President Barack Obama's second inaugural address
delivered Monday, January 21, 2013, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.:
"We have always understood that when times change, so must we." ~ President Obama
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, 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 have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a
gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. 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.
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, 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.
This
generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and
proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic
recovery has begun. 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.
For we,
the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do
very well and a growing many barely make it. 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.
We
understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.
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, and 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. 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. They do not make us a nation of takers;
they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
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. 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 is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our
national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped
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. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames
of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. 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. 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.
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. Our journey is not complete until our gay
brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are
truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be
equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to
wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. 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; until bright young students and
engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our
country. 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 will 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.
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. 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
forty years, and four hundred 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.
Let 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.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Photo by: Christina Steihl, Hollywood Life
