Overview
- The conversation opened Crystal Bridges’ Building Bridges speaker series before about 700 attendees at the Heartland Whole Health Institute in Bentonville, with Olivia Walton moderating.
- Obama said U.S. democracy is more unstable than at any point in his lifetime, citing challenges to election legitimacy and the peaceful transfer of power, and the encouraged politicization of the Justice Department and the military.
- He urged voters to reward cross-party compromise and pointed to structural drivers of polarization, including gerrymandering, social media amplification of extremes, and the loss of genuine community ties.
- Calling young people his chief source of optimism, he asked older generations and institutions to coach, connect, and support emerging civic leaders.
- He highlighted the Obama Presidential Center, slated to open in 2026 on Chicago’s South Side, as a hub to champion democracy and train the next generation of leaders.