Washington, Jan 20: Following is the text of the
inaugural speech of 44th US President Barack Obama:-
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 labour, who have carried us up the
long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and
travelled 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 favours 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
honour 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 travelled. 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.
First Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 00:00