Barack Obama: “How can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist?”

I hope this center will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is.

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.

We designed the center not to be some lifeless mausoleum.

People aren't looking for perpetual anger and division. They are looking for fairness and common sense and mutual respect, that deep in our gut, we want to find a way to turn towards each other again, not further away.