President
Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellow citizens, the
peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet
common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old
traditions and make new beginnings.
As
I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our
nation.
And
I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with
spirit and ended with grace.
I
am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of
America's leaders have come before me, and so many will
follow.
We
have a place, all of us, in a long story a story we
continue, but whose end we will not see. It is the story
of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the
old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a
servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into
the world to protect but not possess, to defend but not to
conquer.
It
is the American story a story of flawed and fallible
people, united across the generations by grand and
enduring ideals.
The
grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise
that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance,
that no insignificant person was ever born.
Americans
are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our
laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and
sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.
Through
much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and
democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed
upon the wind, taking root in many nations.
Our
democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it
is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but
do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after
nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.
While
many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise,
even the justice, of our own country. The ambitions of
some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden
prejudice and the circumstances of their birth. And
sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a
continent, but not a country.
We
do not accept this, and we will not allow it. Our unity,
our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in
every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will
work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.
I
know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power
larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image.
And
we are confident in principles that unite and lead us
onward.
America
has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are
bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift
us above our interests and teach us what it means to be
citizens. Every child must be taught these principles.
Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by
embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less,
American.
Today,
we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's
promise through civility, courage, compassion and
character.
America,
at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a
concern for civility. A civil society demands from each of
us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.
Some
seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty
because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates
appear small.
But
the stakes for America are never small. If our country
does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led. If
we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and
character, we will lose their gifts and undermine their
idealism. If we permit our economy to drift and decline,
the vulnerable will suffer most.
We
must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a
tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of
trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this
commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared
accomplishment.
America,
at its best, is also courageous.
Our
national courage has been clear in times of depression and
war, when defending common dangers defined our common
good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and
mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show
courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems
instead of passing them on to future generations.
Together,
we will reclaim America's schools, before ignorance and
apathy claim more young lives.
We
will reform Social Security and Medicare, sparing our
children from struggles we have the power to prevent. And
we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our
economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working
Americans.
We
will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness
invite challenge.
We
will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new
century is spared new horrors.
The
enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake:
America remains engaged in the world by history and by
choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We
will defend our allies and our interests. We will show
purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad
faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we
will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.
America,
at its best, is compassionate. In the quiet of American
conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is
unworthy of our nation's promise.
And
whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that
children at risk are not at fault. Abandonment and abuse
are not acts of God, they are failures of love.
And
the proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no
substitute for hope and order in our souls.
Where
there is suffering, there is duty. Americans in need are
not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but
priorities. And all of us are diminished when any are
hopeless.
Government
has great responsibilities for public safety and public
health, for civil rights and common schools. Yet
compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.
And
some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to
a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer. Church and charity,
synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity,
and they will have an honored place in our plans and in
our laws.
Many
in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can
listen to those who do.
And
I can pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that
wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass
to the other side.
America,
at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is
valued and expected.
Encouraging
responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a
call to conscience. And though it requires sacrifice, it
brings a deeper fulfillment. We find the fullness of life
not only in options, but in commitments. And we find that
children and community are the commitments that set us
free.
Our
public interest depends on private character, on civic
duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted,
unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our
freedom.
Sometimes
in life we are called to do great things. But as a saint
of our times has said, every day we are called to do small
things with great love. The most important tasks of a
democracy are done by everyone.
I
will live and lead by these principles: to advance my
convictions with civility, to pursue the public interest
with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion,
to call for responsibility and try to live it as well.
In
all these ways, I will bring the values of our history to
the care of our times.
What
you do is as important as anything government does. I ask
you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend
needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your nation,
beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens:
citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects;
responsible citizens, building communities of service and
a nation of character.
Americans
are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe
in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond
ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no
government program can replace it. When this spirit is
present, no wrong can stand against it.
After
the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia
statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: "We
know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the
strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind
and directs this storm?"
Much
time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his
inauguration. The years and changes accumulate. But the
themes of this day he would know: our nation's grand story
of courage and its simple dream of dignity.
We
are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity
with his purpose. Yet his purpose is achieved in our duty,
and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.
Never
tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that
purpose today, to make our country more just and generous,
to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This
work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still
rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
God
bless you all, and God bless America.
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