--- title: Barack Obama at Coast Guard Academy: Commencement Address description: Read Barack Obama's commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011. canonical: https://time.com/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/ author: Barack Obama article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-02T18:31:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:39:19.406Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011 og:description: "I want you to know that your nation will do everything in our power to help you succeed" og:url: https://time.com/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc110caa30e4e1100/698893d4ab6d77562b6a9be1/obama-commencement-speech-coast-guard.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US President Barack Obama delivers the c og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Commencement Address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011 twitter:description: "I want you to know that your nation will do everything in our power to help you succeed" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc110caa30e4e1100/698893d4ab6d77562b6a9be1/obama-commencement-speech-coast-guard.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Commencement Address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:31 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address on May 18, 2011 at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address on May 18, 2011 at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  by [Barack Obama](https://time.com/author/barack-obama/)  ## Barack Obama Jun 2, 2016 6:31 PM UTC Here are the [full remarks](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/18/remarks-president-us-coast-guard-academy-commencement) from Obama’s speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut in 2011. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011","datePublished":"2016-06-02T18:31:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:39:19.406Z","description":"\"I want you to know that your nation will do everything in our power to help you succeed\"","url":"https://time.com/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc110caa30e4e1100/698893d4ab6d77562b6a9be1/obama-commencement-speech-coast-guard.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/bltc110caa30e4e1100/698893d4ab6d77562b6a9be1/obama-commencement-speech-coast-guard.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US President Barack Obama delivers the c","caption":"US President Barack Obama delivers the c","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/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/4340970/obama-commencement-speech-transcript-u-s-coast-guard-academy/","name":"Read President Obama's Commencement Address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2011"}}]}] ```