Dallas

Final Obama State of the Union ‘Bittersweet' for Some in North Texas

President Barack Obama's last State of the Union address Tuesday held special meaning for many North Texans.

"The president has not disappointed me, I'll be the first to say that," said Lorraine Birabil, who was a Dallas campaign organizer for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.

For her, watching Tuesday night's speech was bittersweet.

"Just knowing how far we've come, I do believe that we've made a great deal of progress, and the uncertainty, of course, in the future of who's going to be next," said Birabil.

President Barack Obama, during his first and his last State of the Union.

Students who are seniors at the Dallas Independent School District Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in southeast Oak Cliff were just 10 years old when Obama delivered his first State of the Union Address in January 2010.

"I do carry a sense of pride in that it is his last year, and I do feel like I'm a part of his legacy," said student Dalton Sherman, who will graduate from the school this spring.

Texas politicians, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Pete Sessions, were quick to react to President Obama’s final State of the Union address.

"It's meant a lot," said Obama Academy Principal Nakia Douglas, "because it gives a young man hope that there is an opportunity for me one day if I'm willing to work, if I'm willing to put forth the effort, that I, too, could become president."

School administrators hope Obama will one day, as a former president, have time to visit the Dallas school named after him.

Use the slider below to compare key words frequently used by President Obama in his 2010 State of the Union address, and key words he used in Tuesday's address:

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