Politics, differences of religion or race, all that fades away when we are confronted with the awesome power of nature, and we're reminded that all we have is each other.

We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike we have seen in our lifetime.

There are some exceptions: Chicago, my hometown, in particular. But overall in the country this is a much safer place than it used to be.

I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down.

I didn't set a red line, the world set a red line

I don't regret at all saying that if I saw Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons on his people that that would change my assessments in terms of what we were or were not willing to do in Syria.

Yes, this is hard. But there should be no question that the United States of America is stepping up to the plate. We recognize our role in creating this problem; we embrace our responsibility to combat it. We will do our part, and we will help developing nations do theirs. But we can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation - developed and developing alike. Nobody gets a pass.