Watch It Again: Full Video Of President Obama's Farewell Speech

CHICAGO, IL — President Barack Obama delivered his farewell address to the nation from Chicago on Tuesday, returning to the city he calls his hometown and the place where he celebrated his presidential election victories in 2008 and 2012.

On Tuesday, Obama became the 13th president to leave office with an official farewell message and only the 11th chief executive to deliver it as a speech (George Washington and Andrew Jackson had their farewell messages printed in newspapers), according to the American Presidency Project.

RELATED: Read the Full Text of President Obama's Farewell Speech

The presidential farewell address has become an unofficial tradition since Harry S. Truman left office, with the late John F. Kennedy the only president not to make such a speech. For the most part, Washington, D.C., has been the site of these events — seven presidents delivered their addresses from the White House, and two chose the House Chambers in the Capitol Building — and until Obama, George H.W. Bush was the exception, giving his departing speech at West Point in 1993.

WATCH President Obama's full farewell address:

WATCH Patch Editor Patrick Martin from McCormick Place hours before the speech is scheduled to start. Go to Chicago Patch's Facebook page for more videos from the event.

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Along with the location, Obama also broke with unofficial tradition by making the address open to the public. Free tickets to the event were distributed Saturday in Chicago, and they went quickly. By Monday, some individuals were selling those tickets online for as much as $5,000 apiece.

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Hours before Tuesday's event was scheduled to begin, Vice President Joe Biden, who was at the speech, went to Twitter to talk about feeling nostalgic as the curtain was coming down on the Obama administration's time in the White House.

About 18,000 people attended the address, according to an estimate by the Chicago Fire Department. Celebrities, elected officials and other famous faces were seen at McCormick Place, too, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel; former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn; actors Tom Hanks and Chris Tucker; educator and TV star Bill Nye the Science Guy; and U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush and Danny Davis.

Go to Chicago Patch's Facebook page to watch videos from the event by Patch Editor Patrick Martin.

President Barack Obama's Farewell Address

• When: 8 p.m. (Central Time) Tuesday, Jan. 10
• Where: McCormick Place, Chicago
• TV: The speech will be carried on the five major networks — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS — as well as CNN, CSPAN, Fox News and MSNBC.

UPDATED (11:13 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10)

President Barack Obama delivers his farewell address Tuesday, Jan. 10, at McCormick Place in Chicago. (screen shot via video the White House | YouTube)

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