Barack Obama’s Speech about Fatherhood: Building upon a Rock

Barack Obama

On Father’s Day, June 15, 2008, future President Barack Obama told fathers to build upon a rock. He advised fathers to uphold their responsibilities (like men, not boys, he said). He encouraged government and society to support fatherhood and family life instead of oppressing them. He gave this speech at the First Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, a largely African American megachurch. Like all ceremonial speakers, Obama praised and blamed. He praised good fathers. He urged negligent fathers to fulfill their duties. Like all good ceremonial speakers, his praise promulgated values and led to policy: for, after all, why should we praise something unless we seek to emulate it?

Obama began by quoting the Bible (Matthew 7:24-25): “Whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock.” Building on that theme, Obama said that Jesus Christ was the rock, but so was the church’s founding Bishop, and, for the occasion, so were fathers.

Father’s Day was, according to Obama, a day to recognize that family is society’s rock, and the father is part of the family’s rock. He did not misogynistically place the father at the pinnacle, but, rather, as an essential part:

“Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation.”

Continuing, Obama lamented that too many fathers disappear from their families’ lives:

“But if we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are missing — missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.” 

Unlike pure liberals, who blame everything on society; unlike pure conservatives, who blame everything on individuals, Obama called for broad-spectrum reform. We must, he said, help our children in every way:

“Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more after-school programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities.

“But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one.”

“The courage to raise” – “courage,” Obama said, a rock-like word on which to build our children’s future.

Turning to public policy, Obama encouraged societies to support families. He said that government should make “it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid them.” He called for the end of marriage penalties. He encouraged training, opportunities, and government programs to help families raise children:

“We should help these new families care for their children by expanding maternity and paternity leave, and we should guarantee every worker more paid sick leave so they can stay home to take care of their child without losing their income.”

Continuing, Obama discussed the gift of hope. We must, implied, build our families upon that rock. So, as he ended, Obama praised fathers, asked irresponsible fathers to transform themselves, and invited society to support families instead of abandoning them to face their problems alone. Just before his concluding prayer, Obama reminded families of their most basic obligation:

“That is our ultimate responsibility as fathers and parents. We try. We hope. We do what we can to build our house upon the sturdiest rock.”

Ceremonial speakers praise and blame. But why? Remember, when we praise, we should emulate. Is it enough to praise? Shouldn’t we also learn? Indeed, what purpose do we serve if we learn and fail to act? The alternative is to abandon hope in an empty world, an world of cynicism and despair. To live as a healthy nation, we must have responsible parents and a caring society. Neither, standing alone, is enough. Those are rocks on which to build.

Obama did not build his policy proposals on statistics, expert opinion, or subtle analogies. He built them on values.

The history of rhetoric offers us too few speeches about fathers. (Or about mothers, for that matter!) If we abandon family responsibility, do we have a rock left on which to build?


In memory of my own father, a man so devoted and too little appreciated. Special thanks to all fathers. Happy Father's Day!

by William D. Harpine

Earlier Posts:

Kristin Urquiza's Brief Story about Her Father

Ayanna Pressley's Mother's Day Speech: How Did She Use Language to Make Her Point?

Copyright © 2024, Willliam D. Harpine

Image: Official White House photo