On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.[101][102] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858.[101][103] Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and reforming the health care system,[104] in a campaign that projected themes of hope and change