Barack Obama: “It is very easy to slip-slide your way into deeper and deeper commitments.”

No one was more skilled at bringing people together and getting legislation passed.

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.

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.

a belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party, but to the people and our constitution … a belief in the peaceful transfer of power