Barack Obama: “The direction that we choose... will... impact America for decades to come.”

it was nevertheless important that we all play a part in assuring that our elected officials are accountable.

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.

This idea that any suggestion or criticism that America was anything other than perfect is unpatriotic... is a suggestion that you hate your country.

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.