Obama warns of democratic test, ´we rise or fall as one´

Chicago: President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that the United States faces a stern test of its democracy, in a speech to the nation that was both a fond goodbye and a call to arms.

Capping his eight years in office, Obama returned to his adoptive hometown of Chicago to recast his "yes we can" campaign credo as "yes we did."

He also called on supporters to pick up the torch and forge a new "social compact".

"Democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity," he said. "For all our outward differences, we are all in this together," he said. "We rise or fall as one."