--- title: State of the Union: President Obama Again Turns to Lincoln description: His favorite person to quote. canonical: https://time.com/4178331/state-union-barack-obama-abraham-lincoln/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-13T01:08:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:42.307Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Again Turns to Lincoln in State of the Union og:description: His favorite person to quote. og:url: https://time.com/4178331/state-union-barack-obama-abraham-lincoln/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3808e61aab771708/698878e2196cf45255039d63/barack-obama-lincoln.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama walks from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Again Turns to Lincoln in State of the Union twitter:description: His favorite person to quote. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3808e61aab771708/698878e2196cf45255039d63/barack-obama-lincoln.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Again Turns to Lincoln in State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=95e33da5-bd04-4d4d-a497-43e9e62bc912&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 7 Years of the State of the Union Addresses [Watch (HLS stream): 7 Years of the State of the Union Addresses](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xde7N2Ku.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2016-01-08_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 13, 2016 1:08 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 13, 2016 1:08 AM UTC President Obama has long cited his fellow president from Illinois in defining moments of his political career. He announced his presidential candidacy in [Springfield, Ill.,](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021000879.html) Abraham Lincoln’s hometown. He studied up on Lincoln’s writings shortly [after winning his first election](http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/20/the-comparisons-between-barack-obama-and-abraham-lincoln) in 2008\. He framed his [first inaugural address](http://www.newsweek.com/obama-looks-lincoln-85439) after that of the Great Emancipator, ripping its title from a line in the Gettysburg Address. On a number of occasions, he’s quoted (and even [misquoted](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125169095)) the 16th president to drive home a point. And on Tuesday, as the president delivers the final State of the Union address of his presidency, a speech the White House is billing as non-traditional and forward-looking, Obama will again recall the words of Honest Abe. “America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights,” he will say, according to excerpts of his speech released before the address. ” Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the “dogmas of the quiet past.” Instead we thought anew, and acted anew. ” President Obama pulls the line “dogmas of the quiet past” from Lincoln’s [second annual address](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29503) to Congress, which is considered among the best State of the Union addresses in the nation’s history. The president offered a rebuke of slavery as the root cause of the Civil War and mulled freeing the enslaved in order to save the Union, shortly before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation January 1863\. “The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation,” Lincoln wrote. “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free…We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. ” **Read More:** [_Obama Seeks to Define Legacy in Final State of the Union_](http://time.com/4176658/barack-obama-final-state-union-analysis/) The quote Obama pulls appears in the [following passage](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29503): --- > “” --- In a way, Obama’s suggesting the same thing. The excerpts provided show that Obama will call on politicians to overcome fear and disagreement to help usher the country forward for future generations. Throughout history, he’ll say, “We made change work for us, always extending America’s promise outward, to the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did – because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril – we emerged stronger and better than before.” ## Transcript [ SOUND ] Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States! [ APPLAUSE ] You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis because you live it every day. That's why I've asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort. Because nobody messes with Joe. We will rebuild. Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010. Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the flood gates for special interests, [ APPLAUSE ] Including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again. The state of our union is getting stronger. And we've come too far to turn back now. We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago, that. Could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $ 10, 000 a year proving that they could contain a spill, because milk was somehow classified as an oil. With a rule like that it was worth crying over spilt milk. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] Now together We have cleared away the rubble of crisis. Gabby Giffords deserves a vote, the families of Newtown deserve a vote, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence, they deserve a simple vote. In the short time that I've been in Washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the one the president laid out. [ SOUND ] [ APPLAUSE ] For the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China's no longer the world's number one place to invest. America is. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy. Our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. I've seen something like gay marriage go from a wedge issue used to drive us apart to a story of freedom across our country. I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda [ APPLAUSE ] I know because I won both of them. My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I've had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this capital. 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