To see an African-American elected president means that this country is really finally coming full circle from the birth defect of slavery.

Out of struggle very often comes victory.

You know, I've never believed, in anything, that you had to have role models who looked like you to do something. If I'd been waiting for a black, female, soviet specialist role model, I'd be still waiting.

Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?

Now, al Qaeda's on the run. Afghanistan is no longer a base of operations. The Afghan government is a friendly government that is trying to bring democracy to its people.

I'm very proud that we stood for the proposition that no man, woman or child should ever have to live in tyranny. We believed in democracy and promoted it.

America's still a very, very powerful symbol and a very important place of leadership for the world.