The White House's official
transcript of President Obama's inaugural address, Jan. 21, 2013, timed at 15
minutes:
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief
Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and
fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a
President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We
affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation
together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the
origins of our names. What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is
our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two
centuries ago:
"We hold these truths to be
self-evident,
President Barack Obama gives his
inauguration address during the presidential public swearing-in on the west
front of the Capitol Building during the 57th inauguration in Washington, Jan.
21, 2013. Obama renewed his oath of office just before midday Monday,
ceremonially marking the beginning of another four years in the White House.
(Chang W. Lee/The New York Times) (CHANG W LEE)
that all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Today we continue a never-ending
journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.
For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they've never
been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured
by His people here on Earth. (Applause.) The patriots of 1776 did not fight to
replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a
mob. They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people,
entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.
And for more than two hundred years,
we have.
Through blood drawn by lash and
blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of
liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves
anew, and vowed to move forward together.
Together, we determined that a
modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce,
schools and colleges to train our workers.
Together, we discovered that a free
market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.
Together, we resolved that a great
nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst
hazards and misfortune.
Through it all, we have never
relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the
fiction that all society's ills can be cured through government alone. Our
celebration of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and
personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.
But we have always understood that
when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles
requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual
freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no
more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone than American soldiers
could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No
single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip
our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs
that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we
must do these things together, as one nation and one people. (Applause.)
This generation of Americans has
been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A
decade of war is now ending. (Applause.) An economic recovery has begun.
(Applause.) America's possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the
qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive;
diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for
reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will
seize it -- so long as we seize it together. (Applause.)
For we, the people, understand that
our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many
barely make it. (Applause.) We believe that America's prosperity must rest upon
the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when
every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of
honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our
creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the
same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is
free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.
(Applause.)
We understand that outworn programs
are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and
technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools,
and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more,
reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation
that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is
what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.
We, the people, still believe that
every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make
the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit.
But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation
that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its
future. (Applause.) For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight
years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had
nowhere to turn.
We do not believe that in this
country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We
recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at
any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a
terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and
Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they
strengthen us. (Applause.) They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us
to take the risks that make this country great. (Applause.)
We, the people, still believe that
our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.
We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do
so would betray our children and future generations. (Applause.) Some may still
deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating
impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.
The path towards sustainable energy
sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this
transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology
that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That's
how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure -- our
forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we
will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That's what will lend
meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.
We, the people, still believe that
enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. (Applause.)
Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are
unmatched in skill and courage. (Applause.) Our citizens, seared by the memory
of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The
knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who
would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just
the war; who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends -- and we must
carry those lessons into this time as well.
We will defend our people and uphold
our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage
to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully —- not because
we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably
lift suspicion and fear. (Applause.)
America will remain the anchor of
strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those
institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a
greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will
support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East,
because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those
who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick,
the marginalized, the victims of prejudice —- not out of mere charity, but
because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles
that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and
justice.
We, the people, declare today that
the most evident of truths —- that all of us are created equal —- is the star that
guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and
Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and
unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that
we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is
inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. (Applause.)
It is now our generation's task to
carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our
wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.
(Applause.) Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are
treated like anyone else under the law —- (applause) -- for if we are truly
created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as
well. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to
wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. (Applause.) Our journey is not
complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants
who still see America as a land of opportunity -- (applause) -- until bright
young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled
from our country. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until all our
children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet
lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe
from harm.
That is our generation's task -- to
make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the
pursuit of happiness real for every American. Being true to our founding
documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not
mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise
path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates
about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our
time. (Applause.)
For now decisions are upon us and we
cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute
spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. (Applause.)
We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that
today's victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who
stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the
timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.
My fellow Americans, the oath I have
sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this
Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must
faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the
words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time
a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not
so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that
fills our hearts with pride.
They are the words of citizens and
they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set
this country's course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the
debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we
lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. (Applause.)
Let us, each of us, now embrace with
solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort
and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of
history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
Thank you. God bless you, and may He
forever bless these United States of America.
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