Obama reaffirms power of change in farewell speech

Outgoing US President Barack Obama has said goodbye and thanked supporters during his presidential farewell speech in Chicago. Obama used the speech to underscore the power of ordinary people to create change.

President Barack Obama reaffirmed his belief that change only happens when "ordinary people get involved, get engaged and come together to demand it" during his farewell speech on Tuesday.

Addressing thousands of supporters at McCormick Place in Chicago, the same city where he gave his presidential victory speech in 2008, the outgoing president said change was the "beating heart of our American idea - our bold experiment in self-government."

Obama, who cultivated his empowering brand of American politics in Chicago, said the city had taught him that change starts at the grassroots level.

"I first came to Chicago when I was in my early 20s, still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life," Obama told Chicagoans. "This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged and come together to demand it."

"After eight years as your president, I still believe that," Obama told a crowd of loyal fans, many of whom were demoralized by Donald Trump's shock election triumph in November.

At one point, the president was interrupted by chants of "Four more years!" to which he responded "I can't do that."

In the aftermath of Trump's victory, Obama acknowledged that the US' progress has been "uneven," and that for "every two steps forwards, it often feels we take two steps back."

But the country, Obama said, strives for "forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some."

Obama again promised to ensure a peaceful transition of power to the new president later this month.

Obama leaves the White House with an approval rating of around 55 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Democrats will hope to be able to leverage Obama's popularity as the find themselves cast into the political wilderness, having lost the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in November's presidential election.