President Barack Obama places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery
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President Barack Obama speaks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery May 25, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia
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Text of the President’s remarks here
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President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey honor fallen soldiers at Arlington
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Pres Obama greets WW2 veteran, 107-yr-old retired Army Lt Col Luta Mae Cornelius McGrath http://t.co/qg5KlRs7Bo
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(@petesouza) May 25, 2025****
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Text of the First Lady’s remarks here
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First Lady Michelle Obama smiles as she is introduced by Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov before receiving an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio
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Maura Zurick: First Lady Michelle Obama Urges Oberlin College Graduates To Make A Difference
First Lady Michelle Obama told nearly 700 Oberlin College graduates Monday to wake up and “play your part in our great American story.” Obama urged the class of 2015 to volunteer for campaigns or “better yet, run for office yourselves.” She encouraged the graduates to not shy away from the clamor and polarization of the real world and told them to face the revolutions of their time: climate change, economic inequality, human rights and criminal justice reform. “Today, I want to urge you to actively seek out the most contentious, polarized, gridlocked places you can find,” she said in her 25-minute remarks to graduates, family members and spectators in Tappan Square.
“Because so often, throughout our history, those have been the places where progress really happens –- the places where minds are changed, lives transformed, where our great American story unfolds.” Zoe Madonna, an East Asian studies graduate, called the first lady brilliant. “This is going to be a story that I can tell 50 years from now about the time the first lady spoke at my graduation, and I really enjoyed that it wasn’t a pat-yourself-on-the-back speech,” Madonna said. “Usually when dignitaries come, they keep their real selves, real opinions quiet, but you could hear what she really thought, what she really wants for us shining through in her speech.”
More here
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