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braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of
Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the
people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. This is your victory. I know you
didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the
enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow
will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the
mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their
children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for
college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet
and alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year
or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I
promise you – we as a people will get there. There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t
agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every
problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially
when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been
done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by
calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This
victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot
happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you. So let us summon a new spirit of
patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not
only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we
cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as
one people. Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that
has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the
banner of the Republican Party to the white house – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual
liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great
victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back
our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “we are not enemies, but friends…though
passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I
have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your
President too. And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those
who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny
is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we
will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if
America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes
not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy,
liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our
union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve
tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my
mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood
in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She
was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when
someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
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