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Authors:Barack Obama's speech for his
inauguration as 44th president of USA, January 20, 2009 |
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Speech 2008 |
'AMERICA IS A FRIEND OF EVERY
NATION AND EACH MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD WHO SEEKS A FUTURE OF PEACE
AND DIGNITY'
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 forbearers,
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 Americas 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 short-cuts 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 Sahn.
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 technologys wonders to raise health cares
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. And
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. And those
of us who manage the publics 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, 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 expediences
sake. And so to all 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 societys
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 suffering outside our borders;
nor can we consume the worlds 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 today, 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 firefighters
courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a
parents 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 Americas 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 childrens
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 Gods 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. |
|
Barack Obama: American politician.
Born August 4, 1961. Elected 44th President of USA November 4, 2008. |
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