Barack Obama: “Nobody disputes this.”

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

We designed the center not to be some lifeless mausoleum.

We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse…

In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration's promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property.