President George W. Bush
Inaugural Address
January 20, 2001
President
Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellow citizens, the peaceful transfer of
authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we
affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.
As I begin, I
thank President Clinton for his service to our nation.
And I thank
Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.
I am honored
and humbled to stand here, where so many of America's leaders have come before
me, and so many will follow.
We have a
place, all of us, in a long story--a story we continue, but whose end we will
not see. It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of
the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom,
the story of a power that went into the world to protect but not possess, to
defend but not to conquer.
It is the
American story--a story of flawed and fallible people, united across the
generations by grand and enduring ideals.
The grandest of
these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that
everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.
Americans are
called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our
nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other
course.
Through much of
the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a
raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.
Our democratic
faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our
humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And
even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.
While many of
our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise, even the justice, of our own
country. The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and
hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth. And sometimes our
differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country.
We do not
accept this, and we will not allow it. Our unity, our union, is the serious
work of leaders and citizens in every generation. And this is my solemn pledge:
I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.
I know this is
in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates
us equal in His image.
And we are
confident in principles that unite and lead us onward.
America has
never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move
us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it
means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every
citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes
our country more, not less, American.
Today, we
affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility,
courage, compassion and character.
America, at its
best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility. A civil
society demands from each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and
forgiveness.
Some seem to
believe that our politics can afford to be petty because, in a time of peace,
the stakes of our debates appear small.
But the stakes
for America are never small. If our country does not lead the cause of freedom,
it will not be led. If we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge
and character, we will lose their gifts and undermine their idealism. If we
permit our economy to drift and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most.
We must live up
to the calling we share. Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined
choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this commitment, if
we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment.
America, at its
best, is also courageous.
Our national
courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common
dangers defined our common good. Now we must choose if the example of our
fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage in a
time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future
generations.
Together, we
will reclaim America's schools, before ignorance and apathy claim more young
lives.
We will reform
Social Security and Medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the
power to prevent. And we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our
economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans.
We will build
our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge.
We will
confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new
horrors.
The enemies of
liberty and our country should make no mistake: America remains engaged in the
world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom.
We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without
arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And
to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.
America, at its
best, is compassionate. In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep,
persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.
And whatever
our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault.
Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God, they are failures of love.
And the
proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no substitute for hope and
order in our souls.
Where there is
suffering, there is duty. Americans in need are not strangers, they are
citizens, not problems, but priorities. And all of us are diminished when any
are hopeless.
Government has
great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights
and common schools. Yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a
government.
And some needs
and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's
prayer. Church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their
humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.
Many in our
country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can listen to those who do.
And I can
pledge our nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to
Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.
America, at its
best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected.
Encouraging
responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a call to conscience. And
though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment. We find the
fullness of life not only in options, but in commitments. And we find that
children and community are the commitments that set us free.
Our public
interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic
fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our
freedom.
Sometimes in
life we are called to do great things. But as a saint of our times has said,
every day we are called to do small things with great love. The most important
tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.
I will live and
lead by these principles: to advance my convictions with civility, to pursue
the public interest with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion,
to call for responsibility and try to live it as well.
In all these
ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of our times.
What you do is
as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek a common good
beyond your comfort; to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve
your nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens: citizens,
not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building
communities of service and a nation of character.
Americans are
generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but
because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is
missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no
wrong can stand against it.
After the
Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to
Thomas Jefferson: ``We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the
strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this
storm?''
Much time has
passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The years and changes
accumulate. But the themes of this day he would know: our nation's grand story
of courage and its simple dream of dignity.
We are not this
story's author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. Yet his purpose
is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.
Never tiring,
never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our
country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every
life.
This work
continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and
directs this storm.
God bless you
all, and God bless America.