Barack Obama
Role at time of quote: President-elect of the United States
"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
Context
Before — what was asked or happening
Barack Obama had just been declared the winner of the 2008 US presidential election, becoming the first African-American to be elected to the office. He addressed an estimated crowd of 240,000 people at Grant Park in Chicago at 10:59pm local time. The speech followed one of the longest and most intense presidential campaigns in modern US history, in which his campaign slogan 'Yes We Can' had become a cultural phenomenon. The phrase 'Yes we can' was used as a call and response throughout the speech between Obama and the crowd, and is frequently cited as the defining quote of the night — however the full speech contains far more substantive statements that are rarely quoted alongside it.
After — what followed or was clarified
The speech was broadcast live globally and received widespread acclaim. Obama went on to serve two terms as president from January 2009 to January 2017. The phrase 'Yes we can' had actually first appeared in a January 2008 primary speech in New Hampshire — making the election night speech a culmination rather than an origin. The full speech runs approximately 18 minutes and covers topics from economic crisis to foreign wars to civil rights history, context almost always absent from the widely shared clips.
Primary source Video
Video starts at timestamp 4:06. Embed uses youtube-nocookie.com.
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Added to End Of Quote: 8 May 2026