President Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign nine years ago today at the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.

In his speech, Obama, considered an underdog to Hillary Clinton, framed his candidacy through the legacy of another Illinois politician, Abraham Lincoln, positioning himself as an outsider who could change Washington and bring Democrats and Republicans together.

"I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness -- a certain audacity -- to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change," Obama, then a first-term senator from Illinois, said in the speech. "As people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play."

"They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page," he continued.

Obama will mark the anniversary by returning to Springfield today to address the Illinois legislature.

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