My
fellow citizens: At this last presidential inauguration of
the 20th century, let us lift our eyes toward the
challenges that await us in the next century. It is our
great good fortune that time and chance have put us not
only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium,
but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs
-- a moment that will define our course, and our
character, for decades to come. We must keep our old
democracy forever young. Guided by the ancient vision of a
promised land, let us set our sights upon a land of new
promise.
The
promise of America was born in the 18th century out of the
bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was
extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our
nation spread across the continent, saved the union, and
abolished the awful scourge of slavery.
Then,
in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto the
world stage to make this the American Century.
And
what a century it has been. America became the world's
mightiest industrial power; saved the world from tyranny
in two world wars and a long cold war; and time and again,
reached out across the globe to millions who, like us,
longed for the blessings of liberty.
Along
the way, Americans produced a great middle class and
security in old age; built unrivaled centers of learning
and opened public schools to all; split the atom and
explored the heavens; invented the computer and the
microchip; and deepened the wellspring of justice by
making a revolution in civil rights for African Americans
and all minorities, and extending the circle of
citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Now,
for the third time, a new century is upon us, and another
time to choose. We began the 19th century with a choice,
to spread our nation from coast to coast. We began the
20th century with a choice, to harness the Industrial
Revolution to our values of free enterprise, conservation,
and human decency. Those choices made all the difference.
At the dawn of the 21st century a free people must now
choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the
global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all
our people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.
When
last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed less
certain than it does today. We vowed then to set a clear
course to renew our nation.
In
these four years, we have been touched by tragedy,
exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement.
America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation.
Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. Once
again, we are building stronger families, thriving
communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner
environment. Problems that once seemed destined to deepen
now bend to our efforts: our streets are safer and record
numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to
work.
And
once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate
over the role of government. Today we can declare:
Government is not the problem, and government is not the
solution. We -- the American people -- we are the
solution. Our founders understood that well and gave
us a democracy strong enough to endure for centuries,
flexible enough to face our common challenges and advance
our common dreams in each new day.
As
times change, so government must change. We need a new
government for a new century -- humble enough not to try
to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to
give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves; a
government that is smaller, lives within its means, and
does more with less. Yet where it can stand up for our
values and interests in the world, and where it can give
Americans the power to make a real difference in their
everyday lives, government should do more, not less. The
preeminent mission of our new government is to give all
Americans an opportunity -- not a guarantee, but a real
opportunity -- to build better lives.
Beyond
that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. Our
founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty
and our union depends upon responsible citizenship. And we
need a new sense of responsibility for a new century.
There is work to do, work that government alone cannot do:
teaching children to read; hiring people off welfare
rolls; coming out from behind locked doors and shuttered
windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and gangs
and crime; taking time out of our own lives to serve
others.
Each
and every one of us, in our own way, must assume personal
responsibility -- not only for ourselves and our families,
but for our neighbors and our nation. Our greatest
responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of community for
a new century. For any one of us to succeed, we must
succeed as one America.
The
challenge of our past remains the challenge of our future
-- will we be one nation, one people, with one common
destiny, or not? Will we all come together, or come apart?
The
divide of race has been America's constant curse. And each
new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old
prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the
pretense of religious or political conviction are no
different. These forces have nearly destroyed our
nation in the past. They plague us still. They fuel the
fanaticism of terror. And they torment the lives of
millions in fractured nations all around the world.
These
obsessions cripple both those who hate and, of course,
those who are hated, robbing both of what they might
become. We cannot, we will not, succumb to the dark
impulses that lurk in the far regions of the soul
everywhere. We shall overcome them. And we shall
replace them with the generous spirit of a people who feel
at home with one another.
Our
rich texture of racial, religious and political diversity
will be a Godsend in the 21st century. Great rewards will
come to those who can live together, learn together, work
together, forge new ties that bind together.
As
this new era approaches we can already see its broad
outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical
province of physicists; today, it is a commonplace
encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren. Scientists
now are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
our most feared illnesses seem close at hand.
The
world is no longer divided into two hostile camps.
Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once
were our adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and
culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits
of people the world over. And for the very first time in
all of history, more people on this planet live under
democracy than dictatorship.
My
fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable
century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but
even to surpass the achievements of the 20th century in
America and to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its
legacy? To that question, every American here and every
American in our land today must answer a resounding
"Yes."
This
is the heart of our task. With a new vision of government,
a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community,
we will sustain America's journey. The promise we sought
in a new land we will find again in a land of new promise.
In
this new land, education will be every citizen's most
prized possession. Our schools will have the highest
standards in the world, igniting the spark of possibility
in the eyes of every girl and every boy. And the doors of
higher education will be open to all. The knowledge and
power of the Information Age will be within reach not just
of the few, but of every classroom, every library, every
child. Parents and children will have time not only to
work, but to read and play together. And the plans they
make at their kitchen table will be those of a better
home, a better job, the certain chance to go to college.
Our
streets will echo again with the laughter of our children,
because no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs
anymore. Everyone who can work, will work, with today's
permanent under class part of tomorrow's growing middle
class. New miracles of medicine at last will reach not
only those who can claim care now, but the children and
hardworking families too long denied.
We
will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a
strong defense against terror and destruction. Our
children will sleep free from the threat of nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons. Ports and airports, farms
and factories will thrive with trade and innovation and
ideas. And the world's greatest democracy will lead a
whole world of democracies.
Our
land of new promise will be a nation that meets its
obligations -- a nation that balances its budget, but
never loses the balance of its values. A nation
where our grandparents have secure retirement and health
care, and their grandchildren know we have made the
reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for their
time. A nation that fortifies the world's most
productive economy even as it protects the great natural
bounty of our water, air, and majestic land.
And
in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our
politics so that the voice of the people will always speak
louder than the din of narrow interests -- regaining the
participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.
Fellow
citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving
forward toward realizing the full potential of all its
citizens. Prosperity and power -- yes, they are important,
and we must maintain them. But let us never forget: The
greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress
we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end,
all the world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match
for the strength and decency of the human spirit.
Thirty-four
years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to
us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words
that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of
old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise
up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and
in the heart. Martin Luther King's dream was the American
Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to
live out our true creed. Our history has been built on
such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we
will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.
To
that effort I pledge all my strength and every power of my
office. I ask the members of Congress here to join in that
pledge. The American people returned to office a President
of one party and a Congress of another. Surely, they did
not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and
extreme partisanship they plainly deplore. No, they
call on us instead to be repairers of the breach, and to
move on with America's mission.
America
demands and deserves big things from us -- and nothing big
ever came from being small. Let us remember the
timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin, when facing the end
of his own life. He said: "It is wrong to waste the
precious gift of time, on acrimony and division."
Fellow
citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of this
time. For all of us are on that same journey of our lives,
and our journey, too, will come to an end. But the journey
of our America must go on.
And
so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is
much to dare. The demands of our time are great and they
are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage,
with patience and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape
the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our
history. Yes, let us build our bridge. A bridge wide
enough and strong enough for every American to cross over
to a blessed land of new promise.
May
those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose
names we may never know, say of us here that we led our
beloved land into a new century with the American Dream
alive for all her children; with the American promise of a
more perfect union a reality for all her people; with
America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all
the world.
From
the height of this place and the summit of this century,
let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good
work ahead -- and always, always bless our America.
|