Obama planning a Chicago farewell address to say thank you, reflect on 'where we all go from here'

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published 2 January 2017

President Obama is wrapping up his presidency with a farewell speech in his hometown of Chicago next week, the White House announced Monday. The speech, slated for Jan. 10 at convention center McCormick Place, will give the outgoing president a "chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," Obama wrote in an email to supporters.

Obama noted that he'll be heeding a "precedent" set by George Washington in 1796 by "penning a farewell address to the American people." Though Obama said he is "just beginning to write [his remarks]," he is already certain he will discuss some of the "core questions" about American values. "Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger," Obama wrote in the email. "That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better."