A Message From An Historic President

By Elizabeth Flores                                     
 
When I think of a speech that has impacted not only myself but also America, I think of President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in 2008 when he was first elected to the presidency. The fact that Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States was an amazing accomplishment for a senator of Illinois, but his acceptance speech was also one of a kind and definitely became a milestone in American history.

He started his speech by thanking the candidates that accompanied him in his journey, including Hillary Clinton, who made it the farthest of them all. One of the most beautiful parts of his speech was about family; he thanked his wife, now first lady, Michelle Obama, as well as his young daughters Malia and Sasha, showing the importance of family and union.

He also spoke about his modest upbringing with his parents, a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas. He said his parents believed that America was the place where he could achieve anything he set his mind to, giving us his personal experiences as well as devotion to our great nation. He acknowledged the fact that this county is built on hard work and sacrifice from each and every one of us, and that due to this we can build a better future for generations to follow.

The whole speech presented such a united front that made America’s problems sort of dissipate and leave listeners with hope and promise. He spoke about the challenges during the years of the presidency under George W. Bush. “America, we are better than these eight years. We are a better country than this,” President Obama said. Those words inspired me to once again believe in our great nation and its capability to achieve great things under an inspiring leader. Although many politicians are represented as untrustworthy, I truly believed every word spoken by our dear president which made me believe more in his plans for America and also in him.

This speech was the first speech I actually listened to instead of just hearing it. It is a speech that made history and made it known that America is made up of fighters and no matter what, we overcome, together.