| Jan. 20, 2009 | 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 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 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 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. 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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. |
Be A Golden Rule Citizen! 
