Barack Obama: The Making Of History (Full Documentary) | Amplified

[Music] [Music] the office of the president of the united states of america is the highest in the land and an honor to hold [Music] it is also of international importance as the president is a world leader and his decisions can affect us [Music] all [Music] this was the moment when the rise of the ocean began to flow and our planet began to heal this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last best hope on earth the race to decide the democratic nominee for the 2008 us presidential election was by anyone's standards a stirring moment in history although almost unimaginable only a few short years ago it seemed likely that for the first time ever the nominee would be a woman and a woman with impeccable political credentials not only did hillary clinton have that famous surname to bolster her chances she also had the political smarts and experience to do the job but that dream ride to the white house was not to be because her opposing candidate for the democratic nomination was another one for the history books the young national senator for the state of illinois barack obama it's history both ways i mean you got the first woman who could potentially be the president of the united states and you have the first african-american male to be the president of the united states so either way we're looking at history it soon became apparent to observers across the globe that while in any other year clinton would have had the nominations sewn up she had the misfortune to face a politician who is truly one out of the box are you uncomfortable in the role of chastising someone's idealism is is that an uncomfortable place i really admire that i think that uh you know the the ability to inspire and and certainly get people involved that we've seen from senator obama is wonderful uh and i believe that it's important though that we remember uh the job has to be just a daily getting up and doing it and i try to mix both of those because obviously i wouldn't i wouldn't be doing this if i didn't care deeply about changing our country and knowing that we could do better and after a protracted and sometimes bitter battle between these two standout candidates in mid 2008 clinton stepped aside and resolved to help her erstwhile opponent in his greatest endeavor to become president of the united states i am running to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in washington are over they have not funded my campaign they will not work in my white house and they will not drown out the voices of the american people when i'm president of the united states of america barack obama has a mixed ethnic background but his dark skin means he has to be regarded as america's first genuine black presidential candidate so how did he get to this exalted position phrases like meteoric rise trip off the tongue when you begin to consider this 47 year old who only became a national senator in 2005 but in three short years he has made an indelible impression is he the one south carolina i do believe he's the one to bring us the audacity of hope barack obama barack obama it's obama time [Applause] it's obama time hussein obama was born on the 4th of august 1961 in honolulu hawaii [Music] his father also named barack was a kenyan of the lua tribe born in alago near lake victoria his mother was anne dunham a white woman from wichita who had moved to hawaii with her parents in 1959 she and barack senior met while studying at the university of hawaii where he was the institution's first african student mixed racial marriages were still a rarity in the early 60s and unfortunately this one wasn't the last by the time he was two years old barack's parents had gone their own separate ways he was to meet his father just once more when barack senior came to hawaii for a month-long visit in the early 70s before that his mother took the six-year-old to live in indonesia where she married again their second husband was another student from the university of hawaii lolo soatoro who had proposed to her before returning to indonesia i think barack obama's great strength for democratic voters is his story which he's emphasized um it's an uh inspirational story it's a story of a great merit of somebody who has overcome enormous personal obstacles and has arisen as a result of his talents skills energy and diligence obama's life in indonesia was idyllic for a young boy and in 1970 his mother presented him with a half-sister maya but ann was keen for her son to experience an american education and so sent him back to hawaii to live with his grandparents known as gramps and toot when he was just 10 years old in some ways it's a story similar to bill clinton's it's raised by in some ways with a single mother and has a broken family and yet finds himself rising to these positions on his own sadly anne's second marriage failed too and she returned with maya to hawaii to join her son and study for her master's degree in anthropology as obama's teen years progressed he began to question his identity more and more from 1971 to 1979 he was enrolled in the prestigious punahou academy where he excelled both in his studies and at basketball but was conscious of being one of the few black faces on campus learning all he could about black history the civil rights movement and political struggle left him confused and torn between his loyalty to the three white faces who had raised him and his growing awareness of what it meant to be black in america his grades began to slip and he experimented with drugs but he still did well enough in his studies to get a place at the small but well-regarded occidental college in los angeles transferring after his sophomore year to the much larger columbia university in new york the alma mater of such political heavyweights as butcher's butchersgali and madeleine albright and president eisenhower [Music] after graduating with a ba in political science in 1983 obama moved to chicago and it was here his interest and talent for activism and grassroots politics really took hold working as a community organizer in the most disadvantaged areas of chicago he developed his skills and resources and accomplished some positive reforms such as establishing a job training program and a tenants rights organization in a significantly disadvantaged suburb altkel gardens it was also during this period that he first encountered reverend jeremiah wright a firebrand preacher whose rousing sermons prompted a religious epiphany in the formerly reticent obama it was an association that meant a great deal to obama but one that was to cause him grief in the years to come mostly though obama's experience in chicago taught him that if he was to accomplish anything really meaningful and lasting he needed more skills he needed the legal know-how to get things done and in 1988 he applied for and was accepted into harvard law school but before he was ready to take his place in those hallowed halls there was one more trip he needed to take i am so proud to come back home [Applause] since being informed by a long-distance phone call of his father's death in a car accident in 1982 obama had continued to struggle with questions of self-identity and understanding his roots he thought a five-week visit to his father's homeland might give him some answers while in kenya he learned much about who his father really was met his half brothers and sisters and many more members of his vast extended family and began to understand his own complicated position as one who had grown up with the sort of privileges and opportunities most of his relations could only dream about whenever i see a young boy five or six or seven or eight or ten i think about my father and i think about the journey that he traveled so many miles and such a great distance and i think about those young boys and i think there's no reason why they can't do the same he returned to the us invigorated and inspired entering harvard in late 1988 he hit the ground running by the end of his first year he was an editor of the law review and a year later he was elected as the first black president of the harvard law review an achievement so impressive he was even offered an advance to write a book about race relations dreams from my father was eventually published in mid 1995 but didn't become a bestseller until it was reissued in 2004 in 2006 he produced another bestseller the audacity of hope the title of which came from one of reverend wright's sermons before that though he graduated magna laude from harvard worked as a lawyer received a fellowship at the university of chicago where he taught constitutional law for 12 years and sat on a number of boards his personal life was falling into place in october 1992 he married lawyer michelle robinson in the audacity of hope obama says of his wife if i ever had to run against her for public office she would beat me without much difficulty and he's not the only one who thinks so michelle is widely regarded as an impressive and formidable talent in her own right and obama has publicly credited her along with his mother who died of ovarian cancer in 1995 and his college friend regina as being among the many women who helped enlighten him about gender politics obama and michelle's first daughter malia was born in 1998 with sister natasha following three years later obama was also beginning to be noticed publicly in 1992 he directed the illinois project vote which managed to register 150 000 previously unregistered african-american voters this initiative alone led to him being named on a list of 40 under 40 powers to be it was becoming clearer and clearer that obama's real future lay in politics but first he had to get a name for himself he's black that's all i know about him i just uh don't know anything about him i don't know i haven't really decided he seems like a nice guy but i haven't quite decided well the that's why we have campaigns that's why we're here today so that people get a chance to get to know me in 1996 obama was elected to the illinois state senate he was subsequently re-elected in 1998 and 2002 using his time in the senate to negotiate welfare reform while focusing on health care and other issues facing people on low incomes during this period he suffered the first major setback of his political career to date when he ran for the u.s house of representatives in 2000 but was out voted by two to one getting back on the horse obama took the loss in his stride and tried to learn all he could from the experience a couple of years later he was ready for the next step and announced his intention to run for the u.s senate after gaining the democratic nomination he was due to face off against a formidable opponent jack ryan the republican primary winner but when less than savory details were released about ryan's divorce from hollywood actor jerry ryan he was forced to withdraw from the race investigation i think that it should be done in conjunction with those congressional committees that have oversight so that it is not simply an internal matter [Music] on the 27th of july 2004 the little known state senator from illinois found himself chosen to deliver the keynote address at the democratic national convention held in boston massachusetts i owe a debt to all of those who came before me and that in no other country on earth is my story even possible obama was there to support john kerry's bid for the presidency in the forthcoming election america tonight if you feel the same energy that i do if you feel the same urgency that i do if you feel the same passion that i do if you feel the same hopefulness that i do if we do what we must do then i have no doubt that all across the country from florida to oregon from washington to maine the people will rise up in november and john kerry will be sworn in as president and john edwards will be sworn in as vice president and this country will reclaim its promise and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come thank you very much everybody god bless you but his rapturous reception brought the spotlight firmly down on his own head from this moment on the buzz began to grow that perhaps the self-described skinny kid with a funny name who believes that america has a place for him too could actually find that place in the most exalted office in the land the white house and i think what barack represents is hope for anybody it doesn't matter what color you are or what creed it's hope you know if you can dream you can do it you know and i think that's why he's so refreshing but obama's first challenge was the national senate sworn in on the 4th of january 2005 obama quickly surrounded himself with an impressive team of political advisers only the fifth african-american senator in u.s history obama was determined to make his presence and allegiances felt he took assignments on committees focusing on his primary concerns health education labor and pensions and homeland security but despite being ranked the most liberal senator by the national journal in 2007 he would regularly endorse bipartisan issues co-sponsoring an immigration reform act introduced by his future republican opponent john mccain and co-introducing an expansion of an existing initiative to dismantle weapons of mass destruction most notably he was particularly vocal about his opposition to the war in iraq in 2007 he introduced the iraq war de-escalation act stipulating the capping of troop levels the commencement of phased redeployment and significantly the removal of all combat brigades from iraq by april 2008 that may have been wishful thinking why have we spent 350 billion dollars in iraq but obama had long been aware that taking a firm stance on issues close to his heart would help voters see him as strong and principled a potential leader in february 2007 he made the announcement his supporters had been waiting [Music] of the united states of america [Applause] i still believe that america is the last best hope on earth we just have to show the world why this is so this president may occupy the white house but for the last six years the position of leader of the pre-world has remained open and it is time to fill that role once more for democrats the only downside to obama announcing his candidacy was that hillary clinton one of the party's strongest candidates in years had also thrown a hat into the ring it's called the race it's january the end of the race is in november somebody could trip and fall in october in september anything could happen we'll see i think it's too important i think too much damage has been done in the past eight years in this country so i don't think i want to make any quick decision i want to look at the person in the eye i want to hear what they have to say i don't want them to just be some warm fuzzy guy or woman who is clever you know in january it's only january the battle for the democratic nomination would prove to be protracted and arduous with the two candidates engaging in a fierce game of one-upmanship events commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the historic civil rights marches in selma alabama gave both clinton and obama an opportunity to talk about race relations but also to put their own case to the electorate the voting rights act gave more americans from every corner of our nation the chance to live out their dreams and it is the gift that keeps on giving today it is giving senator obama the chance to run for president of the united states and by its logic and spirit it is giving the same chance to governor bill richardson a hispanic and yes it is giving me that chance to [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] throughout the campaign obama was careful not to overplay the race card but in selma it was hard to ignore so don't tell me i don't have a claim on selma alabama don't tell me i'm not coming home when i come to selma alabama i'm here because somebody murdered for free i'm here because you all sacrificed for me i stand on the shoulders of god the attention paid to the struggle between obama and clinton however often meant that actual policies and issues became sidelined but obama tried to stick to his core message and emphasized again and again his three core issues ending the war in iraq increasing energy independence and providing universal health care and as things began to swing obama's way clinton's speeches reflected her awareness of what was coming i know that senator obama will be a good friend to israel while obama's speeches sounded more and more presidential i will do everything in my power to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon everything in my power to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon everything israel's security is sacrosanct it is non-negotiable the palestinians need a state the palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive and that allows them to prosper but any agreement with the palestinian people must preserve israel's identity as a jewish state with secure recognized defensible borders and jerusalem will remain the capital of israel and it must remain undivided and eventually his persistence paid off with an unbeatable number of super delegates pledging their support for the obama camp on the 7th of june 2008 hillary clinton finally conceded the race and called for her supporters to get behind the new democratic nominee the way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy our passion our strength and do all we can to help elect barack obama the next president of the united states obama seized the day in typically rousing style this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last best hope on earth [Music] with the democratic nomination under his belt it was time to face his next opponent the republican presidential nominee arizona state senator john mccain despite having worked together on that immigration reform act the two men couldn't be more different born in 1936 mccain is 25 years older than obama and a retired navy captain much of his initial appeal to voters lay in his impressive military record which included capture and prolonged torture in vietnam in 1967. highly decorated his medals include the famed purple heart on the downside he's been seen as a mere continuation of his predecessor you'll hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech and every interview every press release that i'm running for president bush's third term you'll hear you'll hear every policy of the president is described as the bush mccain policy whether barack obama can go all the way is yet to be seen but whatever happens in november 2008 what cannot be refuted is that his career to date has been one for the history books for such a comparatively young and inexperienced politician his campaign strategies have been extraordinarily well thought out and executed but that's not to say there haven't been missteps one of the most significant concerns his long-term pastor and friend the reverend jeremiah wright we bombed hiroshima we bombed nagasaki and we nuked far more than the thousands in new york and the pentagon and we never better than i write sermons had always been passionate and outspoken but by march 2008 it was clear that obama's association with the outspoken cleric was harming his reputation and he regretfully disassociated himself from the church as imperfect as he may be he has been like family to me he strengthens my faith officiated my wedding and baptized my children not once in my conversations with him have i heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect he contains within him the contradictions the good and the bad of the community that he has served diligently for so many years then there was the link to scarlett johansson when talk began to spread of an email relationship between the hollywood actress and the presidential candidate i've been a supporter of surrogate of the obama campaign for some time now and you know i think i was originally interested and attracted to barack obama because of his opposition to the war in iraq and i just think that he has amazing policies and i think that he really is [Applause] leading this incredible inspiring movement for change and i want to be a part of it perhaps mindful of the trouble previous democratic presidents have faced due to their associations with attractive younger women obama was swift to downplay the connection telling reporters she didn't even have his personal email address he said johansson had sent an email to his assistant reggie love and he'd merely sent her a thank you note perhaps johansson should have followed the lead of george clooney one of the few celebrities experienced enough to know that his support could be a double-edged sword oh i'm a big obama guy i've been a obama guy from the very beginning but you know throwing your weight can often be uh you know the elephant in the room if you're not careful so i you know my father ran for congress and i didn't campaign for him because you can actually hurt him so the idea is to try and support as much as you can and not get in the way a greater concern to the obamacare was the fallout he faced in april 2008 following his now infamous bitter speech when he talked about small towns in the midwest becoming bitter because they'd been let down by successive administrations um obama's comments led to accusations of elitism and being out of touch not only from his republican opponents but from others in his own party including hillary clinton refusing to recant but insisting that his remarks were merely badly phrased something that everybody knows is true when you're bitter you you turn to what you can count on so people you know they're they vote about guns or they take comfort from their faith since then his battle for the presidency has been more about policy and issues as he and mccain strive to position themselves as the man most capable to do the job from the bottom of his class at the naval academy this shows not surprisingly the republicans seized upon obama's inexperience but one of obama's most well-known supporters was quick to defend the candidate obama does not have the experience to be president of the united states and i can prove that remember he wasn't experienced enough to vote to authorize the invasion of iraq instead even then he voted against the war he said would lead to an occupation of undetermined length and undetermined costs and undetermined consequences he just didn't get it obama still faces obstacles not the least of which is that exotic name and while in his home country obama is even now struggling to convince his compatriots in some areas that his name and background do not reveal a secret muslim past on the world stage his popularity is remarkable with muslims and non-muslims alike i'm bored of white men in america you want a black president yes he among all the candidates shows the great empathy for the world outside of america and shows the greatest sincerity to apologize for america's mistakes i think because he is a multi-cultural person but he uh it's a voice that we haven't heard in a long time a voice that we trust a voice that brings us all together that is black white asian indian whatever in july 2008 he made a brief tour overseas first visiting the middle east his trip coincided with an attack by an arab in which 24 israelis were injured just down the road from obama's hotel and it's just one more reminder of why we have to work diligently urgently and in a unified way to defeat terrorism there are no excuses and i am absolutely committed to working with the israeli government to make sure that these kinds of occurrences do not happen and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families that have suffered as a consequence of today's vicious attacks thank you everybody obama then headed to europe where he met with heads of state in germany france and britain and he overcame the potential embarrassment of not being allowed to speak in front of the brandenburg gate as president kennedy so famously did in 1963 by drawing over 200 000 people to his second choice venue the victory column in tiergarten park no one welcomes war i recognize the enormous difficulties in afghanistan but my country and yours have a stake in seeing that nato's first mission beyond europe's borders is a success for the people of afghanistan and for our shared security the work must be done america can't do this alone the afghan people need our troops and your troops our support and your support to defeat the taliban and al qaeda to develop their economy and to help them rebuild their nation we have too much at stake to turn back now yes there have been differences between america and europe no doubt there will be differences in the future but the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together a change of leadership in washington will not lift this burden in this new century americans and europeans alike will be required to do more not less partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice it is the only way the one way to protect our common security and advance our common humanity history shows that popularity overseas certainly doesn't equate to a win at home and obama's standing in the polls lost points following his european tour amongst accusations of flip-flopping on policies and being little more than a shallow celebrity the latter was a criticism leveled by the mccain camp in an advertisement juxtaposing obama with paris hilton and britney spears the obama camp played it cool but displaying a hitherto unsuspected sense of humor hilton herself fired back making her own presidential ad which promised compromise in her energy policy and an intention to paint the white house pink i don't have any comments i think the video speaks for itself so people can just go to funny or die calm and check it out for themselves only i'm not from the olden days and i'm not promising change like that other guy i'm just hot that wrinkly white hair guy used me in his campaign ad which i guess means i'm running for president so thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude and i want america to know that i'm like totally ready to leave fortunately obama had some heavier weights on his side [Applause] we need change we intend to have [Applause] changed [Music] knock down all of these old barriers that people thought existed with respect to the opportunities available for african americans and i congratulations to him even a professional curmudgeon like gore vidal gave him the thumbs up although it was something of a backhanded compliment how could he measure himself what are the measuring rods what will he do about the court who is going to appoint the supreme court or the other don't you have to ask who he is in a way don't you have to ask is he a bright man is he a capable well apparently he is you read his speech on race yes well i listen to it it's quite a remarkable piece i've spent my life listening to remarkable pieces coming from winston churchill and poor jack kennedy i'm not i'm not fetched by them but are you gloomy about an obama presidency i don't see why i should be well gloomy about a lot else well he can't be worse than what we've got but obama also showed the ability to attract grassroots support i think he's going to be a very positive candidate and i think it's time for change and i think he represents change and i hope that everything that he's um saying that he stands by and look forward to the first black president and not just among african americans thank you so much people are supporting him in iowa people supported him no matter what you know we saw the news there were very very little faces that looked like mine so i don't think the race is playing a role in this and of course this being america there are always plenty of celebrities to count on a new fresh new candidate and i was really uh impressed by the fact that uh he was not taking any money from uh special interest groups it's like it's all in the good world that was the key thing it wasn't actually the blackness but you know that didn't hurt i'm excited about senator obama i uh i'm excited about just the desire for seeing change i'm sorry i'm i'm excited about static about just how many americans that are on the same page as me i just think he's just a a perfect choice for the the future of of america i spent a lot of time outside of the the country and i just think the things that that he he stands for and just the just his background his family i truly appreciate uh who he is and i think he'd be an absolutely wonderful president of the united states they have to be sexy and i'd prefer if they were a man or a woman but that's it what else do you need in the president and the ability to push a button and that's it those are three things great people and you're good and if your name is barack obama that's the best i'll say that we have a hero on the making back in the united states today because we have a new uh candidate for president of the united states barack obama who i think for all of us that have dreams and hope as a hero [Music] but for all the big names and familiar faces lining up to barrack for barack by august 2008 there was only one name voters were interested in hearing about the name of the person obama had selected as his running mate on the 23rd of august he took the novel step of releasing the scoop to his most dedicated followers first via a text message to their mobile phones he followed that with a public announcement in springfield a man with a distinguished record a man with fundamental decency and that man is joe biden the career politician brought a wealth of experience to the campaign plus personal qualities that complemented obama's compared to the young black inexperienced obama the 65 year old biden brought maturity whiteness and 30 years of experience in the senate a died in the wool catholic he had great appeal to the blue collar middle class erstwhile hillary clinton supporters he was known for being a plain speaker and a solid friend of the working class and surprisingly given his staunch catholicism he was also pro-choice on the issue of abortion there were however a few misgivings about the six-term senator namely his tendency to speak out of turn on occasions in fact as soon as he was named as obama's running mate the mccain camp swiftly pounced on comments he'd made earlier in the race about obama not being ready to be president allegations he wittingly counted by referring to mccain's campaign damaging admission that he didn't know how many houses he and his wife owned you talk about how much you're worried about being able to pay the bills well ladies and gentlemen that's not a worry john mccain has to worry about it's a pretty hard experience he'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at on the evening of monday the 25th of august 2008 the democratic party began its national convention obama's wife michelle was among the early speakers her address was carefully constructed to banish any lingering worries among the electorate that her husband was not just like them she emphasized his ordinary family life and his unwavering and unquestionable patriotism with profound gratitude and great humility i accept your nomination for presidency of the united states but if a week is a long time in politics three months might as well be a millennium obama was riding high after the democratic convention but the following week it was the republicans turn to bask in the spotlight in perhaps the most headline-grabbing move of mccain's entire campaign on the 29th of august he picked sarah palin as his running mate the little known and largely inexperienced governor of alaska immediately caused a stir becoming the focus of intense media and public interest vice president of the united states the nomination was formally announced at the republican convention ensuring that the event which was downsized as the government responded to the threats posed by hurricane gustav didn't lose momentum for the party in late september and early october mccain and obama went head to head in three presidential debates focusing on issues such as the economy and foreign policy cbs polls after the debates labelled obama as the clear winner on all three occasions while mccain was criticized for being aggressive and erratic as well as downright rude for refusing to look his opponent in the eye obama by contrast remained even tempered polite and stuck to his message and the main message it was becoming increasingly clear was the economy as october wore on and the financial markets around the world began to crash it was obama's policies that seemed to resonate having suffered a slip in the polls in september he now began to pull ahead but despite being in the final throes of a hard-fought campaign both candidates still found time for a little levity when they attended the 63rd annual alfred e smith memorial foundation dinner a charity event organized for the benefit of children in need recently one of john's top advisors told the daily news that if we keep talking about the economy mccain's going to lose so tonight i'd like to talk about the economy mccain counted with a gide referring to the one character who was threatening to derail obama's winning trajectory samuel joe werzelbacher otherwise known as joe the plumber events are moving fast in my campaign and yes it's true that this morning i've dismissed my entire team of senior advisors all of their positions will now be held by a man named joe the plumber werzelbacher was the working man who had approached obama while he was on the campaign trail in ohio and complained that obama's tax policy would negatively affect his business expansion plans in the third presidential debate mccain repeatedly referred to joe the plumber holding up for some kind of symbolic every man joe the plumber's out there but obama had his own working-class heroes prepared to rock the vote in mid-october bruce springsteen and billy joel joined forces to headline a fundraising concert for obama in the swing state of pennsylvania [Music] as november the 4th edged ever nearer obama's lead in the polls held steady although there were rumblings about the so-called bradley effect this referred to tom bradley the african-american politician who ran for governor of california in 1982 and lost despite being ahead of the polls it was believed that some voters may have not named their true preference in polling for fear of being seen as racist on a personal front obama had more pressing worries the week before the election he suspended his campaign to make a last visit to hawaii to see his widowed grandmother who was gravely ill the 86 year old madeleine dunham known affectionately as toot died of cancer on november the second it was an emotional time for obama who was on the cusp of the greatest achievement of his political career but he held it together and told a campaign rally in north carolina that his beloved grandmother was at peace some of you heard that my grandmother uh who helped raise me passed away uh early this morning and uh look she she has gone home she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side and so there's great joy as well as tears i'm not going to talk about it too long because it's hard a little to talk about on november the 4th 2008 obama and his wife michelle cast their ballots at a polling place in their hometown of chicago across the nation millions of americans queued sometimes for hours to cast their own votes among them were an unprecedented number of first-time voters who'd been galvanized by obama's message of hope and renewal the results came in and a sea of blue spread over the electoral map only the deep south remained impregnably republican before the evening was out obama had captured the required 270 electoral college votes and was indisputably the victor mccain conceded in a dignified and gracious speech calling obama my president the 72 year old arizona senator urged all americans including his supporters to rally behind obama saying he planned to help the new president-elect tackle the myriad issues the country faced i urge all americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity defend our security in a dangerous world and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger better country than we inherited whatever our differences we are fellow americans then the new first family elect took to the stage at chicago's grand park in front of 75 000 delirious supporters the president-elect his wife and two young daughters were a potent symbol of the force for change that had swept through the political establishment it's been a long time coming but tonight because of what we did on this day in this election at this defining moment change has come to america and all those watching tonight from beyond our shores from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world our stories are singular but our destiny is shared and a new dawn of american leadership is at hand among the crowd watching obama making history were media powerhouse oprah winfrey and political veteran jesse jackson [Applause] i was never the likeliest candidate for this office we didn't start with much money or many endorsements our campaign was not hatched in the halls of washington it began in the backyards of des moines in the living rooms of concord and the front porches of charleston during his speech president-elect obama told the story of 106 year old anne nixon cooper born one generation past slavery who had lived through the worst of times but survived to see the best this year in this election she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote because after 106 years in america through the best of times and the darkest of hours she knows how america can change yes we can [Applause] obama has galvanized a country bitter and divided over economic woes debilitating wars and fractured dreams its people dearly hope that the next four years will see his promise fulfilled this is our moment this is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one that while we breathe we hope and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can't we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people yes we can thank you god bless you and may god bless the united states of america

Channel: Amplified - Music & Pop Culture Documentaries

Views: 138,388

Keywords: Amplified, amplified channel, music, pop culture, culture channel, documentaries, music documentaries, pop, film, music interviews, film interviews, obama documentary 2020, obama documentary 2008, barack obama, president obama, white house, president of the united states, obama, 2020, 44th president of the united states, pete souza, potus, joe biden, united states of america, documentary, obama speech, obama funny moments

Id: xtg9FK9DPO8

Length: 51min 54sec (3114 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 14 2021