Barack Obama farewell speech: Simple word that says it all

US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) and US President Barack Obama wave to supporters as daughter Malia looks on. Picture: AFP

Where was Sasha?

President Barack Obama was delivering the final speech of his presidency and that, it seems, was all anyone wanted to know.

A tearful Michelle was there and so was Malia … but where was Sasha?

The answer, friends, was that she’s in the final years of high school, and she has a paper due tomorrow, so she stayed home to get it done. And her parents – the President, and the First Lady – agreed with that strategy because that is the exactly the kind of thing they would do.

They’re good people, the Obamas. They’re kind, intelligent and resilient.

So proud of @POTUS and all that we've accomplished together. An incredible journey filled with remarkable people. I love you Barack. -mo pic.twitter.com/TFUN3GDLyz

— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) January 11, 2017

Did those qualities make Barack Obama a great president? For millions of people, the answer is incontestably yes. Many millions disagree, but few would quibble on this point: he’s a dazzling speaker. Not that this was his best speech, but then the bar has been set very high, by him.

But it was a good speech, touching on all the great themes of America as place of hope and freedom.

A place to strive, to toil, to unleash the imagination.

A place of forward motion.

He spoke of his achievements: job creation, health insurance, Osama bin Laden.

He issued a call to arms to those who hold the most important office: citizen.

Yes, that of citizen.

If something needs fixing, lace up your boots.

Show up. Dive in. Stay at it.

He reminded his audience of his pride in the peaceful transition of power that is a hallmark of democracy. He quoted Atticus Finch; and – perhaps too little, too late - he placed the ‘middle-aged white guy’ whose world has been upended this century, on the stage.

But the best bit, probably, came when he addressed his wife.

Michelle.

That’s how he said it. Simple and loving. Michelle.

‘Michelle – for the past 25 years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, but my best friend.

‘You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody.

‘You’ve made me proud. You’ve made the country proud.’

Of his daughters, including the absent one, he said: ‘Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad.’

To his vice-president, Joe Biden, he said: ‘I gained a brother.’

And then, to the youth of today, he said: ‘I am asking you to hold fast to that creed at the heart of America, and reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon: Yes We Can. Yes We Did. Yes We Can.’