Barack Obama: “On German-American Day, we celebrate the vibrant threads of German heritage woven into our national fabric.”

Every president here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold the values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did.

Your task is not to impose litmus tests.

I think when you understand the complexities of America and the contradictions of America, I don’t think it makes you love it less. I think it makes you love it more.

It fortifies you to say that, yes, this has been part of the journey that we’re on.