Barack Obama election victory speech, 2008

Following his victory in the United States presidential election, 2008, then-President-
elect Barack Obama gave his victory speech at Grant Park in his home city of Chicago,
Illinois, on November 4, 2008, before an estimated crowd of 240,000. Viewed on
television and the Internet by millions of people around the globe, Obama's speech
focused on the major issues facing the United States and the world, all echoed
through his campaign slogan of change. He also mentioned his maternal
grandmother Madelyn Dunham, who had died two nights earlier.
The speech heavily referenced the inaugural addresses of former Presidents John F.
Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, and also referred to speeches of Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Echoing Martin Luther King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address, he declared,
"But tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining
moment, change has come to America" and "The road ahead will be long, our climb
will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even in one termbut America, I
have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there." At another
point in the speech he again referenced King when referring to the "arc of history", a
phrase King used regularly, most notably after the Selma to Montgomery marches,
saying "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice".
Obama directly quoted Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, by saying "As
Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends.
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."
Obama also referred to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying "...that
more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the
people has not perished from the Earth"
Obama proclaimed, "It's been a long time coming, but...change has come to
America," an allusion to the Sam Cooke song "A Change Is Gonna Come".
Obama also made a reference to a prospective presidential pet for his daughters.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned
the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.
 Obama's speech has been praised as having "...the rare ability to cultivate the
things that are common to all human beings, regardless of artificial and arbitrary
distinctions. " The ideas that have convinced America that it needs this president,
which equally addresses the young man, the average worker, the Indian, and the man
with different sexual orientations. He dedicated his victory to simple, good, faithful
and working people. He expressed his admiration for US soldiers fighting in
Afghanistan and Iraq. As he also said, we have schools to build and educate
generations. Generations that mean the future. This is the appeal to the entire nation
through the pride and peaceful coexistence between every American. Obama calls
the nation for progress and new development opportunities for everyone.