Thank you all.
Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Carter, President Bush—
President Clinton, distinguished guests, and my fellow citizens:
This 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,
the 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 within 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 defeating 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 onto 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 efforts 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 the story’s author, who fills time and eternity with His purpose. 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.