Seven of Barack Obama’s best quotes
Former US president is renowned for his oratory







Barack Obama turns 57 tomorrow - and has marked his birthday week with a return to politics.
After keeping a fairly low profile since leaving the White House, the former US president has announced his endorsements of 81 Democratic candidates in the nation’s midterm elections later this year.
Obama said in a typically eloquent statement on Wednesday that he was “proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates - leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even putting aside party affiliations, Obama cuts a very different figure to his successor in tone and temperament, as NBC News noted when Donald Trump took office in January 2017.
“It’s No-Drama Obama vs. Drama-All-The-Time Trump,” said the news site. “The nation’s first African-American president vs. the man who led the so-called birther campaign against him. ‘Yes We Can’ vs. ‘Make America Great Again’.”
Nowhere is this difference more apparent than in their speaking styles. “Barack Obama was, as president, eloquent,” says The Conversation. “His language was sophisticated. He spoke in measured tones and advanced informed, reasoned dialogue.”
Click on the gallery above to see seven of his greatest quotes.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
The ambiguous legal state of ectopic pregnancy care
The Explainer Rep. Kat Cammack's accusations of 'fearmongering' are the latest example of how mixed messages are complicating the debate around abortion
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan
-
'No Kings': A turning point for the resistance?
Feature Millions of Americans nationwide took to the streets to protest against the Trump administration
-
Trump: Making the military into a 'partisan militia'?
Feature Donald Trump held a military parade just days after sending troops to stop protests in Los Angeles
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Is the US sliding into autocracy?
Talking Point Donald Trump's use of federal troops on home ground, dismissal of dissent and 'braggadocious' military posturing are all symptoms of a shifting political culture
-
Court allows National Guard in LA as Dodgers repel feds
Speed Read The team said they 'denied entry' to ICE agents seeking to enter their stadium