U.S. Presidential Inaugural AddressesUnited States. Presidents
History
U.S. Presidential Inaugural Addresses
United States. Presidents
Presidents -- United States -- Inaugural addresses
Ours was the first society openly to define itself in terms of both
spirituality and of human liberty. It is that unique self-definition
which has given us an exceptional appeal, but it also imposes on us a
special obligation, to take on those moral duties which, when assumed,
seem invariably to be in our own best interests.
You have given me a great responsibility--to stay close to you, to be
worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are. Let us create together a
new national spirit of unity and trust. Your strength can compensate for
my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.
Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray
together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the
right.
The American dream endures. We must once again have full faith in our
country--and in one another. I believe America can be better. We can be
even stronger than before.
Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic
principles of our Nation, for we know that if we despise our own
government we have no future. We recall in special times when we have
stood briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times no prize was
beyond our grasp.
But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. We cannot afford to drift. We
reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality
of life for any person. Our Government must at the same time be both
competent and compassionate.
We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now
struggling to enhance equality of opportunity. Our commitment to human
rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved;
the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be
enhanced.
We have learned that "more" is not necessarily "better," that even our
great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer
all questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do everything,
nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future. So, together,
in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply
do our best.
Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home. And
we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to
demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.
To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will not behave
in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home,
for we know that the trust which our Nation earns is essential to our
strength.
The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. Peoples more numerous
and more politically aware are craving and now demanding their place in
the sun--not just for the benefit of their own physical condition, but
for basic human rights.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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