Barack Obama spoke to over 240 000 people in Chicago after winning his historic bid for the US Presidency. This article takes a look at his remarkable victory speech.

Photo by Wa-J

“Yes we can” are the words that the whole world woke up to the day after the results of the American election. Played over and over in news outlets and on the internet, Barack Obama’s inspiring phrase has the potential to one day eclipse Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”. His words were that powerful. With a refrain taken from doctor King himself, a charisma Kennedy mastered, and a charm only Reagan portrayed, Obama produced a riveting oratory spectacle. Not only did he produce a captivating delivery but his message carried an underlying theme few expected with the celebratory mood. However, those who know him best say that is typical; his steady and even-keeled nature ensures nobody ever gets carried away. His we-us-ours mantra, consistent throughout his campaign, is different than a typical politician’s approach. But Obama is not your typical politician. This speech came as a final nail in the coffin to a carefully but perfectly constructed image founded on strong, considerate, and inspiring leadership.

Obama came across as calm and composed, someone ready for a challenge. Everything about the speech from the historic location to strategic aesthetic choices to the specific language chosen produced the desired overall presidential atmosphere. Relaxed and stoic, a trademark of Obama’s demeanour during speeches, he began by reflecting on the historic nature of the result. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer”. He thanked Senator McCain and continued thanking his family, campaign team, and supporters. He then quickly took the steam out of everyone’s cheers. He shifted tone from festiveness to thoughtfulness and introspectiveness. “For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime.” He spoke about the problems and challenges his country faces and how hard it will be to overcome them. He then took a page out of Martin Luther King’s famous refrain with “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there”. This was the genius of his speech. From the onset of his first steps as President-Elect, he did one thing he needed to do straight away. He began lowering expectations and reigning in realism.

“This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.” And with that, he defined what the change he campaigned for isn’t. He kept up the inspiring concept that got him elected by leaving his message of change undefined while also maintaining that this was just the beginning of a long and grueling path. “There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem” He then did something that Kennedy did when he took office. He challenged the people and called his citizens into public service. “It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.” This call to duty is a sign that the change the country seeks needs every person to be part of it, not just one man. He went on and faced realism head-on by acknowledging the divisiveness of the country. “As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends.” He then promised to be a president of all Americans and work hard even for all those that didn’t vote for him, all 48 million of them, but he needs their help as well. He briefly talked about foreign policy in figurative terms and went on to tell the story of a 106 year old voter. The defining moments of the speech followed. Highlighting the extraordinary historical occurrences of the last century, he followed each one with “yes we can”.

“And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And 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.”

With that, President-Elect Barack Obama concluded with the staple of the American dream, a dream that should be a global one: “out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts 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”. And they sure did.