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№ 2009.007 — George Washington University — Commencement address
Rahm Emanuel
Field: politics
Rahm Emanuel, then White House Chief of Staff, addresses the George Washington University Class of 2009 by sharing three personal lessons drawn from his own life: take life seriously, learn humility from failure, and serve a cause greater than oneself. He frames graduation amid economic crisis as both a responsibility and an opportunity, urging graduates to engage in public service. He cites rising applications to programs like Teach for America, the Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps, and references a newly signed national service bill.
Key moments
- 01 Recounting a near-fatal infection as a teenager that taught him not to be reckless with life
- 02 Describing his demotion in the Clinton White House as a lesson in humility and recovery from failure
- 03 Invoking Abraham Lincoln as an example of overcoming setbacks
- 04 Urging graduates to serve a cause bigger than themselves and enlist in national service
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording