White House – President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address on January 10, according to the White House. “On Tuesday, January 10, I’ll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you,” President Obama stated. President George Washington set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power in 1776. Washington also gave a farewell address, a tradition many presidents have followed over the last 220 years since.
“I’m just beginning to write my remarks,” Obama wrote in an email. “But I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.”
“America is not the project of any one person. Because the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes, We Can.’”
Yes we can
President Obama spoke these three words for the first time as a candidate in January 2008 in New Hampshire. After eight years, this remains a guiding principle that continues to inspire Americans across the country to come together and find their own ways to move our country forward.
Obama Farewell Address Tickets
Tickets to the Jan. 10 speech will be handed out Saturday morning at 8 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis with only one free ticket per person allowed. “Loitering, camping or other overnight activities will be prohibited outside of McCormick Place prior to 6:00 a.m. CST on Saturday, January 7th,” according to the event listing. To get a ticket, you’ll need to enter McCormick Place, 2301 S. King Drive., through Parking Lot A and the Gate 4 entrance on Jan. 7.
The speech is Tuesday evening but an exact time has not yet been given. For those who can’t make it, the speech will be live-streamed and available online at wh.gov/Farewell or www.Facebook.com/WhiteHouse.