President Barack Obama's farewell speech today; what to expect!
Los Angeles : In his last address today, President Barack Obama will ditch White House and return to his adopted hometown of Chicago to deliver a farewell address to the American people.
Announcing his decision on email last week, Obama said, “The speech would be a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey … and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here."
Obama is following in the footsteps of many earlier Presidents by giving a final speech from where he was elected. The tradition was first started by the President George Washington in 1796 and was followed by many outgoing presidents including President George W. Bush.
According to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, “Obama was still deeply involved in crafting and revising the speech, which is both “forward-looking” and “heartfelt.”
He added, “President will briefly discuss the accomplishments of his own administration in the speech before turning to offer his thoughts on addressing the challenges that lie ahead. Most of those solutions, in the mind of the president, rest on the deeply held values that just about every American subscribes to. The president believes that obviously, that diversity of this country is a strength. And that for all our differences, there's much more unites us than that separates us. And, our country is stronger when we remember that principle and we draw upon those common values.”
Talking about Obama’s speech writing process, he described it as an activity where president dictates large portions of the speech to his speechwriters, who then refine it which is in turn further revised.
Obama’s decision to return to Chicago is not only because it is his adopted hometown but also because it is significant as the place where his career in service, as a community organizer, once began.
The speech will take place at McCormick Place and is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET. This will be the last official trip of Barack Obama outside of Washington, D.C., and his final ride on Air Force One.
