Obama knocks Founders at presidential center debut before America’s 250th: ‘Fell terribly short’
Former President Barack Obama said during the dedication of his presidential center in Chicago on Thursday that America’s Founders fell "terribly short" of the Declaration of Independence’s promise, while casting...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former President Barack Obama said during the dedication of his presidential center in Chicago on Thursday that America’s Founders fell "terribly short" of the Declaration of Independence’s promise, while casting the nation’s story as one of generations coming together to make the union "more perfect." "The success of this experiment was never a given," Obama said in his speech, referring to the nation's founding just days before America celebrates its 250th anniversary on the 4th of July. "In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration's promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property. But in drafting a Constitution and a Bill of rights , they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect." The 44th president devoted much of his speech Thursday to outlining the work he believes America still has ahead, echoing themes he has emphasized in past appearances on the campaign trail and during his time in the White House. BIDEN CLAIMS CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS ARE BEING 'TRAMPLED ON' AHEAD OF AMERICA'S 250TH While the Obama Presidential Center officially opens to the public Friday, the dedication featured a slew of former diplomats, officials and celebrities, such as former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau , Oprah Winfrey, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Steven Spielberg, Hillary Clinton, and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Joe Biden. "And over more than two centuries, through petitions and protests, marches and strikes, moral appeals from the pulpit and conversations at the family dinner table – men and women from all walks of life, of every color, every faith, every region took up the cause of democracy and made it their own. Until, we the people, came to include not just some of us, but all of us. And that's why the story we tell in this building begins not with Michelle's origins or…