Obama’s Remarks On His Nobel Win

Filed in International by on October 9, 2009

Transcript of his remarks:

Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, “Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo’s birthday!” And then Sasha added, “Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.” So it’s good to have kids to keep things in perspective.

I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build — a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action — a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

These challenges can’t be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that’s why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek. We cannot tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread to more nations and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people. And that’s why we’ve begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.

We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children — sowing conflict and famine; destroying coastlines and emptying cities. And that’s why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy.

We can’t allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that’s why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.

And we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years, and that effort must include an unwavering commitment that finally realizes that the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in nations of their own.

We can’t accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for — the ability to get an education and make a decent living; the security that you won’t have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the future.

And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today. I am the commander-in-chief of a country that’s responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies. I’m also aware that we are dealing with the impact of a global economic crisis that has left millions of Americans looking for work. These are concerns that I confront every day on behalf of the American people.

Some of the work confronting us will not be completed during my presidency. Some, like the elimination of nuclear weapons, may not be completed in my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration — it’s about the courageous efforts of people around the world.

And that’s why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity — for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.

That has always been the cause of America. That’s why the world has always looked to America. And that’s why I believe America will continue to lead.

Thank you very much.

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (13)

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  1. You have to be kidding me. Glenn Beck’s reaction to Obama’s Nobel win:

    Nobel Peace Prize should be turned down by Barack Obama and given … to the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project”

  2. Scott P says:

    Just exactly what part of Obama’s foreign agenda did the Tea Baggers prevent him from doing? I think Glenn’s off his meds again.

  3. Delaware Dem says:

    LOL. A Peace Prize should be given to tea baggers????? They want nonstop war. Some of them want to assassinate the President simply because he is a different skin color than they. Their solution to foreign policy is to bomb everything and ask questions later.

  4. cassandra_m says:

    I think that the only way that these teabaggers are going to get anywhere near a Nobel Prize is for a laureate to generously hand his over.

    As If.

  5. Scott P says:

    I hope Obama does thank the vast, worldwide, progressive conspiracy in his acceptance speech. Dude, if there really was such a thing, we’d have gotten nationalized healthcare long ago, and Glenn would be broadcasting from one of those FEMA camps he can’t disprove.

  6. Scott P says:

    Now, if we can just get Geithner for Economics and Zeke for Medicine, then we’d have some real fun 🙂

  7. TPM has a round-up of winger reactions.

    It must really be kind of a head-asplodey moment for people who can’t even accept that Obama was born in Hawaii.

  8. Rebecca says:

    Randy Newman has a good song for the teabaggers — see:
    http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/76459/october-09-2006/randy-newman—-political-science-

    sorry, I don’t know how to embed this. too embarrassing.

  9. Good and classy remarks that, in the end, highlight just how inappropriate it was to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope that one day he does something that actually merits it — and my impression is that he feels precisely the same way.

  10. Scott P says:

    For once, RWR, I don’t completely disagree with you. But I think maybe “differently-appropriate” would be a better way to describe it. I do want to point out that your remark was quite classy in not blaming Obama. I still don’t understand that idea. If one has a problem with the selection, blame it on the Nobel Committee, not Obama or American Liberals.

  11. Von Cracker says:

    the self-imposed idiots thought it was the piece prize – meaning a free glock.

  12. Delaware Dem says:

    Comment of the Day

  13. I was going to say that I thought the President was classy as usual but RWR beat me to it. Too bad none of that class made it over to the DNC.