White House Shares Memorable Moments of Obama Presidency

The White House posted a video highlighting memorable moments from Obama’s presidency. The video features celebrities, children, and people from around the world.

The past couple of months have been highly emotional, and these next few weeks are going to be even harder. If you had a difficult time getting through Michelle Obama’s speech at her last official event as First Lady, you’re going to need a whole handful of Kleenex to get through this. The White House YouTube account has shared a video compilation of some of the most memorable moments from the past eight years with President Barack Obama.

The video includes photos and videos from various POTUS appearances mixed with interviews from celebrities, several Americans, and people from around the world. Gloria Steinem and Kerry Washington both mentioned the fact that Obama made them feel like we were all important. As Kerry Washington put it, it was the first time those first three words of the United States Constitution, “We the People,” actually meant something. “It’s the first time in my life I felt like the White House belonged to everybody,” says Gloria Steinem.

There were plenty of celebrity contributions to the video. Tom Hanks recognized Obama’s success with rebuilding our nation’s relationship with Cuba. Bill and Melinda Gates were touched by the President’s work in improving education. Leonardo DiCaprio also appreciated Obama’s efforts on climate change, referring to a time when he saw the President speaking at the United Nations. John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jerry Seinfeld all also appear.

Among the non-famous people are a young woman who was featured in a viral video in which President Obama invited her to rap for him before she asked the last question during one of his appearances in Vietnam. Another woman spoke about receiving a letter from him welcoming her as an American citizen after she took the oath. A young man spoke about Obama signing the Paris climate change agreement.

Citizens young and old spoke about the effect that Obama’s presidency had on them. One young girl said that her favorite moment was when he was first elected in 2008, since she was also born the same year. An elderly black gentleman said that he didn’t think he would live long enough to see an African-American elected to the highest office in the country, but he did.

Image via The White House on YouTube

It’s difficult to wrap up eight years of President Obama’s numerous achievements in less than six minutes. However, this video does show just how many issues President Obama worked on. Issues mentioned by the people in the video include school shootings, sexual violence, same-sex marriage, and the Affordable Care Act.

A common thread among some of the memorable moments was unity. We’re now facing a time where our country feels extremely divided. However, many people have said that the Obama years were the first time they felt like they were included. One man talked about the time that President Obama lit a diya, marking the beginning of the celebration of the Hindu Festival of Lights. It was the first time a President did so in the White House. A young Iranian-American woman remembered the time that President Obama wished all Iranian-Americans a happy new year and said it perfectly.

Of course, there were lighter moments too. Ellen DeGeneres remembered her experiences of shopping at CVS with Michelle and dancing with Barack. Michael Jordan called him “the Jackie Robinson of politics”. Finally, Kobe Bryant laughed about the time Obama literally dropped the mic and said “Obama out” at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

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It seems like many of us will be going through a pretty heavy mourning period pretty soon. For some, it has already started. Let’s hang on to these memories and not lose sight of the hope that President Obama gave us. Nor should we forget the grace, class, and dignity that he and his family brought to the White House. Our memories from the past eight years will hopefully help us get through the next four. You can also share your own memorable moment on the White House website.

President Obama will give his farewell address in Chicago on Jan. 10, 2017.