I stand
here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you
have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I
thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four
Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been
spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace.
Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and
raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply
because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we
the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and
true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That
we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at
war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy
is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the
part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and
prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed;
businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail
too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use
energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These
are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less
measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our
land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that
the next generation must lower its sights.
Today
I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and
they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.
But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On
this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long
have strangled our politics.
We remain a
young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set
aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring
spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious
gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the
God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a
chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In
reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness
is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of
shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the
faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only
the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers,
the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men
and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long,
rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
Time
and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till
their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw
America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater
than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This
is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous,
powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when
this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and
services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last
year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat,
of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions —
that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For
everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy
calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create
new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the
roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our
commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful
place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality
and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil
to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our
schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions —
who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their
memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has
already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is
joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has
shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have
consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is
not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it
works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they
can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we
intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.
Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account —
to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of
day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people
and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for
good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is
unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye,
the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper
long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has
always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but
on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to
every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest
route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice
between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found
fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter
to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by
the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we
will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other
peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest
capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that
America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who
seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once
more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and
communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances
and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot
protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they
knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security
emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the
tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles
once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater
effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We
will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.
With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the
nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will
not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense,
and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and
slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger
and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus —
and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn
from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter
swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter
stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old
hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon
dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall
reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new
era of peace.
To the Muslim world,
we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame
their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you
on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to
power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know
that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a
hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you
to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish
starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours
that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference
to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's
resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we
must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember
with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour,
patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to
tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through
the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our
liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness
to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this
moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this
spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people
upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger
when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut
their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our
darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway
filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child,
that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet
them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard
work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity,
loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.
They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What
is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us
now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of
every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the
world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly,
firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the
spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a
difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and
women and children of every race and every faith can join in
celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father
less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local
restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how
far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of
months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the
shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was
advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the
outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation
ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of
winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city
and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet
(it)."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of
our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and
virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms
may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were
tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back
nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace
upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it
safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
