Barack Obama Farewell Speech: US President Says 'Yes We Did, Yes We Can'

New Delhi: US President Barack Obama said goodbye today after eight years, in a powerful and emotional speech that he ended by recasting his campaign credo - 'Yes we can, yes we did'.

In his 51-minute farewell address in his hometown Chicago, President Obama warned against a weakening of American values and discrimination and defended his vision to Americans facing a dramatic change in leadership.

"Our youth and drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention means that the future should be ours," he said.

But he warned, "We need to uphold laws against discrimination. That is what our Constitution and our highest ideals require."
 Arguing his faith in America had been confirmed, Obama said he ends his tenure inspired by America's "boundless capacity" for reinvention, and he declared: "The future should be ours."

His delivery was forceful for most of his speech, but by the end he was wiping away tears as the crowd embraced him one last time.
 Reflecting on the corrosive recent political campaign, he said, "That potential will be realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the decency of our people. Only if all of us, regardless of our party affiliation or particular interest, help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now."

He also advised: "Democracy can buckle when we give in to fear. We must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are... That's why, I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans".

He made no mention of Republican Donald Trump, who will replace him in just 10 days.

But when he noted the imminence of that change and the crowd began booing, he responded, "No, no, no, no, no." One of the nation's great strengths, he said, "is the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next."

Earlier, as the crowd of thousands chanted, "Four more years," he simply smiled and said, "I can't do that."