.TODAY’S PROGRAM WAS…
President Barack H. Obama's inaugural
address as the United States of America’s 44th President.
.
Here is the text as it was delivered:
My fellow citizens:
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.
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