We are not a nation that says 'don't ask, don't tell.' We are a nation that says 'out of many, we are one.'

Whether it's coming from FDR or it's coming from Ronald Reagan, if the idea is right for the times then we're gonna apply it. And things that don't work we're gonna get rid of.

Our stories may be singular, but our destination is shared.

I'll be the first US president to not only visit Kenya and Ethiopia, but also to address the continent as a whole, building off the African summit that we did here which was historic and has, I think, deepened the kinds of already strong relationships that we have across the continent.

That is another theme in the book [Dreams from My Father]. How do we exercise more empathy in our public discourse? How do we get the black to see through the eyes of the white? Or the citizen to see through the eyes of the immigrant? Or the straight to see through the eyes of the gay? That has always been a struggle in our politics.

We are not at war against Islam.

You haven't seen a lot of turnover in my campaign. And the culture of my campaign is one in which I think everybody feels a great sense of ownership.