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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.
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