--- title: President Obama Urges Unity in Thanksgiving Message description: President Barack Obama's final Thanksgiving message focused on the theme of coming together as he wished a happy holiday to the nation. canonical: https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-24T15:07:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:59.478Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch President Obama's Thanksgiving Message: 'We're Still One People' og:description: "We are always simply Americans," the President said og:url: https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52bc5019804da829/6988afb2428a9e151ecd51c1/gettyimages-625105990.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Presidential Medal Of Freedom Ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch President Obama's Thanksgiving Message: 'We're Still One People' twitter:description: "We are always simply Americans," the President said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52bc5019804da829/6988afb2428a9e151ecd51c1/gettyimages-625105990.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch President Obama's Thanksgiving Message: 'We're Still One People' ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. "We are always simply Americans," the President said_ by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Nov 24, 2016 3:07 PM UTC by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Nov 24, 2016 3:07 PM UTC President Barack Obama’s [final Thanksgiving message](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIZDdnyMYr0) focused on the theme of coming together as he wished a happy holiday to the nation. In [Obama’s last Thanksgiving address](http://time.com/4581643/president-obama-turkey-pardon-watch-live/?iid=sr-link2) as President, he encouraged viewers to “reflect on what truly binds us as Americans” as he referred to the country’s founding values and the vision of Abraham Lincoln. “As a country, we’ve just emerged from a noisy, passionate and sometimes divisive campaign season,” the President said. “Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter our differences, we’re still one people—part of something bigger than ourselves.” The President’s message was of a similar nature to that of President-elect Donald Trump, who posted his [own Thanksgiving message](http://time.com/4581858/donald-trump-thanksgiving-address/?xid=homepage) via social media. Referring to the contributions of all to American society, Obama said “We honor all people from the first Americans to our newest arrivals who continue to shape our nation’s story, enrich our heritage, and give meaning to our founding values…as long as we stand up for each other, speak up for what is right and stay true to these ideals, then no one can ever take away our liberty.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/"},"headline":"Watch President Obama's Thanksgiving Message: 'We're Still One People'","datePublished":"2016-11-24T15:07:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:59.478Z","description":"\"We are always simply Americans,\" the President said","url":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/","keywords":["White House","President Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52bc5019804da829/6988afb2428a9e151ecd51c1/gettyimages-625105990.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52bc5019804da829/6988afb2428a9e151ecd51c1/gettyimages-625105990.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Presidential Medal Of Freedom Ceremony","caption":"2016 Presidential Medal Of Freedom Ceremony","creditText":"Leigh Vogel—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/","name":"Watch President Obama's Thanksgiving Message: 'We're Still One People'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"\"We are always simply Americans,\" the President said","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4582029/president-obama-thanksgiving-message/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```