President Obama Gives Final Weekly Address: 'We Can't Take Our Democracy for Granted'

— -- In his final weekly address to the nation, President Obama urged the American people to be engaged citizens in the years ahead.

“We can’t take our democracy for granted,” Obama said in the video of the address that went live Saturday morning. “All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the work of citizenship. Not just when there’s an election, not just when our narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime.”

Obama’s remarks come in his final days in the White House, with less than a week until President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office Friday.

The president’s last weekly address echoed his farewell speech in Chicago earlier this week when he warned that the nation is becoming increasingly divided and called on Americans to remain vigilant about democracy.

“Our success depends on our participation, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings,” Obama said in his final weekly address. “It falls on each of us to be guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task we’ve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: citizen.”

Obama acknowledged self-government can be “hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but always vital.”

The 44th president ended his message on a positive note, saying: “Eight years later, I am even more optimistic about our country’s promise.”

Obama dedicated his last weekly address to the American people, saying it’s been an “honor of my life” to serve as president of the United States.

“Every day, I learned from you,” he said. “You made me a better president, and you made me a better man.”