President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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President Obama looks at the Nobel Peace Prize medal for the first time at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
….. holding the Nobel Prize medal and diploma following the ceremony at the Oslo City Hall (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart Oslo City Hall following the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony (Photo by Pete Souza)
First Lady Michelle Obama looks at pictures of past Nobel Prize recipients at the Norwegian Nobel Institute (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama looks out a window at Slottet Royal Palace of Norway following his meeting with King Harald V and Queen Sonja in Oslo (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wave from a balcony at the Grand Hotel as they greet the Torch Parade in Oslo (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo (Photo by Samantha Appleton)
President Obama’s moving remarks last Friday July 19, 2013, that Trayvon Martin could have been him 35 years ago took me back to another high note in his presidency – the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Dec 10, 2009.
Nobel Prize acceptance 12-10-2009
Oslo 12-10-2009
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Both the polite audience seated in the cavernous Norwegian auditorium, as well as a global audience of admirers and skeptics all listened with rapt attention. President Obama could have chosen to deliver saccharine pabulum about ideals of peace as gloss over his global superstardom. He didn’t. Instead he punched his audience in the gut with uncomfortable truths about:
Pres. Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Speech 12-10-2009
1. Fundamental difference between his responsibilities as head of a state embroiled in 2 wars who must deploy military force when needed to protect his nation, and those of other Nobel Peace Prize recipients such as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. who served as conscience leaders and advocated non-violence as means to achieve justice.
2. The Niebuhrian concept of Just War, which stipulates that there IS evil in the world that does not disappear through diplomacy, prayer or concession. It must be fought with blood and treasure.
3. An active peace that requires that we all EXPAND OUR MORAL IMAGINATION, or else the assurance of human dignity and societal growth will be stunted
Pres Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Speech 12-10-2009
From the 29:10 minute mark, Pres. Obama described the concept thus: “Agreements among nations. Strong institutions. Support for human rights. Investments in development. All these are vital ingredients in bringing about the evolution that President Kennedy spoke about. And yet, I do not believe that we will have the will, the determination, the staying power, to complete this work without something more — and that’s the continued EXPANSION OF OUR MORAL IMAGINATION; an insistence that there’s something IRREDUCIBLE THAT WE ALL SHARE.
As the world grows smaller, you might think it would be easier for human beings to recognize how similar we are; to understand that we’re all basically seeking the same things; that we all hope for the chance to live out our lives with some measure of happiness and fulfillment for ourselves and our families.
And yet somehow, given the dizzying pace of globalization, the cultural leveling of modernity, it perhaps comes as no surprise that people fear the loss of what they cherish in their particular identities — their race, their tribe, and perhaps most powerfully their religion. In some places, this fear has led to conflict. At times, it even feels like we’re moving backwards….”
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wave from a balcony at the Grand Hotel as they greet the Torch Parade in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
A huge crowd of around 10,000 people, many carrying torches, assembled outside the Grand Hotel in Oslo Thursday evening to greet Nobel Laureate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, as they stepped out on the balcony of their room.
The couple waved to the cheering crowd for several minutes, before they stepped back and went down to the traditional banquet with 250 invited guests, in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. December 10, 2009
Before picking up his prize and delivering an eloquent speech, the president and first lady visited the Nobel Institute to sign a guest book in the room where the Nobel Committee meets to vote on prizes. Mr. Obama carefully wrote seven lines of text, prompting Mrs. Obama to ask, “are you writing a book?”
When it was Mrs. Obama’s turn to write in the guest book, she quipped, “mine won’t be as long.” The president’s response: “She will resist writing something sarcastic since this will be recorded for the future.”
The Obama Diary 
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