great to be

home! Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much, thank you, thank you. Thank you. It's good to be

home. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Where are my TV,

I've got to move! -- We're on live TV.

You can tell that I'm... You can tell that I'm a lame duck because

nobody is following instructions. Everybody has a seat. -- have. My

fellow Americans. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well wishes that we've

received over the past few weeks. But tonight, tonight it's my turn to

say thanks. Whether we have seen eye to eye, or rarely agreed at all, my

conversations with you, the American people, in living rooms and in

schools, in farms, on factory floors, diners and on distant

military outposts, those conversations are what have kept me

honest and kept me inspired and kept me going. And every day I have

learned from you. You made me a better president and you made me a

better man. So, I first came to Chicago when I was in my early 20s,

and I will still trying to figure out who I was, still searching for a

purpose in my life. And it was the neighbourhood not far from here

where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed

steel mills, it was on these streets where I witnessed the power of

faith. And the quiet dignity of working people in the face of

struggle. And loss. I can't do that. CHANTING "ONE MORE YEAR"..

But this is where I learned that changed only happens when ordinary

people get involved, and they get engaged, and they come together to

demand it. After eight years as your president, I still believe that. And

it's not just my belief. The beating heart of our American ideal, our

bold experiment in self-government. If the conviction that we are all

created equal, in doubt by our Creator with certain rights, among

them, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- it's. It is the

insistence that these rights, while sales evidence, have never been self

executed -- self-evident. That we, the people, through the instrument

of our democracy, can form a more perfect union. What a radical idea.

A great gift that our founders gave to us. The freedom to chase our

individual dreams through our sweat and toil and imagination, and the

imperative to strive together as well to achieve a common good, a

greater good. For 240 years, our nations called to citizenship has

given work and purpose to each new generation. Is what led patriots to

choose fairness of a tyranny. Slaves to brave that makeshift rail Road to

freedom. It is what pulled refugees across oceans. It's what pushed

women to reach for the ballot. It's what empowered workers to organise.

To GI's gave their lives at Omaha Beach, as well as those in Iraq and

Afghanistan -- over. And why men and women all over were prepared to give

theirs as well. --2. So, that's what we mean when we say in America's

exceptional. Not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but

that we have shown the capacity to change. And make life better for

those who followed. Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work

of democracy has always been hard, it's always been contentious.

Sometimes it's been bloody. For every two steps forward, it often

feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been

defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding

creed to embrace all, not just some. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. If I had told

you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession,

reboot our water industry and unleash the longer stretch of job

creation in our history... -- auto -- longest. If I had told you that

we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, sat down WWE

nuclear weapons programme, and take up the mastermind of 9/11. If I had

told you that we would win marriage equality and secure a right to

health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE If I had told you all of that, you might have

said, our sights are set a little too high. But, that's's what we did.

That's's what you did. You were the change. You answered people's hopes,

and because of you, by almost every measure, America's a better,

stronger place than it was when we started. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE In

ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy. No, the

peaceful transfer of power. From one freely elected president to the

next. I committed to President-elect Donald Trump that my administration

would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush

did for me. Because it's up to all of us to make sure our government

can help us meet the many challenges we still face. We have what we need

to do so, we have everything we need to meet those challenges. After all,

we remained the wealthiest, most powerful and most respected nation

on earth. Our youth, drive, diversity and openness, our

boundless capacity for risk and reinvention means that the future

should be ours. But that potential will only be realised if our

democracy works. Only if our politics better reflects the decency

of our people. Only if all of us, regardless of party affiliation or

particular interest, help restore the sense of common purpose that we

so badly need right now. That's what I want to focus on tonight. The

state of our democracy. Understand, democracy does not require

uniformity. Our founders argued, they quarrelled, eventually they

compromised. They expected us to do the same. But they knew that

democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity. The idea that for all

our outward differences, we are all in this together. That will rise or

fall as one. There have been moments throughout our history that

threatened that solidarity. And the beginning of this century has been

one of those times. A shrinking world, growing inequality,

demographic change in the spectre of terrorism. These forces haven't just

tested our security and our prosperity, but are testing our

democracy as well. And how we meet these challenges to our democracy

will determine our ability to educate our kids and create jobs and

protect our homeland. In other words, it will determine our future.

To begin with, our democracy won't work without a sense that everyone

has economic opportunity. And the good news is that, today, the

economy is growing again. Wages, incomes, home values and retirement

accounts are rising again. Poverty is falling again.

The wealthy are paying a fair share of taxes, even as the stock-market

shatters records. The unemployment rate is near a ten year low. The

uninsured rate has never been lower. APPLAUSE.

Health-care costs are rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And I have

said, and I mean it, if anyone can put together a plan that is better

than the improvements we are made to the health-care system, that covers

as many people at less cost, I will publicly support.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. Because that, after all, is why we

serve. Not to score points or take credit, but to make people's lives

better. But for all the real progress that we've made, we know

it's not enough. Our economy doesn't work as well or grow as fast when a

feud prosper at the expense of the middle class. That is the economic

argument, but stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic

idea. While the top 1% has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income,

too many of our families in inner cities and in rural counties have

been left behind. The laid off factory worker, the waitress or

health-care worker who is barely getting by and struggling to pay the

Bills, convinced that the game is fixed against them, that the

government only serves the interests of the powerful - that is a recipe

for more cynicism and polarisation in our politics. Now, there are no

quick fixes to this long-term trend. I agree, our trade should be fair

and not just free, at the next wave of economic dislocations won't come

from overseas, it will come from the relentless pace of automation that

makes a lot of good middle-class jobs obsolete. And so we are going

to have to forge a new social compact to guarantee all our kids

the education they need, to give workers the power to unionise for

better wages, to update the social safety net to reflect the way we

live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and

individuals, who reap the most from this new economy, don't avoid their

obligations to the country that has made their very success possible.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. We can argue about how to best

achieve these goals. But we can't be complacent about the goals

themselves. For if we don't create opportunity for all people, the

disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only

sharpen in years to come. There is a second threat to our democracy, and

this one is as old as our nation itself - after my election there was

talk of a post- racial America and such a vision, however well

intended, was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive

force in our society. Now, I have lived long enough to know that race

relations are better than they were ten or 20 or 30 years ago no matter

what some folks say. APPLAUSE. You can see it not just in statistics,

you see it in the attitudes of young Americans across the political

spectrum. But we are not where we need to be. And all of us have more

work to do. If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a

hard-working white middle class and an undeserving minority, then

workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while

the wealthy have been building their purse. APPLAUSE. If we are all I'm

willing to invest in the children of immigrants just because they don't

look like ours, we will diminish the prospects of our own children,

because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share

of America's workforce. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

And we have shown that our economy doesn't have to be a zero-sum game.

Last year incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and

four women. So, if we are going to be serious about race going forward,

we need to uphold laws against discrimination in hiring and in

housing and in education and in the criminal justice system. That is

what our Constitution and our highest ideals require. But laws

alone won't be enough. Hearts must change. They won't change overnight.

Social attitudes oftentimes take generations to change. But if our

democracy is to work the way it should in this increasingly diverse

nation, then each one of us need to try to heed the advice of a great

character in American fiction, Atticus Finch. He said, you never

really understand a person until you consider things from his point of

view. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. For blacks

and other minority groups that means tying our own very real struggle for

justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face. Not

only the refugee or the transgender or the raw pork but also the

middle-aged white guy who may from the outside seem like he has got

advantages but has seen his world upended by economic and cultural and

technological change -- rural poor. We have to pay attention and listen.

For white Americans it means acknowledging that the effects of

slavery and Jim Crow didn't suddenly vanish in the 60s. That when

minority groups voiced discontent they are not just engaging in

reverse racism or practising political correctness. When they

wage peaceful protest they are not demanding special treatment, but the

equal treatment that our founders promised.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. For nativeborn Americans... For

nativeborn Americans it means reminding ourselves that the

stereotypes about immigrants today were said almost word for word about

the Irish. And the Italians, and the Poles, who it was said were going to

destroy the fundamental character of America. But as it turned out,

America was weakened by the presence of these newcomers, these newcomers

embraced this nation's read and this nation was strengthened. APPLAUSE.

So, regardless of the station that we occupied we all have to try

harder. We all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow

citizens loves this country just as much as we do, that they value hard

work and family just like we do. That their children are just as

curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own. And that is not

easy to do. For too many of us it has become safer to retreat into our

own bubbles, whether in our neighbourhoods or on college

campuses or places of worship, or specially our social media feeds,

surrounded by people who look like ours and share the same political

outlook and never challenge our assumptions. And the rise of naked

partisanship and increasing economic and regional stratification, the

splinting of our media into a channel for every taste. All this

makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And

increasingly we become so secure in our bubbles that we start accepting

only information, whether it is true or not, that fits our opinions,

instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that is out there. This

trend represents a third threat to our democracy, but politics is a

battle of ideas. That is how our democracy was designed. In the

course of healthy debate we prioritise different goals and the

different means. But without some common baseline effects, without a

willingness to admit new information and concede that your opponent might

be making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, then we

are going to keep talking past each other. And we will make common

ground and compromise impossible. And isn't that part of what so often

makes politics dispiriting? How can elected officials raided our

deficits when we propose to spend money on preschool for kids but not

when we are cutting taxes for corporations. How do we excuse

ethical lapses in our own party at pounds when the other party does the

same thing? It is not just dishonest, this selective sorting of

the facts, it is self-defeating. Because, as my mum used to tell me,

reality has a way of catching up with you. Take the challenge of

climate change, in just eight years we have halved our dependence on

foreign oil, we have doubled our renewable energy, we have let the

world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. But without bolder action, our

children won't have time to debate the existence of climate change.

They will be busy dealing with its effects. More environmental

disasters, more economic disruptions, waves of climate

refugees seeking sanctuary. Now, we can and should argue about the best

approach to solve the problem, but to simply deny the problem, not only

betray its future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this

country, the essential spirit of innovation and practical

problem-solving that guided our founders.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. It is that spirit, that spirit born

of the enlightenment that made us an economic powerhouse. The spirit that

took flight at Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral. The spirit that he was

disease and put a computer in every pocket. It is that spirit, a faith

in reason and enterprise, and the primacy of rights over might, that

allowed us to resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great

Depression, that allowed us to build a post-World War II order with other

democracies, not just based on military power or national

affiliations, but built on principles, the rule of law, human

rights, freedom of religion and speech and assembly and an

independent press. That order is now being challenged.

First by violent fanatics who claim to speak for is Lahm, more recently

by autocrats in foreign capitals who see civil society itself as a threat

to their power -- Islam. The peril each poses to our democracy is more

far reaching than a missile. They represent the fear of change, the

fear of people who look or speak or play differently. A contempt for the

rule of law that holds leaders accountable, and intolerance of free

thought. The belief that the sword or become -- or the gun or the bomb

is the arbiter of what is true and right. -- pray. Because of the

extraordinary courage of our men and women in uniform, because of our

intelligence officers and law enforcement, diplomats who support

our troops, no foreign terrorist organisation has successfully

planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past eight years.

And although Boston, and Orlando, and San Bernardino, and Fort Hood

were victims of dangerous radicalisation, our law enforcement

agencies are more vigilant than ever. We have taken out tens of

thousands of terrorist, including Bin Laden. -- terrorists. The global

coalition we are taking against ISIL has taken out a leaders and about

half their territory. Islamic State will be destroyed and nobody who

threatens America will ever be safe. And all who serve, who have served,

it has been the honour of my lifetime to be your commander in

chief. And we all owe you a deep debt of gratitude. CHEERING AND

APPLAUSE But protecting our way of life,

that's's not just the job of our military. Democracy can buckle when

it gives in to fear. So, just as we, as citizens, must remain vigilant

against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the

values that make us who we are. And that's why, for the past eight

years, I've worked to put the fight against terrorism on a firmer legal

footing. That's why we've ended torture, worked to close Guantanamo

Bay, reformed our laws governing surveillance to protect privacy and

civil liberties. That's why I reject discrimination against Muslim

Americans, who are just as patriotic as we are. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That's why we cannot withdraw from big global fights to expand

democracy and human rights, women's rights, LGBTQI rights. No matter our

efforts and how expedient ignoring such values may seem, that's part of

defending America. For the fight against extremism and intolerance

and sectarianism and chauvinism, our peace with the fight against

authoritarianism and nationalist aggression, if the scope of freedom

and respect for the rule of law threads around the world, the

likelihood of war within and between nations increases. Our own freedoms

will eventually be threatened. So, let's be vigilant, but not afraid.

Islamic State will try to kill innocent people. But they cannot

defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles in

the fight. Rivals like Russia or China cannot match our influence

around the world unless we give up what we stand for. And turn

ourselves into just another big country that boys smaller

neighbours. -- fights against smaller neighbours. And that brings

me to my final point. Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it

for granted. All of us, regardless of anything, should be throwing

ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic

institutions. When voting rates in America are some of the lowest among

advanced democracies, we should be making it easier, not harder, to

vote. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE When trust in our institutions is low, we

should reduce the course of influence of money in our politics

and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public

service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our

congressional districts to encourage auditions to cater to common sense,

and not rigid extremes. But remember, none of this happens on

its own. All of this depends on our participation. On each of us

accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way

the pendulum of power happens to be swinging. Our Constitution is a

remarkable, beautiful gift. But it's really just a piece of parchment. It

has no power on its own. We, the people, give its power. We, the

people, give it meaning. With our participation and with the choices

that we make. And the alliances that we forge. Whether or not we stand up

for our freedoms, whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law.

That's up us. -- up to us. America is no fragile thing, but the gains

of our long journey to freedom are not as sure. In his own farewell

address, George Washington wrote that self-government is the

underpinning of our safety, prosperity and liberty. But, from

different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken

to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth. And so, we

have to preserve this truth with jealous anxiety, that we should

reject the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of

our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties that make

us one. America, we weaken those ties when we allow our political

dialogue to become so corrosive that people of good character aren't even

willing to enter into the public service. The Americans with whom we

disagree are seen not just as misguided, but as malevolent. We

weaken those ties when we do find some of us as more American than

others. When we write off the whole system as inevitably corrupt. And

when we sit back and blamed the leaders we elect without examining

our own role in electing them. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE It falls to

each of us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy.

To embrace the joyous task we've been given, to continually try to

improve this great nation of ours. Because, for all our outward

differences, we in fact all share the same proud tie. The most

important office in democracy. Citizen. Citizen. So, you see,

that's what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there's

an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but

over the full span of a lifetime. If you're tired of arguing with

strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real

life. LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE If something needs fixing, then lace up

your shoes and do some organising. If you're disappointed by your

elected officials, grab a clipboard, pets and signatures and run for

office yourself -- get some signatures. Show up, dive in.

Sometimes you'll win, sometimes you'll lose. Preserving a reservoir

of goodness in other people will be a risk, and there will be times when

the process will disappoint you. But for those of us fortunate enough to

have been part of this world and to see it up close, let me tell you, it

can energise and inspire. And more often than not, your faith in

America and in Americans, will be confirmed. Mine Shaw has been. --

sure. Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the hopeful faces

of young graduates, and of our military officers. I have mourned

with grieving families searching for answers, and found grace in

Charleston church. I've see our scientists help a paralysed man

regain his sense of touch. I've seen wounded warriors who, at points,

were given up for dead, walk again. I seen our doctors and volunteers

rebuilt after earthquakes and stop pandemics in their tracks. I've seen

the youngest of children remind us, through their actions and through

their generosity, of our obligations to care for refugees, will work for

peace. And above all, to look out for each other -- or work. So, that

face at I placed all those years ago, not far from here, in the power

of ordinary Americans to bring about change, that fate has been rewarded

in ways I could not have possibly imagined. And I hope your face has,

too. -- faith. Some of you here tonight or watching at home, you

were there with us in 2004 in 2008, 2012. -- and. Maybe you still can't

believe we pulled this whole thing off. Let me tell you, you're not the

only ones. Michelle? CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Michelle Robinson, girl of the Southside...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. .. For the past 25 years you have

not only been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best

friend. You took on a roll you didn't ask for Andy made it your own

with grace and with grit and with style -- and you made it your own.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. You made the White House a place

that belongs to everybody, and a new generation sets its sights higher

because it has you as a role model. So, you have made me proud and you

have made the country proud. Maleah and Sasha, under the strangest of

circumstances you have become two amazing young women. You are smart

and you are beautiful, but more importantly you are kind and you are

thoughtful and you are full of passion.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. And you bore the burden of years in

the spotlight so easily. Of all that I have done in my life, I am most

proud to be your dad. To Joe Biden...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. .. The scrappy kid who became

Delaware's favourite son, the first decision I made as a nominee, and it

was the best, not just because you have been a great vice president but

because in the bargain I gained a brother, and we love you and Jill

like family and your friendship has been one of the latest of our lives.

To my remarkable, for eight years and for some of you at a lot more, I

have drawn from your energy, and every day I tried to reflect back

what you displayed - heart and character and idealism. I have

watched you grow up, get married, have kids, starting credible new

journeys of your own. Even when times got tough and frustrating, you

never let Washington get the better of you. You guarded against

cynicism. And the only thing that makes me prouder than all the good

that we have done is the thought of all the amazing things that you are

going to achieve from here. APPLAUSE.

And all of you out there, every organiser who moved to an unfamiliar

town, every kind family who welcomed them in, every volunteer who knocked

on doors, every young person who cast a ballot for the first time,

every American who lived and breathed the hard work of change,

you are the best supporters and organises anybody could ever hope

for and I will be forever grateful. Because you did change the world.

You did. And that is why I leave this stage tonight even more

optimistic about this country than when we started. Because I know our

work has not only helped so many Americans, it has inspired so many

Americans, especially so many young people out there to believe that you

can make a difference, to hitch a wagon to something bigger than

yourselves. Let me tell you, this generation coming up, I'm selfish,

all juristic, creative, patriotic. I have seen you in every corner of the

country. You believe in a fair and just and inclusive America. You know

that constant change has been America's Hallmark, that it is not

something to fear, but something to embrace. You are willing to carry

this hard work of democracy forward. You will soon outnumber all of us

and I believe as a result the future is in good hands. My fellow

Americans, it has been the honour of my life to serve you. I won't stop.

In fact, I will be right there with you as a citizen for all my

remaining days. But for now, whether you are young or whether you are

young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your president, the

same thing I asked when he took a chance on me eight years ago, I am

asking you to believe not in my ability to bring about change, but

in yours. I are asking you to hold fast in that faith written into our

founding documents, that idea whispered by slaves and abolition

is, the spirit sung by immigrants and Homestead is, those who marched

for justice, the creed reaffirmed by those who planted s and created a

story for every American whose story is not yet written, yes we can, yes

we did, yes we can. Thank you, God bless you, may God continue to bless

the United States of America -- abolitionists. -- homesteaders.

Thank you. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Sir, there is Barack Obama finishing his farewell address, The Crowd

there here inside the Lakeside convention centre in Chicago giving

him applause for the last time as president, and in that speech he

laid out what he sees as his legacy, his achievements, getting rid of Bin

Laden, bringing economic stability after time of crisis, but also

America's first black president directly addressed the issue of race

relations. He had a list of subjects he felt could be corrosive to

American democracy. He pleaded with Americans to understand with one

another, to walk in their shoes. He warned against corrosive politics.

And he paid tribute to his wife, Michelle Obama, to his daughters,

Sasha and Malia, he talked about their significance, of those strong

women in his life, he said he couldn't be more proud of them and

he teared up when he was talking, and the crowd chanting at the

beginning, "Four more years," and Barack Obama telling them, "I

can't". This was his farewell moment. And to his supporters who

have doubt in American democracy, worried about the election of the

President-elect, Donald Trump, he had an up to beat and optimistic

message, that the document of the American Constitution, as he called

it, to have faith in this, to have faith in the strength and the great

good sense of the American people, especially the young generation

coming forward. He paid huge tribute there. But he also made reference to

this divisive and bruising election campaign that we have had and he

warned that the greatest threat of economic dislocation comes not, he

said, from trade, but it will come from automation. That this is what

will lose the next set of jobs and will be the next issue that America

must deal with. And you can see there is the president with Michelle

Obama. He is with his daughter, Sasha, the older daughter Mahlia is

at Harvard, that is why she isn't here tonight, and the President is

savouring this moment, this moment that he could sum up his eight years

in office, which a White House aide said they hoped would be beyond

politics, and he deliberately took the 30,000 Ford view, the view of

how America is making regressed -- foot view. He was careful also,

careful to warn that there are impediments to America's forward

progress, that there are issues that must be dealt with, and he dwelt on

the subject of fake news, of people believing what they want to believe,

of people being in social media, and he urged Americans, if you don't

like what's happening, he told them, get out there and organise, and

joining me now is Danika Miller, Chicago resident. What did you make

of what the President had to say tonight? I think he has been

consistent in his message of hope, he was open in his transition to

power message, he opened with his accomplishments in eight years as

president, and the peaceful and hopeful anticipation to the changes,

and to be respectful of what is to come with the President-elect. Did

you find his message to be reassuring after what has been such

a brutal and divisive election? Yes, indeed. It was kind of like a

renewed faith in the American dream and the American democracy. Just to

keep us in a place where, despite their negativity and all of the

crazy things that have gone on, to stay focused on all we have

accomplished and all that we have done. You were in the wall listening

when the crowd was chanting, "Four more years", and he said, "I can't".

That is hurtful, but it is the way it is in America. We enjoyed the

eight years we had with him. He said it won't be the end of him. He was

urging Americans, if you don't like what is happening, get out and get

organised, because his roots were in Chicago as a community organiser. Is

that message inspiring? Yes, indeed, an IM glad he reminded us we have a

chance to make a change. Despite the little things we feel like we don't

have control over. We can still be proactive in certain things we want

to see taking place. It was a good message. Will you miss President

Barack Obama? Yes, yes indeed. The whole first family on his beautiful

wife and children, everything about them, they are leaving behind some

big shoes to fill. Danika Miller, thank you for joining us. So, that

was Danika Miller, one of just thousands of people packed inside

that hall. So, that is the special coverage from inside the convention

centre in Chicago as president Barack Obama makes his farewell

address to the American people following in a tradition that began

with America's very first president, George Washington. Laura, many

thanks indeed. We will be here in the studio in London. Let's run

through some of the highlights of the final speech from President

Obama to the nation as president. My fellow Americans. Michelle and I

have been so touched by all the well wishes we have received over the

past few weeks. But, tonight, it's my turn to say thanks. Whether we

have seen eye to eye, or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with

you, the American people, in living rooms and in schools, in farms, on

factory floors, diners, and on distant military outposts, those

conversations are what has kept me honest and kept me inspired and kept

me going. And every day, I have learned from you. -- have. You made

me a better president, and you made me a better man.

During the address in Chicago where his political career began,

he started by saying the people had made him a better president.

I first came to Chicago when I was in my early 20s, and I was still

trying to figure out who I was, still searching for a purpose in my

life. And it was a neighbourhood not far from here where I began working

with church groups, in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on

these streets where I witnessed the power of faith and the quiet dignity

of working people in the face of struggle and loss. I can't do that.

CHANTING "ONE MORE YEAR" Now, this is where I learned that change only

happens when ordinary people get involved, and they get engaged, and

they come together to demand it. After eight years as your president,

I still believe that. And it's not just my belief. It's the beating

heart of American ideal, our bold experiment in self-government. If

conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with

certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty and the pursuit

of happiness. The insistence that these rights, while self-evident,

have never been self executed. That we, the people, through the

instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union. What a

radical idea. A great gift that our founders gave to us.

He then went on to list what he considered his successes.

If I have told you eight years ago -- had told you, that America would

reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry and unleashed the

greater stretch of job creation in our history... If I had told you

that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down

Iran's nuclear weapons programme without firing a shot, take up the

mastermind of 9/11... If I had told you that we would secure marriage

equality and secure health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow

citizens... If I had told you all that, you might have said, our sites

were set a little too high. But that's what we did! -- sights.

That's what you did. You were the change. The answer to people's

hopes. And because of you, I almost every measure, America is a better,

stronger place than it was when we started.

In his speech the President, Barack Obama, focused on the state

Understand democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders

argued, they quarrelled, and eventually they compromised. They

expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a

basic sense of solidarity. The idea that for all our outward

differences, we are all in this together. That we rise or fall as

one. And he went on to focus

on the state of the economy, and its relationship

to healthcare and education. To begin with, our democracy won't

work without a sense that everyone has economic opportunity. And the

good news is that today, the economy is growing again, wages, incomes,

home values and retirement accounts are all rising again. Poverty is

falling again. The wealthy are paying a fair share of taxes, even

as the stock-market shatters records the unemployment rate is near a ten

year low. The uninsured rate has never, ever been lower. Health-care

costs are rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And I said, and I mean

it, if anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better

than the improvements need made to our health-care system, that covers

as many people with similar or lower costs, I will publicly support it.

Because that, after all, is why we serve. Not to score points or take

credit, but to make people's lives better. But for all the real

progress that we've made, we know it's not enough. Our economy doesn't

work as well or grow as fast. When a few prosper, the expenses grow for

the middle class, and the same for those who want to get into the

middle class. That is the economic argument. Starc inequality is also

corrosive to our democratic ideal. While the top 1% has amassed a eager

share of wealth and income, too many of our friends in cities and in

rural counties have been left behind -- Stark. Lead of factory workers,

the wages, the health-care worker who is barely getting by in

struggling to pay the bills, convinced that the game is fixed

against them. That the government only serves the interests of the

powerful. That is the recipe for more citizens to make polarisation

in our politics. But there are no quick fixes to this long-term trend.

I agree, our trade should be fair. But the next wave of economic

dislocations won't come from overseas, it will come from the

relentless pace of automation that makes a lot of good middle-class

jobs obsolete. And so, we are going to have to forge a new social

contract to guarantee all our kids the education they need, to get

workers the power to unionise for better wages, to update the social

safety net to reflect the way we live now. To make more reforms to

the tax code so that corporations and individuals who reaped the most

from this new economy torrent of wheat there obligations to the

country that has made their very success possible.

In the last hour, President Obama spoke about race relations

After May election, there was talk of a post- racial America -- my. In

such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic. Race

remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. Now, I've

lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were

ten, 20, 30 years ago, no matter what some folks say. You can see it

not just in statistics, you see it in the attitudes of young Americans

across the political spectrum. But we are not where we need to be. And

all of us have more work to do. If every economic issue is framed as a

struggle between a hard-working, white middle class, and an

undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left

fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their

private anglaise. If we are unwilling to invest in the children

of immigrants just because they don't look like us, we will diminish

the prospects of our own children. Because those brown kids will

represent a larger and larger share of America's work off. CHEERING AND

APPLAUSE Climate change, a controversial

issue which has seen him at odds with the incoming President,

was next on the speech agenda. Take the challenge climate change.

In just eight years, with halved our dependence on foreign oil, doubled

our renewable energy and lead the world to an agreement that has a

promise to save this planet. But without more direction, our children

won't have time to debate the existence of climate change. Thou be

busy dealing with its effects. More environmental disasters, more

economic disruptions, ways of climate refugees seeking sanctuary

-- waves. We can and should argue about the best approach to solve the

problem. But to simply deny the problem, it's not only betrays

future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country.

The essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that

guided our founders. He highlighted what he called

the post-war successes, including the rule of law

and freedoms of religion and speech. Freedoms he said which were under

threat from terrorism. That order is now being challenged.

First, by violent fanatics who try to speak for Islam. More recently by

autocrats in foreign capitals who see free markets and open democracy

in civil society itself as a threat to their power. The peril it poses

to our democracy is more far reaching than a car bomb or a

missile -- each poses. They represent the fear of change, the

fear of people who look or speak or pray differently. A contempt for the

rule of law that holds leaders accountable. And intolerance of

dissent and free thought. A belief that the forward, the gun or the

bomb is the ultimate arbiter of what is true and right -- sword. Because

of the extraordinary courage of our men and women in uniform, because of

our intelligence officers and law enforcement, our diplomats who

support our troops. No foreign terrorist organisation has

successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past

eight years. And although Boston, and Orlando, and San Bernardino, and

Fort Hood remind us of how dangerous radicalisation can be, our law

enforcement agencies are more effective and vigilant than ever. We

have taken out tens of thousands of terrorists, including Bin Laden. The

global coalition we are leading against Islamic State has taken out

their leaders and taken away about half their territory. Islamic State

will be destroyed and nobody who threatens America will ever be safe.

And to all who serve, all who have served, it has been the honour of my

lifetime to be your commander in chief. And we all owe you a deep

debt of gratitude. During his speech Barack Obama said

that laws against discrimination wont be enough in an increasingly

diverse nation. We need to uphold laws against

discrimination in hiring and in housing and in education and in the

criminal justice system. That is what our Constitution and our

highest ideals require. But laws or loan won't be enough. Hearts must

change. They won't change overnight. Social attitudes oftentimes take

generations to change. But if our democracy is to work the way it

should in this increasingly diverse nation, then each one of us need to

try to heed the advice of a great character in American fiction,

Atticus Finch, who said, "You never really understand a person until you

consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin

and walk around in it." He invoked the first

American President when talking In his own farewell address, George

Washington wrote that self-government is the underpinning

of our safety, prosperity and liberty, but from different causes

and from different quarters much pains will be taken to weaken in

your mind is the conviction of this truth. And so, we have to preserve

this truth with jealous anxiety, that we should reject the first

dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the

rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties that make us one. America, we weaken

those ties when we allow our political dialogue to become so

corrosive that people of good character aren't even willing to

enter into public service stops so of course with rancour, Americans

with whom we disagree are seen not just as misguided but seen as

malevolent. We weaken those ties when we define some of us as more

American than others, when we write off the whole system as inevitably

corrupt, and when we sit back and blame the leaders we elect without

examining our own role in electing them.

He also talked of the support and love he'd received

throughout his presidency from his family.

P Teater when he talked of the resort port and love he received

throughout his presidency from his family -- he then teared up.

Michelle Robinson, goal of the Southside -- girl of the Southside.

For the past with ideas you have not only been my wife and mother of my

children, you have been my best friend. You took on a roll you

didn't ask for and you made it your own with grace and with grit and

with style and good humour. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new

generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model.

So, you have made me proud and you have made the country proud. And he

ended where he began, with a call for people to continue to believe in

bringing about change at a hold on to the values of the country's

founding fathers. My fellow Americans, it has been the honour of

my life to serve you. I won't stop. In fact, I will be right there with

you as a citizen for all my remaining days. But for now, whether

you are young or whether you are young at heart, I do have one final

ask of you as your president, the same thing I asked when you took a

chance on me eight years ago, I am asking you to believe not in my

ability to bring about change but in yours. I am asking you to hold fast

to that faith written into our founding documents, that idea

whispered by slaves and abolitionists, that spirit sung by

immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice the

creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign

battlefields to the surface of the mood Delma Moon, a creed of every

American whose story is not yet written, "Yes, we can." Yes we did,

yes we can. Thank you, God bless you. May God continue to bless the

United States of America. Thank you. APPLAUSE.

President Obama, of course, in Chicago, in his final address to the

nation as president, and lest you forget what the President called the

hallmark of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power from one freely

elected leader to the next, Donald Trump to be sworn in on January 20.

I should also tell you he has announced a press conference for

tomorrow. There will be a statement before hand, some of it possibly

about this: Donald Trump has complained

of a political witch hunt against him after unconfirmed

reports emerged in the US media that Russian intelligence had gathered

compromising information about him. In a tweet, the President-elect

denounced the reports as fake news. Unnamed American officials say

the US intelligence services have briefed Mr Trump and President Obama

about the unsubstantiated claims. There has been nothing said publicly

by the US intelligence community to support the claims so far.

In just ten days Donald Trump will take over as president

of the United States and today was a key moment for the team

Senator Jeff Sessions was the first to go before lawmakers

in his confirmation hearing to become the next Attorney General.

Concerns have been raised about his record especially when it

comes to civil rights but today he defended his past and pledged

The BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher reports.

This was always going to be a hard sell, a senator dog for years by

allegations of racism now set to become the country's top law

enforcement official. Jeff Sessions is the first of Donald Trump's

cabinet nominees to be questioned by Congress, and the most

controversial. I am not a racist, I am not insensitive to black. 30

years ago he was accused of races comments. It rejected him as

position as that will judge. Other charges of civil rights they'll eat

and have followed. He has defending himself since. A fellow senator from

the gave him the opportunity. When I came as United States attorney, I

didn't prepare myself well in 1986 and it was an organised effort to

caricature me as something that wasn't true. Macro to strongly --

Sessions denied being part of the clue cost clan. I know that was

wrong. -- Ku Klux Klan. We can never go back. Civil rights concerns

tapped into the fears of what a Trott administration would bring,

especially from a supporter like Sessions. Communities across this

country are concerned about whether they would be able to rely on the

Department of Justice to protect their rights and freedoms.

Democratic senators quizzed Sessions about his hardline views on

immigration and social issues. Could he enforce laws he voted against?

Yes, he said, including same-sex marriage and abortion. It is the law

of the land, it has been so established and settled for quite a

long time and it deserves respect, and I will respect it and follow it.

He also sought to ease fears that he supported Trump's initial call for a

ban on Muslim is entering the country. But reassuring testimony

has limited impact in this climate. And black lawmakers plan to testify

against their fellow congressmen, something almost unheard-of. Please

understand I think these are extraordinary times and they call

for extraordinary measures. Just a reminder of the main news

that President Obama has given his farewell official speech to the

nation. More on that and all of the news anytime on the BBC News

website. Before our weather turns

increasingly wintry, A particularly lively day

across the northern half