Just twenty-four hours after he secured his re-election, President Barack Obama addressed his campaign staff at his Chicago headquarters, shedding a few tears during the speech.

Speaking to his campaign team, the president touched on his days as a community organizer in Chicago and how he knew he wanted to help people, but wasn’t quite sure how yet. He praised his volunteers for being “the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics.”

“It’s not that you guys actually remind me of myself — it’s the fact that you are so much better than I was,” the president told staffers and volunteers, with longtime political adviser David Axelrod standing off to the side. “What Bobby Kennedy called the ripples of hope that come out when you throw a stone in a lake, that’s going to be you.”

“What you guys have done means what I have done means what I’m doing is important,” he continued, “and I’m really proud of you. I’m really proud of you.”

The president used the speech to reflect on his campaign for president, telling supporters that Tuesday’s re-election was the culmination of years of hard work.

“Your journey is just beginning, you’re just starting,” he said, “and whatever good we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys do for years to come.”

In e-mailing the video to volunteers, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the president “wasn’t just talking to those of us in the office — he was talking to all of you.”

“We’ll be in touch soon about how we can get started on some of the president’s top priorities in his second term,” wrote Mr. Messina. “For now, I just want to say I am so proud of this team. And I can’t wait to see where you take this incredible movement from here.”