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FULL TRANSCRIPT: President Barack Obama’s
Inaugural Address
President Barack Obama Delivers Inaugural Address at US Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Jan. 20, 2009
Full transcript as prepared for delivery of President Barack Obama’s inaugural remarks on Jan. 20,
2009, at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
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 labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards
prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled 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 favors 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 honor 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 traveled. 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.
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google了一下
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想看中文的請到這邊吧
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