The speech in context was about
change, how the
ordinary citizen is necessary and how it takes time. His mentioning these great men let's us in, as ordinary people, as to who inspires him, who he wishes to emulate:
‘The civil rights movement was hard,’ he told his audience of donors, while talking about how difficult it is to bring about
'change' in politics.
‘Winning the vote for women was hard. Making sure that workers had some basic protections was hard.
‘Around the world, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, what they did was hard. It takes time. It takes more than a single term.
It takes more than a single president. It takes more than a single individual.
'
What it takes is ordinary citizens who keep believe, who are committed to fighting and pushing and inching this country closer and closer to our highest ideals.
'Change is hard' Obama tells fundraiser as he compares himself to Ghandi and Mandela | Mail Online