Former President Barack Obama detailed his hopes for the U.S. and what he described as the “shared values that make democracy possible” while speaking at the opening ceremony for his presidential center in Chicago on Thursday, in remarks that never explicitly referenced the current President but at multiple points appeared to direct criticism toward his Administration.
Noting the upcoming 250th birthday of the U.S., Obama reminded a crowd of hundreds outside the newly constructed center that upon the country’s founding in 1776, “a different story took flight on this continent, a declaration that we are all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, and that in the newly independent United States, there will be no kings or lords, no serfs or subjects, but only citizens, each of us free to pursue our own version of happiness.”
He went on to describe “the shared values that make democracy possible,” including “a belief in checks and balances in our government, and an accountability that comes with an independent judiciary and a robust free press, a belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political party, but to the people and our Constitution,” as well as “a belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free elections.”
The ceremony marking the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center was filled with well-known faces. Musical artists including Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and John Legend delivered performances around Obama’s address. Former Presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush were also in attendance and on stage with the Obama family, along with their respective First Ladies Jill Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush.
Obama emphasized that the values he outlined were not partisan, stating that “every President here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold” them and adding that hi
