After a long and tirelessly fought 18-month campaign, President Obama got all choked up on Wednesday when he thanked the staff members that helped make his re-election possible.
VIDEO: All Choked Up! Obama Sheds Tears While Thanking His Staff
With tears streaming down his face, the President showed his passion and belief in the next generation of young people whose dedication and resolve helped shape the next four years of the country. He also showed how grateful and proud he was of their hard work in helping him turn his vision for America into a reality for four more years. He told them:
“I try to picture myself when I was your age, and I first moved to Chicago at the age of 25, and I had this vague inkling about making a difference I didn’t really know how to do it I didn’t have a structure,” said the president.”
“When I come here and I look at all of you what comes to mind is not that you guys actually remind me of myself its the fact that you are so much better than I was in so many ways- you’re smarter, you’re better organized, you’re more effective. I’m absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives. You’re just going to do great things.”
He continued, “Your journey is just beginning, you’re just starting and whatever good we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys end up accomplishing for years and years to come. That’s been my source of hope.”
That was definitely one of Obama’s most touching moments that demonstrates that he is a strong and competent leader who is moved by the resilience of the American people.
Throughout his tenure, Obama is known for remaining calm and reserved, but here are a couple of rare moments when he couldn’t hold back his emotion.
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Earlier in the week, the President exposed his sentimental side during a campaign speech he gave in Iowa. Again, his gratefulness for the people that believed in his vision for the country and their sacrifices, filled him with emotion that only tears could express.
A crowd of over 20,000 people watched the President petition for their vote and ask for their trust in his leadership in Des Moines. It was his last campaign speech and he held it yards away from his 2008 caucus headquarters, and reminisced about the passion that fueled his first campaign.
“I came back to ask you to help us finish what we started because this is where our movement for change began. To all of you who’ve lived and breathed the hard work of change: I want to thank you. You took this campaign and made it your own … starting a movement that spread across the country,” he said.
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Obama also got worked up when he gave a campaign speech in North Carolina on the same day that his grandmother passed away. Barack’s grandmother was a strong figure in his life that he described as “a quiet hero.” However, she passed away just 24 hours short of watching him get elected as the first African American president in the US.
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Back in 2008, Obama nearly came to tears when he recalled a special moment he had with his oldest daughter Malia on one of her birthdays. The then-Senator told CBS’ Katie Couric that he shed tears when Malia told him that she had the best birthday ever, simply because she spent it with him and her family dancing and laughing.
