Anybody who gets into bed and turns out the lights the first night in the White House probably feels a little bit of a start, where you say, "Goodness ... "

In the wealthiest nation on Earth – no illness or accident should lead to any family’s financial ruin.

I don't take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House.

Most people who meet my wife quickly conclude that she is remarkable. They are right about this. She is smart, funny and thoroughly charming... Often, after hearing her speak at some function or working with her on a project, people will approach me and say something to the effect of "You know, I think the world of you, Barack, but your wife... wow!"

The sort of seeing cruelty and callousness of that sort from young people is heartbreaking.

We've come to be consumed by a 24-hour, slash-and-burn, negative ad, bickering, small-minded politics that doesn't move us forward. Sometimes one side is up and the other side is down. But there's no sense that they are coming together in a common-sense, practical, nonideological way to solve the problems that we face.

There's no one who I believe has ever captured the soul of America more profoundly than Abraham Lincoln has.