Which American Leader Said, “All Are Equal, All Are Free, And All Deserve A Chance To Pursue Their Full Measure Of Happiness.” (2023)

1. Barack Obama's First Inaugural Address, 2009

  • ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." A full transcript is available. EXCERPT That we are in the ...

  • Barack Obama’s First Inaugural Address, 2009 | | The inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2009 was a historic moment not only because Obama was the first African American ever sworn into executive office but also because he entered the presidency at a time of incredible adversity. The nation was strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the impact of a deepening financial crisis and recession. The election of the first black president was a sign of hope for many that change was on its way. Obama delivered his inaugural address on January 20, 2009, to the largest crowd ever assembled for a presidential inauguration. The new president called for an end to the divisive spirit of recent politics: "On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." Obama called on Americans to unite and look toward their common national heritage as a guide for facing the challenges of the future, declaring, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." A full transcript is available. EXCERPT That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many—and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. Barack Obama, Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009

2. President Obama's call for unity evokes Jefferson's words

  • Jan 21, 2009 · ... all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." Read the entire text of Obama's speech ...

  • In his inaugural address, Barack Obama called on Americans to remain hopeful of America's promise, calling to mind Jefferson's words from the Declaration of Independence:

President Obama's call for unity evokes Jefferson's words

3. Donald Trump's Inaugural Speech had a MUCH Different Message ...

  • Jan 20, 2017 · ... Americans and as people, “all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” He reminded us ...

  • One stressed American nationalism, the other stressed solidarity.

Donald Trump's Inaugural Speech had a MUCH Different Message ...

4. New president cites old virtues, deep traditions - NBC News

  • Jan 20, 2009 · ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." He even added a whisper of Shakespeare ...

  • Analysis:  As he became a precedent-shattering president Tuesday, Barack Obama wrapped himself in America's deepest traditions, invoking God, the Bible, the Founding Fathers, cherished documents and old-fashioned virtues.

New president cites old virtues, deep traditions - NBC News

5. Barack Obama Sworn In As U.S. President, Calls For 'Unity Of Purpose'

  • Jan 21, 2009 · ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." Turning to international relations, he said ...

  • U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Americans to face the challenges of economic chaos, two wars, and a growing environmental crisis with what he called "unity of purpose."

Barack Obama Sworn In As U.S. President, Calls For 'Unity Of Purpose'

6. Obama: We're ready to lead once more - The Jerusalem Post

Obama: We're ready to lead once more - The Jerusalem Post

7. Congressional Record, Volume 155 Issue 11 (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)

  • Jan 20, 2009 · ... American President of the United States. We ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

8. Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America

  • Jan 21, 2009 · ... all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation ...

  • Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

Our Enduring Spirit: President Barack Obama's First Words to America

9. Bending the Arc - quod.lib.umich.edu.

  • ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” Having set forth in quest of the presidency when ...

  • When Aretha Franklin sang “My Country ’Tis of Thee” at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of the United States, not only African Americans but virtually all Americans with any knowledge of civil rights history had in their mind’s eye two images: Marian Anderson’s Easter 1939 performance at the Lincoln Memorial, where she featured the song also known as “America” in her program after being barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the rousing conclusion of the speech at the 1963 March on Washington by Martin Luther King, Jr., where he quoted from the song before calling for freedom to ring from “the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire” to Stone Mountain in Georgia, symbolic home of the Ku Klux Klan, and driving on to his powerhouse conclusion, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

10. iMail for Thursday, January 22, 2009 - IAMAW

  • Jan 22, 2009 · ... American Commander-in-Chief in U.S. history. ... all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • Obama Sworn In, Pledges Bold Action On January 20, 2009, millions braved the bitter cold and billions more tuned in to witness “change.” Barack Obama was sworn in as our nation’s 44th president, and became the first African American Commander-in-Chief in U.S. history. The day marked the long-awaited start of a new era which Obama

11. Canadian Inaugural Coverage | C-SPAN.org

  • Posted: Jan 20, 2009

  • Peter Mansbridge hosted an Inauguration Day special from the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Canadian Inaugural Coverage | C-SPAN.org

12. Black Religious Fostering of American Civic Ideals - AAIHS

  • Jan 20, 2023 · African American religious leaders, beginning ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • This post is part of our forum on Black Intellectuals and the Crisis of Democracy. Black Christians have been key agents in a centuries-long effort to prevent American democracy from succumbing to its own inherent contradictions and self-destructive tendencies. Strategic to the promotion an

Black Religious Fostering of American Civic Ideals - AAIHS

13. God In America: Transcripts: Hour Six - "Of God and Caesar" | PBS

  • And the president said, "Thank you for participating in the ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • NARRATOR: As religion and politics were becoming more closely linked in the decades after World War II, one religious group stood apart. They were conservative Protestants, evangelicals and fundamentalists who had felt scorned by the big city press during the infamous Scopes evolution trial.

God In America: Transcripts: Hour Six -

14. CNN.com - Transcripts

  • RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Those who say that we ... All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • Aired January 20, 2013 - 11:00   ET

15. The Diminished Public, and Black Christian Promotion of American ...

  • ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ... American faith leaders. Religion scholar Eddie S. Glaude, Jr ...

  • Black public activism has been guided largely by black affinities toward the U.S. Constitution, including its core democratic liberalist premises. This range of constitutionally defined political possibilities has both animated (and confined) a sense of public imagination and agency for many black Christians. Divergences and convergences between black religion-based public confidence and dissent are examined here, with reference to three paradigmatic approaches: (1) civil religious patriotism; (2) religious counter-publics; and (3) socio-religious liminality and semi-publics. Contrasts and continuities between these approaches are examined with attention to the impact of these approaches on a beleaguered and diminished American public realm and their relative affirmations or negations of broad understandings and undertakings of public purposes.

The Diminished Public, and Black Christian Promotion of American ...

16. Waiting on Obama - The Malaysian Bar

  • "All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ... Yet, as is so often said, leaders are defined by the history ...

  • Obamamania spilled on to Australian streets. As with many the world over, Obama to Australians has been the magnet for inspiration to lift the moral spirits of a dispirited world. More than with many, everything about the first African–American to be elected president resonates with Australian fair go egalitarianism.

17. 16 for '16 Bush/Obama | The finale of The Contenders recalls ... - Facebook

  • Duration: 57:03Posted: Nov 1, 2016

  • ראה/ראי פוסטים, תמונות ועוד בפייסבוק.

18. [DOC] American Political Culture and Constitutional Foundations.docx

  • ... All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ... But America's leaders found it more convenient to say that ...

19. How Is Ethos Used In Obama's Inaugural Address - 123HelpMe.com

  • ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ... For example, Obama said “I see it in the American who served ...

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20. Barack Obama's first inauguration revisited - America Magazine

  • Jan 18, 2017 · ... American man said to his wife, “From slavery ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • The truth or foolishness of Obama’s hopeful vision of our country rests in the choices we will make.

Barack Obama's first inauguration revisited - America Magazine

21. From David Walker to President Obama: Tropes of the Founding ...

  • Nov 14, 2011 · ... America's third president ranks among them: ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • by Elizabeth J. West More than a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, in a society that still others blackness, we continue to hold to the mythical humanizing power of literacy. In our own time this has been poignantly evinced in the public reception of the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. He has been internationally hailed for his written and oral eloquence, and many Americans expected that Obama’s evident intellectual prowess would reverse prevailing stereotypes of black inferiority. Obama's rhetorical success is rooted in the longstanding literary practice of invoking the mythical founding fathers to validate text and subject. In this regard, David Walker's Appeal (1829) represents the emergence of a long tradition of black voices invoking America's most sacred patriarchs and their rhetoric of Americanness.

22. Sasha and Malia: Re-Envisioning African-American Youth

  • ... say, 'He is the first black president.'”). Consistent with ... all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • Abstract. This chapter discusses the effect of President Obama’s political success on the academic achievement of academically at-risk ethnic minority students.

Sasha and Malia: Re-Envisioning African-American Youth

23. President Barack Obama vows a new day - Boston Herald

  • Jan 21, 2009 · As Obama said his oath was a reminder “that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness ...

  • Standing before a joyous sweep of humanity stretching from the Capitol steps to the horizon, President Barack Obama took his place in history yesterday as America’s first black president – an…

President Barack Obama vows a new day - Boston Herald

24. Obama Ushers In "New Era" For America - CBS News

  • Jan 19, 2009 · He said it was a moment to recall "that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." In ...

  • Barack Obama Sounds Call For Action As He Takes Historic Oath

Obama Ushers In

FAQs

Which American Leader Said, “All Are Equal, All Are Free, And All Deserve A Chance To Pursue Their Full Measure Of Happiness.”? ›

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address | whitehouse.gov.

What was the famous speech of Barack Obama? ›

"A New Beginning" is the name of a speech delivered by United States President Barack Obama on June 4, 2009, from the Major Reception Hall at Cairo University in Egypt.

What did Obama say in his victory speech? ›

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.

What was the purpose of Obama first inaugural speech? ›

President Obama after giving his first presidential speech. The central theme of President Obama's inaugural address was a call to restore responsibility—both in terms of accountability in Washington and the responsibility of ordinary people to get involved.

What did Obama do for the country? ›

Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms include: the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as "the ACA" or "Obamacare", the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.

Who was said to be the best president? ›

Abraham Lincoln is mostly regarded as the greatest president for his leadership during the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. His main competitors are Franklin D.

What is the main message of Obama's 2004 speech? ›

“A belief that we are connected as one people.” Obama's speech revolves around a theme of unity and is enforced through his storytelling and word use to connect everything together. By highlighting how each story is connected, he consistently reminds the audience of this idea that he holds.

Who wrote Obama's farewell speech? ›

The farewell address was written by President Obama, who dictated passages to Cody Keenan, the White House Director of Speechwriting. The President and Keenan went through at least four drafts of the speech.

Who gave the first presidential speech? ›

Although not required by the Constitution, George Washington presented the first Presidential inaugural address on April 30, 1789.

Who did Obama run against? ›

His opponent in the general election was former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Obama won 332 electoral votes, defeating Romney who gained 206.

Who gave the inauguration speech? ›

Biden, Jr. THE PRESIDENT: Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans. This is America's day.

Who was the youngest president? ›

The youngest person to become U.S. president was Theodore Roosevelt, who, at age 42, succeeded to the office after the assassination of William McKinley. The youngest at the time of his election to the office was John F. Kennedy, at age 43.

What did Obama win the Nobel Prize for? ›

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States President Barack Obama (b. 1961) for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

How did Obama save the world? ›

The Paris Agreement remains one of President Obama's proudest accomplishments. It committed nearly all nations to binding emissions reductions and capstoned a longer effort that stretched across President Obama's two terms to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Who wrote yes we can speech? ›

Although the lyrics are entirely quotations from Obama's concession speech in the New Hampshire presidential primary, the Obama campaign had no involvement in its production. The speech was written by then-Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.

Who wrote Obama's speeches? ›

In 2005, Obama's communications director Robert Gibbs recommended Favreau to Obama as a speechwriter. Favreau was hired as Obama's speechwriter shortly after Obama's election to the United States Senate. Obama and Favreau grew close, and Obama referred to him as his "mind reader".

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