Barack Obama: “I did not run for the presidency to fulfill some long-held ambition or because I believed it was somehow owed to me.”

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.

There’s no doubt that we are going through a period right now of disruption, polarization.

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.

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