Speaker

The speaker of “A More Perfect Union” is Barack Obama, who, at the time of the speech (2008), represented Illinois as a Democratic Senator and was running for the US Presidency.

The Democratic Party is one of the two biggest political parties in the US. In terms of political orientation, the party is progressive, and promotes social and economic aspects such as equality of opportunity, fair distribution of wealth, better healthcare for citizens, etc.

We now know that Barack Obama won the elections and went on to serve two terms as US President. However, at the time of the speech, the speaker had to prove himself to the American voters, his target audience. This is why he gives numerous details about his background: “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was ra...