Barack Obama's Farewell Speech As The President Of The United States

On January 10, 2017, Barack Obama gave his final speech as the president of the United States. The speech was the recurring farewell speech every president gives at the end of his length of time as president. Obama uses this speech to respond to the problems he predicts America will face once he is gone. By building credibility through personal examples, having the audience make conclusions from credible statistics, and making the audience feel like they play a part in making progress toward America’s future, Barack Obama eloquently communicates his argument to his audience: that there are five threats to democracy, there are ways this nation can combat them, and that progress can happen. Obama executes this speech in an attempt to address and alleviate the fear that continues to smolder post election and to bring unity to the divided America. This speech is effective because

Obama shares some examples of progress our country has made so far: “Wages, incomes, home values, and retirement accounts are rising again; poverty is falling again” The wealthy are paying a fairer share of taxes even as the stock market shatters records (Obama, 16). Obama logically proves that progress is possible because there are many positive changes during his time as president. He unifies all the classes by demonstrating that a unified economy leads to a thriving US economy. Despite these advances, however, there are still those who would take advantage of the current system. Obama states, “We must forge a new social compact . . . so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy don’t avoid their obligations to the country that’s made their success possible” (Obama, 18). This example of how America can challenge unequal economic opportunity logically proves his argument that we can combat the threat. Obama urges for a formalization of unifying economic practices to combat divisive actions by the richest