Barack Obama bows out reflecting on the fragility of democracy The Economist, January 2016. The 44th president uses his farewell address to defend his legacy and energise his supporters PRESIDENT Barack Obama did not disappoint. As one of the most gifted orators ever to have led America, expectations were high for his farewell speech on January 11th. His supporters are still pained and confused by the Democrats’ unexpected loss of the presidential election and they are turning to him for guidance about the way forward. Could they still be optimistic about the future when the man who will become president next week has vowed to undo most of Mr Obama’s proudest achievements, and who campaigned on a dystopian depiction of contemporary America? Yes, you can, the president told around 18,000 supporters in a thoughtful speech of some 45 minutes at McCormick Place, an unwieldy convention centre on the South Side of Chicago. “We remain the wealthiest, most powerful, and most respected nation on earth,” he said. “Our youth, our drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention means that the future should be ours.” He acknowledged that progress is sometimes slow and that two steps forward are followed by a step back. But he pointed out the progress made during his presidency, such as the reversal of a great recession, the reboot of the car industry and the unleashing of the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in America’s history. And he reminded the audience of advances that seemed unlikely eight years ago. Had he told his backers marriage would be for all, he said, or America would open up to Cuba and 20m previously uninsured Americans would get health insurance, they might have said that his sights were set a little high. Yet the outgoing president’s speech was more than a pep talk or an assessment of the milestones of his eight years in power. America’s potential will only be realised if its democracy works, he warned, and if its politics reflect the decency of its people. Throughout history there have been moments when the basic sense of solidarity that is necessary for democracy has been challenged, he said. The beginning of this century has been one of those moments when a shrinking world, growing inequality, demographic change and the spectre of terrorism tested this democracy. How America meets these challenges to its democracy, predicted the president, will determine its future. The audience listened in rapture and only interrupted Mr Obama with loud rounds of applause (with the exception of one protester who wanted the president to pardon everyone and was promptly shouted down by those around her). Mr Obama is hugely popular in Chicago, his adopted hometown, and nowhere more so than on the predominantly black South Side where his wife, Michelle, grew up. He declared victory in Chicago in 2008 and 2012 and again chose the Windy City as the site to give his farewell speech, rather than perorate in the Oval Office or another grand setting in the White House as many of his predecessors have done. The Obamas still own a house in the Hyde Park-Kenwood neighbourhood. They chose nearby Jackson Park as the site for the Obama presidential library that is to open in 2021. When on January 7th free tickets to attend the president’s speech were distributed at McCormick Place, thousands of loyalists of all ages and backgrounds queued for hours at the crack of dawn in sub-zero temperatures for their chance to hear their hero live. Many were turned away. On the following day tickets were hawked online for as much as $5,000. Other than when he paid compliments to his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Mr Obama received perhaps the loudest applause when he said that democracy can buckle when it gives in to fear, which is why he steadfastly rejected discrimination of Muslim Americans “who are just as patriotic as we are”. The world’s most powerful country cannot withdraw from global fights to expand democracy, and human rights, women’s rights, and LGBT rights, he continued, no matter how imperfect its efforts, no matter how expedient ignoring such values may seem. He re-emphasised the need to protect of democracy, stating that the fight against extremism, intolerance and sectarianism is of a piece with the fight against authoritarianism and nationalist aggression. If the scope of freedom and respect for the rule of law shrinks around the world, the likelihood of war within and between countries increases, and America’s freedoms will eventually be threatened. George Washington, America’s first president, introduced the tradition to depart with a farewell address in 1796. In the 32-page handwritten document, quoted by Mr Obama, Washington wrote that that selfgovernment is the underpinning of Americans’ safety, prosperity and liberty, but “from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken...to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth”. And so Americans have to preserve this truth with “jealous anxiety”; they should reject “the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties” that make them one. Rarely have these words been as pertinent as they are today. (873 words)