The Presidency

Barrack Obama quote

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a March for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.   

 

The meaning of this quote

The meaning of this quote is that the constant battle within this country has been slavery. For many centuries this country has been divided because many couldn’t come to term with abolishing it. Instead the founders who tried to create a united nation had left this battle to be fought by their children even though they had the answers right in front of them. In fact they wrote the answer in our constitution by saying “all men are created equal”. What Obama is saying is that “the ideal of equal citizenship under the law”. These founders had created a promise through the constitution that they will create a nation through unity, liberty and justice for all but it not enough to deliver slaves from slavery. To be able to make these changes would be Americans who would fight back through “protest and struggle on the street and in the courts through a civil war and civil disobedience” to be able to receive the promise the founders had once spoke about. He then talked about this being the reason why he is running to be the next president to continue on the long march for equality the only way we can do this is through unity to create a better future for the generations to come.

 

Why I picked this quote

Out of all the three presidents that was given I wanted to talk about Barrack Obama. I remember when he won the ‘08 presidential election. At my high school during the lunch periods they played his inaugural. At the time my principle was a big supporter of Barrack Obama so he wanted everyone to see. I remember my principle and many teachers being awestruck by this turning point in history. For many people who had voted for him focused more on the fact that America has made history with the first African American president. By his second term I think more people were looking for a movement from him and many people felt like they didn’t receive that. Many people felt like president Obama hasn’t done enough for the minority communities, to some levels I felt the same way. On the other hand we the people have to understand the way our government works to truly understand why President Obama hasn’t delivered on the things that he talked about in his speeches during his run. Yes, he stands for a great cause and he had many great ideas to help this country but in reality as the President he is limited as to what he can do, this process is through checks and balance. Any law that the president wants to pass it has to go through the other branches of government. Through the quote President Obama also in a way gives hints that everything in the government has to work in an agreement. That’s why when he says, the only way to continue on this march for equality, is through unity. We all have to work together for this better cause.