--- title: Barack Obama at West Point: Commencement Address Transcript description: Read Barack Obama's commencement speech at West Point in 2010. canonical: https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/ author: Barack Obama article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-02T18:29:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:39:11.571Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point in 2010 og:description: "We will commit ourselves to forever pursuing a more perfect union" og:url: https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d6316848cd502d9/698893c90b72e317826e96f4/barack-obama-west-point-2010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama Addresses 2010 West Point Graduates At Commencement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point in 2010 twitter:description: "We will commit ourselves to forever pursuing a more perfect union" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d6316848cd502d9/698893c90b72e317826e96f4/barack-obama-west-point-2010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point in 2010 > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:29 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers the commencement speech during graduation ceremonies at the United States Military Academy at West Point on May 22, 2010 in West Point, New York. President Barack Obama delivers the commencement speech during graduation ceremonies at the United States Military Academy at West Point on May 22, 2010 in West Point, New York. Michael Nagle—Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:29 PM UTC Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-united-states-military-academy-west-point-commencement) from Obama’s speech on West Point’s campus in West Point, New York in 2010. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point in 2010","datePublished":"2016-06-02T18:29:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:39:11.571Z","description":"\"We will commit ourselves to forever pursuing a more perfect union\"","url":"https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d6316848cd502d9/698893c90b72e317826e96f4/barack-obama-west-point-2010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Barack Obama","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/barack-obama/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d6316848cd502d9/698893c90b72e317826e96f4/barack-obama-west-point-2010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama Addresses 2010 West Point Graduates At Commencement","caption":"President Barack Obama Addresses 2010 West Point Graduates At Commencement","creditText":"Michael Nagle—Getty Images","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":"https://time.com/4340845/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-west-point/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point in 2010"}}]}] ```