Photo Courtesy of Flickr/NASA HQ PHOTO

Obama makes the 2015 State of the Union Address, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner.

At 8 p.m. on the evening of Jan. 20, President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union Address.

Politicians in attendance included  John Lewis, a major face of the civil rights movement, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elizabeth Warren, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner. Among the special guests invited by the Obamas were Alan Gross, a man from Maryland who was held captive in a Cuban prison for over a year, and Rebekah Erler, a 36-year-old woman whose family was deeply impacted by job loss during the recession.

“We are 15 years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with… two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. [The new century] has been, and still is, a hard time for many. But tonight, we turn the page,” Obama announced in his opening sentences.

Obama reflected on all the positive changes we have seen over the past 15 years, such as the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan, significant economy growth and job creation, the increased number of people with insurance, freedom from need of foreign oil, and the redefinition of gay rights as a prominent social movement rather than a minor side issue.

Obama presented many new plans he hopes to complete during the remainder of his time in office. He pledged to eliminate all costs of community college for certain students, promised to veto any bills that may fight new immigration laws or threaten to take healthcare away from families, called for net neutrality, requested the closing of Guantanamo Bay and hopes to cure diseases such as cancer and diabetes with the help of the new human genome.

Viewers were asked to vote on whether or not they agreed with each statement and idea Obama brought up. The results of the poll were displayed at the bottom of the TV screen, and were organized according to the voters’ political affiliations. Democrats were normally the most in agreement with Obama’s statements, Republicans the second most in agreement and Independents the least.

“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” The President asked of American viewers.

“I’ve no more campaigns to run,” Obama stated, earning applause from the Republican side of the room.”I know because I won both of them,” the President finished. This joke was referred to as a “drop-the-mic moment” by NBC. Obama even got a laugh out of senator John McCain, his Republican opponent in 2008.

Obama called the United States a strong, tight-knit family that has suffered and overcome very much together as a whole.

“A brighter future is ours to write. Let’s begin this new chapter – together – and let’s start the work right now,” the President concluded.