Home
Politics

Seven of Barack Obama’s best quotes

Former US president is renowned for his oratory

Newsletter sign up Newsletter

By The Week Staff

last updated 3 August 2018

Image 1 of 7

(Image credit: This content is subject to copyright.)

Barack Obama turns 57 tomorrow - and has marked his birthday week with a return to politics.

Midterm elections 2018: why they are important for the world What are the Obamas doing now? Barack Obama: Coolest presidential moments caught on video

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.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

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.

Explore More

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox

A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The Week Staff

Social Links Navigation

Latest

Today's political cartoons - December 14, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - runaway inflation, eau de Trump, and more

By The Week US Published 14 December 24
5 bitingly funny cartoons about Bashar al-Assad in Moscow
Cartoons Artists take on unwelcome guests, home comforts, and more

By The Week US Published 14 December 24
The best books about money and business
The Week Recommends Featuring works by Michael Morris, Alan Edwards, Andrew Leigh and others.

By The Week UK Published 14 December 24