On Tuesday,  Jan. 20, President Barack Obama gave his sixth annual State of the Union Address. He gave the speech in the House of Representatives Chamber in front of both houses of Congress, the Presidential Cabinet, and many prominent military leaders.

The proceedings began when the Speaker of the House John Boehner introduced the President to the podium where he would give the speech. He began the speech with a list of things the country has improved on including, the jobs created in the past 58 months under his administration, the extreme drop in gas prices all over the country in recent months, the beginnings of lifting the trade embargos that Cuba has had on the United States for 60 years, and that  high school graduation rates are at an all-time high.

We as a nation are moving forward, the President believes, as he told the viewers that “the shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the union is strong.”

The President gave this speech in front of the newly Republican-dominated Congress, and made sure to push just how successful his administration has been despite how often the Congress has fought with him to create the current gridlock in Washington. He mentions that the country’s deficits have been cut back by 2/3, 11.2 million jobs have been created, and unemployment is at an all-time low since the 90’s at a record breaking 5.6%.

President Obama also insisted on higher minimum wages and higher tax breaks on families with young children. The President also brought up his most famous piece of legislation, the Affordable Health Care Act, or “Obamacare,” in which he emphasized the fact that currently 8 million people are insured under this Act and now have access to proper medical care for children and parents alike.

The President gives this speech every year to remind the country that the United States has come far under his leadership and to summarize everything we have done right, with slight references to what has gone wrong. President Obama’s last checked approval rating was at 46%, but with this speech he hopes to remind everyone that they need to have faith in him and his administration.

“We have done good things, people,” he said, and has created greater hope that in this coming year and in his last term, he can do even more good for the country and for the people in it.