President Barack Obama speaks at Northwestern University, campaigns for Democrats

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- President Obama is back at the White House after spending the night in his Kenwood home, attending a political fundraiser and delivering a speech at Northwestern University.

It was the hottest ticket in town, as hundreds of Northwestern University students lined up to see the opportunity of a lifetime. President Obama arrived just after 1 p.m. to cheers and plenty of jeers as protesters kept their distance across the street. The president came to talk about the economy and how he says it has greatly improved since his six years in office.

"Jobs up, manufacturing growing, deficits cut by more than half, high school graduations up, college enrollment up, energy production up," he said during the speech.

Besides a laundry list of accomplishments, the speech was tailored to its audience, the Kellogg School of Management students who study business.

PHOTOS: President Obama speaks at Northwestern University

But did they buy the president's assertion that the economy has grown in part because of his administration's policies?

"I attribute to a combination of a number of factors, not simply because he's changing some policies," said Sean Elliott, a student.

"He's obviously a politician, so he's going to favor his position, but I do agree that the economy is doing much better than it was six years ago," said Mark Mund, a student.

The president also laid out a vision for the future, using groundbreaking research at Northwestern University as an example.

"I was also really gratified how gracious he was, not just talking about the Kellogg School of Management, but more broadly about nanotechnology and a number of other things that we are world-class at Northwestern," said Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro.

Obama touched on every subject. The 50-minute speech sounded more like a stump speech, obviously not for him, but for all the Illinois democrats sitting in audience that are up for re-election. The president gave a shout-out several times to Gov. Pat Quinn, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Sen. Dick Durbin and several others. Even he joked about it.

"This isn't some official political or campaign speech, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but it's implied," he said during the speech.

The president injected humor several times in his speech, which was appreciated by the students.

The event was the second of the day for his visit in Chicago, as he attended a fundraiser in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood Thursday morning after leaving his Kenwood home around 11 a.m.

He landed at the airport in Gary, Ind., Wednesday evening to avoid complicating operations at O'Hare International Airport. The Chicago airport is still recovering from a fire at the FAA air traffic control facility in Aurora last week. It was the first time he landed at the Gary airport.

President Obama had dinner with friends at RPM Steak in Chicago's River North neighborhood Wednesday evening.

PHOTOS: President Obama arrives at Gary International Airport