WARNING: THIS IS A LENGTHY POST. MORE OF AN ESSAY THAN A BLOG
WHO ARE WE? WHAT DO WE STAND FOR AS A NATION?
THE SEARCH FOR A UNIFYING VISION
For several years now, I have yearned for a leader to articulate a
renewed and contemporaneously relevant Vision for our Nation which would elicit
the passionate support of a majority of our citizens.
I hoped that the recent Presidential campaign and the election of
President Trump would move us toward a uniting Vision. Clearly, it has not.
I have never seen us more divided, not only or even so much in terms of
policies, but in our personal relations and attitude toward one another. Disagreements have become intensely
personal. The toxic antagonism now
not only reigns between parties but within parties. The cleavage between Democrats
supporting Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton; the cleavage between moderates
within the Republican Party who are seeing so many of their traditional policies
being thrown under the bus as they struggle to support the newly-elected President,
alongside the millions of voters who support his populist appeal are just two
examples.
It would be a misreading of history to look at these tense intra- and
inner-party disputes as first-time events. They are not.
There were major splits in the Republican Party, for example, between
supporters of Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Taft; between George McGovern and
Hubert Humphrey.
And there have been many toxic splits between the parties: recall Kennedy versus Nixon; Truman
versus Dewey; Kerry versus Bush.
And there were plenty of personal barbs thrown around in these and
other campaigns, some centuries ago; candidates accused of corruption, even fathering
illegitimate children.
However, with rare exceptions, the political rhetoric did not descend
to where it is today: impugning
the very moral and ethical fiber and patriotism of the opponent.
Civility--even the pretense of mutual personal respect--has virtually
disappeared and been replaced by toxic accusations, often unproven.
This is not only dispiriting in its own right. It is getting in the way of needed
debate and action on the most fundamental issues we face as a Nation. They are not new issues:
1.
What should the relationship of the United
States be to the rest of the world?
To what degree is it our responsibility and in our interest to work with
other Nations to confront poverty, failed states, the threat of terrorism and
disease and nuclear and environmental catastrophe?
To what degree do we
have a role and the responsibility as a leading Nation, committed to freedom,
to play a leadership role in the world because it is right to do (we’re all
part of one world) and because it is in our interest? And what does carrying out that role
entail in terms of supporting allies?
Providing aid to other countries?
Supporting multi-Nation treaties and organizations? Fighting climate change?
2.
What is the role of Governments (at the Federal,
state and local level) to assure that citizens have the Rights so precisely
enumerated in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence? 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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.
What is the role of
Government to assure good health care?
To what extent should that be left up to States as opposed to being
guaranteed by the Federal Government?
To what extent
should the Federal Government have a role in ensuring every child receives
education to enable and to fulfill his or her God-given potential? What should
that role be?
*****
Before going further, a personal disclosure. I am what most people would call a Progressive--a Liberal
Independent. “Liberal” on most
social issues, such as marriage equality and the right of a woman to
choose. “Conservative” on most
fiscal issues, including the value of open markets and fair trade; “conservative”
on recognizing the danger of uncontrolled debt.
I share the view that the politics of the Progressive Center need redirection
and re-energizing. More than in
the past, the Progressive Center needs to be non-partisan. It needs to be seen as serving the
“common man,” not only the professional elite! It needs to be seen and, in fact, be taking action to serve
people whose lives are displaced by the impact of globalization, world trade
and technology. In its legitimate commitment
to reduce barriers to having equal opportunity for disadvantaged groups, the
Progressive Center must serve and respect
all people. It must avoid a
posture of moral superiority versus those that don’t fully share its
values. Such a posture flies in
the face of the mandate to understand and respect others. The Progressive Center must respect and
cherish the patriotic love of our Nation even as it recognizes our inextricable
relationship to the world.
I believe that Government (at the Federal, State and Local levels as
appropriate) must accept the challenge posed by the reality that upwards of
one-third of our young people today are growing up in poverty and, for that and
other reasons, will be unprepared to enter the workforce of the future and lead
productive lives.
*****
In searching for a renewed, relevant vision for our future as a Nation,
with its attendant Purpose and Values, I decided to review the Inaugural
Presidential Addresses of eleven Presidents who have led our Nation since the
beginning of the 20th Century.
I have drawn extracts from these Addresses which I believe fairly
present the Goals, Principles and Values which these Presidents brought to
their position.
Seven of the Addresses are from Republican Presidents (Teddy Roosevelt,
Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush
and Donald Trump). Four are from
Democratic Presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama). The economic and political
situation at which each of these Presidents began their term and saw it unfold differed
greatly. And, for that reason, so,
too, did their action priorities.
However, what I believe you will find to be notable is the commonality
of Purpose and Values which these Presidents expressed as they relate to our
relations to: 1) one another and
2) to other Nations of the world.
The one exception is the address of President Trump with respect to the
relationship which he espouses for our Nation with the rest of the world. His exclusionary mantra—“America First”—stands
apart from the vision of the ten other presidents.
This is a very dangerous and threatening difference. As the recently retired career diplomat
Daniel Fried has written: Ours was
a new Nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal. That rough
sense of equality and opportunity embedded in us, informed the way we brought
our American power to the world, America’s Grand Strategy. We have, imperfectly and despite
detours and retreat along the way, sought to realize a better world for
ourselves and others, for we understand that our prosperity and our values at
home depend on that prosperity and those values being as secure as possible in
a sometimes dark world.”
The aspirations and commitments expressed in these newly elected
Presidents’ Inaugural Addresses were often diluted and sometimes thwarted by
events unforeseeable at the time of the Inauguration. The Great Depression, following Herbert Hoover’s
Inauguration; “9/11,” following George W. Bush’s Inauguration; the devastating
war in Vietnam, following Lyndon Johnson’s Inauguration; and the Korean War,
following Harry Truman’s Inauguration are prominent examples of what I am
talking about. That reality notwithstanding,
I would submit that the aspirations, values and commitments expressed so
consistently by the incoming Presidents in their Inauguration Addresses
represent what our Nation has stood for since its creation and what it should
and will stand for in the future.
Excerpts from these Inaugural Addresses are shown in the attached. They are lengthy but I believe very
worth reading.
I leave it to the reader to draw your own conclusions from these
Inaugural speeches. For me, the
first thing I would say is that I find them inspiring in the moral purpose which animates them. They rekindle my pride in our country
and what we stand for. For me, these
key themes emerge:
·
The call to respect the dignity of every
person. The recognition that we
are inextricably bound to one another.
This Preface to the Declaration of Independence says it simply and
eloquently. “We are all created
equal, as defined by our natural Rights; thus, no one has Rights superior to
those of anyone else.”
We are all equal
under the law and as children of God.
·
The recognition that, as a Nation, we are
inextricably bound to the rest of the world. We are so bound as a matter of our own self-interest,
economically and politically. As a
leader, we are responsible to work with other Nations to advance the cause of
world peace, without which we will not be at peace.
·
We will acknowledge and respect the rights of
other countries to live as they choose, while hoping that our own example of
the pursuit of freedom for all and economic vitality can be a light for others.
·
Our country will always face challenges, internally
and externally, economically, politically, and globally. But just as we overcame them in the
past, we can overcome them today provided we face reality, we speak truth and we
come together and are faithful to our most fundamental values and to one
another.
Finally, it is notable that, in these seminal letters, no Presidents
found it necessary to speak to the importance of integrity. Telling the truth to the American
public as best one could was taken for granted. So, too, while certain Presidents (e.g., Reagan, in addition
to Trump) assailed Government as being too large and being “the problem,” no
President assailed the very integrity of Government and its institutions as
President Trump is doing today.
This, too, is very dangerous.
*****
Of course, one might argue, some do, that the moral foundation
enunciated by our earlier presidents, the belief that our safety and future as
a Nation is inextricably entwined with the welfare, condition and peace of the
surrounding world are no longer “fit for our times.” There have been leaders who felt this way in the past; who
advocated “America First” in a way that largely turned our backs on the world
around us. That was a mistake then
and it would be a fatal mistake now.
Inaugural Addresses
Theodore Roosevelt – March 4, 1905
My fellow-citizens, no people on earth have more cause to be
thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness
in our own strength, but with gratitude to the Giver of Good who has blessed
us with the conditions which have enabled us to achieve so large a measure of
well-being and of happiness. To us as a people it has been granted to lay the
foundations of our national life in a new continent. We are the heirs of the
ages, and yet we have had to pay few of the penalties which in old countries
are exacted by the dead hand of a bygone civilization.
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Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.
We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither.
We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into
relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems
a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and
small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must
show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous
of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and
generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a
nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the
strong. While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no
less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we wish
the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think
it is right and not because we are afraid.
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Our relations with the other powers of the world are important; but
still more important are our relations among ourselves. Such growth in
wealth, in population, and in power as this nation has seen during the
century and a quarter of its national life is inevitably accompanied by a
like growth in the problems which are ever before every nation that rises to
greatness. Power invariably means both responsibility and danger. The conditions which have told for our
marvelous material well-being have also brought the care and anxiety
inseparable from the accumulation of great wealth in industrial centers. Upon
the success of our experiment much depends, not only as regards our own
welfare, but as regards the welfare of mankind. If we fail, the cause of free
self-government throughout the world will rock to its foundations, and
therefore our responsibility is heavy, to ourselves, to the world as it is
to-day, and to the generations yet unborn. There is no good reason why we
should fear the future, but there is every reason why we should face it
seriously, neither hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems before
us nor fearing to approach these problems with the unbending, unflinching purpose
to solve them aright.
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We know that self-government is difficult. We know that no people
needs such high traits of character as that people which seeks to govern its
affairs aright through the freely expressed will of the freemen who compose
it. But we have faith that we shall not prove false to the memories of the
men of the mighty past. They did their work, they left us the splendid
heritage we now enjoy. We in our turn have an assured confidence that we
shall be able to leave this heritage unwasted and enlarged to our children
and our children's children. To do so we must show, not merely in great
crises, but in the everyday affairs of life, the qualities of practical
intelligence, of courage, of hardihood, and endurance, and above all the power
of devotion to a lofty ideal, which made great the men who founded this
Republic in the days of Washington, which made great the men who preserved
this Republic in the days of Abraham Lincoln.
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Franklin Roosevelt – March 4, 1933
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth,
frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our
country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive
and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the
only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified
terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In
every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has
met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is
essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to
leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common
difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have
shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem
of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a
foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken
by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers
conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be
thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have
multiplied it.
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the
joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral
stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of
evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they
teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister
to ourselves and to our fellow men.
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Herbert Hoover – March 4, 1929
This occasion is not alone the administration of the most sacred oath
which can be assumed by an American citizen. It is a dedication and
consecration under God to the highest office in service of our people. I assume
this trust in the humility of knowledge that only through the guidance of
Almighty Providence can I hope to discharge its ever-increasing burdens.
If we survey the situation of our Nation both at home and abroad, we
find many satisfactions; we find some causes for concern. We have emerged from
the losses of the Great War and the reconstruction following it with increased
virility and strength. From this strength we have contributed to the recovery
and progress of the world. What America has done has given renewed hope and
courage to all who have faith in government by the people. In the large view, we
have reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before
in the history of the world. The
influence and high purposes of our Nation are respected among the peoples of
the world. We aspire to distinction in the world, but to a distinction based
upon confidence in our sense of justice as well as our accomplishments within
our own borders and in our own lives.
But all this majestic advance should not obscure the constant dangers
from which self-government must be safeguarded. The strong man must at all
times be alert to the attack of insidious disease.
The United States fully accepts the profound truth that our own
progress, prosperity, and peace are interlocked with the progress, prosperity,
and peace of all humanity. The whole world is at peace. The dangers to a
continuation of this peace to-day are largely the fear and suspicion which
still haunt the world. No suspicion or fear can be rightly directed toward our
country.
Those who have a true understanding of America know that we have no
desire for territorial expansion, for economic or other domination of other
peoples. Such purposes are repugnant to our ideals of human freedom.
The idealism of America will lead it to no narrow or selfish channel,
but inspire it to do its full share as a nation toward the advancement of
civilization. It will do that not by mere declaration but by taking a practical
part in supporting all useful international undertakings. We not only desire
peace with the world, but to see peace maintained throughout the world. We wish
to advance the reign of justice and reason toward the extinction of
force.
In our form of democracy the expression of the popular will can be
effected only through the instrumentality of political parties. We maintain
party government not to promote intolerant partisanship but because opportunity
must be given for expression of the popular will. But the government is that of the whole people; the party is
the instrument through which policies are determined and men chosen to bring
them into being. The animosities of elections should have no place in our
Government, for government must concern itself alone with the common
weal.
The questions before our country are problems of progress to higher
standards; they are not the problems of degeneration. They demand thought and
they serve to quicken the conscience and enlist our sense of responsibility for
their settlement. And that responsibility rests upon you, my countrymen, as
much as upon those of us who have been selected for office.
Ours is a land rich in resources; stimulating in its glorious beauty;
filled with millions of happy homes; blessed with comfort and opportunity. In
no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced. In no nation are the
fruits of accomplishment more secure. In no nation is the government more
worthy of respect. No country is more loved by its people. I have an abiding
faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose. I have no fears for the
future of our country. It is bright with hope.
In the presence of my countrymen, mindful of the solemnity of this
occasion, knowing what the task means and the responsibility which it involves,
I beg your tolerance, your aid, and your cooperation. I ask the help of
Almighty God in this service to my country to which you have called me.
Harry Truman – January 20, 1949
I accept with humility the honor which the American people have
conferred upon me. I accept it with a resolve to do all that I can for the
welfare of this Nation and for the peace of the world.
The peoples of the earth face the future with grave uncertainty,
composed almost equally of great hopes and great fears. In this time of doubt,
they look to the United States as never before for good will, strength, and
wise leadership.
It is fitting, therefore, that we take this occasion to proclaim to the
world the essential principles of the faith by which we live, and to declare
our aims to all peoples.
The American people stand firm in the faith which has inspired this
Nation from the beginning. We believe that all men have a right to equal
justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good. We believe
that all men have a right to freedom of thought and expression. We believe that
all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.
From this faith we will not be moved.
The American people desire, and are determined to work for, a world in
which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see
fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life. Above all else, our people
desire, and are determined to work for, peace on earth--a just and lasting
peace--based on genuine agreement freely arrived at by equals.
We have encouraged, by precept and example, the expansion of world
trade on a sound and fair basis.
Almost a year ago, in company with 16 free nations of Europe, we
launched the greatest cooperative economic program in history. Our efforts have brought new hope to all
mankind. We have beaten back despair and defeatism. We have saved a number of
countries from losing their liberty. Hundreds of millions of people all over
the world now agree with us, that we need not have war--that we can have peace.
The initiative is ours.
In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize
four major courses of action.
First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the United
Nations and related agencies, and we will continue to search for ways to
strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness.
Second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery.
In addition, we must carry out our plans for reducing the barriers to
world trade and increasing its volume. Economic recovery and peace itself
depend on increased world trade.
Third, we will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of
aggression.
Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of
our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement
and growth of underdeveloped areas.
More than half the people of the world are living in conditions
approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease.
Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and
a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.
For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and
skill to relieve suffering of these people.
I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the
benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize
their aspirations for a better life.
We invite other countries to pool their technological resources in this
undertaking. Their contributions will be warmly welcomed.
All countries, including our own, will greatly benefit from a
constructive program for the better use of the world's human and natural
resources.
Only by helping the least fortunate of its members to help themselves
can the human family achieve the decent, satisfying life that is the right of
all people.
Slowly but surely we are weaving a world fabric of international
security and growing prosperity.
We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear--even by
those who live today in fear under their own governments.
We are aided by all who want relief from lies and propaganda--those who
desire truth and sincerity.
We are aided by all who desire self-government and a voice in deciding
their own affairs.
We are aided by all who long for economic security--for the security
and abundance that men in free societies can enjoy.
We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends.
In due time, as our stability becomes manifest, as more and more
nations come to know the benefits of democracy and to participate in growing
abundance, I believe that those countries which now oppose us will abandon
their delusions and join with the free nations of the world in a just
settlement of international differences.
Steadfast in our faith in the Almighty, we will advance toward a world
where man's freedom is secure.
To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and our
firmness of resolve. With God's help, the future of mankind will be assured in
a world of justice, harmony, and peace.
Dwight Eisenhower – January 20, 1953
Almighty God, Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from
wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the
laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the
people regardless of station, race or calling.
May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under
the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that
all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.
The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of
continuing challenge. We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and
evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.
Since this century's beginning, a time of tempest has seemed to come
upon the continents of the earth. Masses of Asia have awakened to strike off
shackles of the past. Great nations of Europe have fought their bloodiest wars.
Thrones have toppled and their vast empires have disappeared. New nations have
been born.
For our own country, it has been a time of recurring trial. We have
grown in power and in responsibility.
In the swift rush of great events, we find ourselves groping to know
the full sense and meaning of these times in which we live. In our quest of
understanding, we beseech God's guidance. We summon all our knowledge of the
past and we scan all signs of the future. We bring all our wit and all our will
to meet the question:
How far have we come in man's long pilgrimage from darkness toward the
light? Are we nearing the light--a day of freedom and of peace for all mankind?
Or are the shadows of another night closing in upon us?
Great as are the preoccupations absorbing us at home, concerned as we
are with matters that deeply affect our livelihood today and our vision of the
future, each of these domestic problems is dwarfed by, and often even created
by, this question that involves all humankind.
This trial comes at a moment when man's power to achieve good or to
inflict evil surpasses the brightest hopes and the sharpest fears of all ages.
At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our
faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the
deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws.
This faith establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that
are man's inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight.
In the light of this equality, we know that the virtues most cherished
by free people--love of truth, pride of work, devotion to country--all are
treasures equally precious in the lives of the most humble and of the most
exalted.
This faith rules our whole way of life. It decrees that we, the people,
elect leaders not to rule but to serve. It asserts that we have the right to
choice of our own work and to the reward of our own toil. It inspires the
initiative that makes our productivity the wonder of the world. And it warns
that any man who seeks to deny equality among all his brothers betrays the
spirit of the free and invites the mockery of the tyrant.
The faith we hold belongs not to us alone but to the free of all the
world.
We know that we are linked to all free peoples not merely by a noble
idea but by a simple need. No free people can for long cling to any privilege
or enjoy any safety in economic solitude. For all our own material might, even
we need markets in the world for the surpluses of our farms and our factories.
So we are persuaded by necessity and by belief that the strength of all
free peoples lies in unity; their danger, in discord.
To produce this unity, to meet the challenge of our time, destiny has
laid upon our country the responsibility of the free world's leadership.
So it is proper that we assure our friends once again that, in the
discharge of this responsibility, we Americans know and we observe the
difference between world leadership and imperialism; between firmness and
truculence; between a thoughtfully calculated goal and spasmodic reaction to
the stimulus of emergencies.
We wish our friends the world over to know this above all: we face the
threat--not with dread and confusion--but with confidence and conviction.
In pleading our just cause before the bar of history and in pressing
our labor for world peace, we shall be guided by certain fixed principles.
These principles are:
1.
Abhorring war as a chosen way to balk the
purposes of those who threaten us, we hold it to be the first task of
statesmanship to develop the strength that will deter the forces of aggression
and promote the conditions of peace. For, as it must be the supreme purpose of
all free men, so it must be the dedication of their leaders, to save humanity
from preying upon itself.
2.
Knowing that only a United States that is strong
and immensely productive can help defend freedom in our world, we view our
Nation's strength and security as a trust upon which rests the hope of free men
everywhere.
3.
Honoring the identity and the special heritage
of each nation in the world, we shall never use our strength to try to impress
upon another people our own cherished political and economic institutions.
4.
Recognizing economic health as an indispensable
basis of military strength and the free world's peace, we shall strive to
foster everywhere, and to practice ourselves, policies that encourage
productivity and profitable trade.
5.
Conceiving the defense of freedom, like freedom
itself, to be one and indivisible, we hold all continents and peoples in equal
regard and honor.
We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever
sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its
principles soon loses both.
These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions, far removed from
matters of daily living. They are laws of spiritual strength that generate and
define our material strength. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared
citizenry. Moral stamina means more energy and more productivity, on the farm
and in the factory. Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that
makes freedom possible--from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our
soil to the genius of our scientists.
And so each citizen plays an indispensable role.
The peace we seek, then, is nothing less than the practice and
fulfillment of our whole faith among ourselves and in our dealings with others.
This signifies more than the stilling of guns, casing the sorrow of war. More
than escape from death, it is a way of life. More than a haven for the weary,
it is a hope for the brave.
This is the hope that beckons us onward in this century of trial. This
is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity, and with
prayer to Almighty God.
My citizens--I thank you.
Richard Nixon – January 20, 1969
Each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. But
some stand out as moments of beginning, in which courses are set that shape
decades or centuries.
This can be such a moment.
For the first time, because the people of the world want peace, and
the leaders of the world are afraid of war, the times are on the side of
peace.
Eight years from now America will celebrate its 200th anniversary as
a nation.
What kind of a nation we will be, what kind of a world we will live
in, whether we shape the future in the image of our hopes, is ours to
determine by our actions and our choices.
The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker.
This honor now beckons America--the chance to help lead the world at last out
of the valley of turmoil and onto that high ground of peace that man has
dreamed of since the dawn of civilization.
This is our summons to greatness.
Standing in this same place a third of a century ago, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt addressed a nation ravaged by depression and gripped in fear. He
could say in surveying the Nation's troubles: "They concern, thank God,
only material things." Our crisis today is in reverse.
We find ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit; reaching with
magnificent precision for the moon, but failing into raucous discord on
earth.
To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit.
And to find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.
When we listen to "the better angels of our nature," we
find that they celebrate the simple things, the basic things--such as
goodness, decency, love, kindness.
Greatness comes in simple trappings. The simple things are the ones
most needed today if we are to surmount what divides us, and cement what
unites us.
To lower our voices would be a simple thing.
In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words;
from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry
rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that
postures instead of persuading.
We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one
another--until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well
as our voices.
For its part, government will listen. We will strive to listen in new
ways--to the voices of quiet anguish, the voices that speak without words,
the voices of the heart--to the injured voices, the anxious voices, the
voices that have despaired of being heard.
Those who have been left out, we will try to bring in.
Those left behind, we will help to catch up.
For all of our people, we will set as our goal the decent order that
makes progress possible and our lives secure.
As we reach toward our hopes, our task is to build on what has gone
before--not turning away from the old, but turning toward the new.
But we are approaching the limits of what government alone can
do.
Our greatest need now is to reach beyond government, to enlist the
legions of the concerned and the committed.
What has to be done, has to be done by government and people together
or it will not be done at all. The lesson of past agony is that without the
people we can do nothing--with the people we can do everything.
To match the magnitude of our tasks, we need the energies of our
people--enlisted not only in grand enterprises, but more importantly in those
small, splendid efforts that make headlines in the neighborhood newspaper
instead of the national journal.
The essence of freedom is that each of us shares in the shaping of
his own destiny.
Until he has been part of a cause larger than himself, no man is
truly whole.
No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at
all is to go forward together.
This means black and white together, as one nation, not two. The laws
have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is
in the law: to insure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before
God, all are born equal in dignity before man.
As we learn to go forward together at home, let us also seek to go
forward together with all mankind.
Let us take as our goal: Where peace is unknown, make it welcome;
where Peace is fragile, make it strong; where peace is temporary, make it
permanent.
Let all nations know that during this administration our lines of
communication will be open.
We seek an open world--open to ideas, open to the exchange of goods
and people--a world in which no people, great or small, will live in angry
isolation.
We cannot expect to make everyone our friend, but we can try to make
no one our enemy.
With those who are willing to join, let us cooperate to reduce the
burden of arms, to strengthen the structure of peace, to lift up the poor and
the hungry.
But to all those who would be tempted by weakness, let us leave no
doubt that we will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to
be.
I know that peace does not come through wishing for it--that there is
no substitute for days and even years of patient and prolonged diplomacy.
I also know the people of the world.
I have seen the hunger of a homeless child, the pain of a man wounded
in battle, the grief of a mother who has lost her son. I know these have no
ideology, no race.
I know America. I know the heart of America is good.
I speak from my own heart, and the heart of my country, the deep
concern we have for those who suffer and those who sorrow.
Let this message be heard by strong and weak alike:
The peace we seek--the peace we seek to win--is not victory over any
other people, but the peace that comes "with healing in its wings";
with compassion for those who have suffered; with understanding for those who
have opposed us; with the opportunity for all the peoples of this earth to
choose their own destiny.
Our destiny offers not the cup of despair, but the chalice of
opportunity. So let us seize it not in fear, but in gladness-and "riders
on the earth together," let us go forward, firm in our faith, steadfast
in our purpose, cautious of the dangers, but sustained by our confidence in
the will of God and the promise of man.
|
Ronald Reagan – January 20, 1981
In the eyes of many in the world, this every 4-year ceremony we accept
as normal is nothing less than a miracle.
Mr. President (Jimmy Carter), I want our fellow citizens to know how
much you did to carry on this tradition. By your gracious cooperation in the
transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people
pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty
to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all
your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our
Republic.
The business of our nation goes forward. These United States are
confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the
longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It
distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling
young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of
millions of our people.
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades.
They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They
will go away because we as Americans have the capacity now, as we've had in the
past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest
bastion of freedom.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem;
government is the problem. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one
group singled out to pay a higher price.
We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for
a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no
sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political
party lines. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called
Americans.
Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous,
growing economy that provides equal opportunities for all Americans
If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so
much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here in this land
we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than
has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been
more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth.
We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in
a time when there are not heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can
see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates.
We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup.
How can we love our country and not love our countrymen; and loving them, reach
out a hand when they fall, heal them when they're sick, and provide opportunity
to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in
theory?
Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an
unequivocal and emphatic "yes." To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I
did not take the oath I've just taken with the intention of presiding over the
dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have
slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring
the balance between the various levels of government.
I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of
ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for
ourselves, our children, and our children's children. And as we renew ourselves
here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the
world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those
who do not now have freedom.
To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen
our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment. We will
match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations.
We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own
sovereignty is not for sale.
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals
of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and
women.
I'm told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on
this day, and for that I'm deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I
believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think,
if on each Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of
prayer.
The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of
sacrifice that Martin Treptow (a soldier
who died in World War II) and so many thousands of others were called upon
to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe
in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe
that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now
confront us.
And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.
God bless you, and thank you.
George W. Bush – January 20, 2001
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.
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 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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're 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.
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, the
story goes on, and an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this
storm.
|
William Clinton – January 20, 1993
On behalf of our Nation, I
salute my predecessor, President (G.W.) Bush, for his half-century of service
to America.
Today, a generation raised in
the shadows of the cold war assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by
the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new
plagues. Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still
the world's strongest but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages,
increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our own people.
We earn our livelihood in
America today in peaceful competition with people all across the Earth.
Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world. And the urgent
question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our
enemy. This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans
who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder
for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care
devastates families and threatens to bankrupt our enterprises, great and small;
when the fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when
millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to
lead, we have not made change our friend.
Our democracy must be not only
the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong
with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. And so today
we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift, and a new season of American
renewal has begun.
To renew America, we must be
bold. We must do what no generation has had to do before. We must invest more
in our own people, in their jobs, and in their future, and at the same time cut
our massive debt. And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for
every opportunity.
To renew America, we must
revitalize our democracy. This beautiful Capital, like every capital since the
dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful
people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is
out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and sweat
sends us here and pays our way. Americans deserve better. Let us put aside
personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America.
Let us resolve to make our Government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called
bold, persistent experimentation, a Government for our tomorrows, not our
yesterdays. Let us give this Capital back to the people to whom it belongs.
To renew America, we must meet
challenges abroad as well as at home. There is no longer a clear division
between what is foreign and what is domestic. The world economy, the world
environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race: they affect us all.
While America rebuilds at
home, we will not shrink from the challenges nor fail to seize the opportunities
of this new world. Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape
change, lest it engulf us. When our vital interests are challenged or the will
and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act, with
peaceful diplomacy whenever possible, with force when necessary.
My fellow Americans, you, too,
must play your part in our renewal. I challenge a new generation of young
Americans to a season of service: to act on your idealism by helping troubled
children, keeping company with those in need, reconnecting our torn
communities. There is so much to be done; enough, indeed, for millions of
others who are still young in spirit to give of themselves in service, too. In
serving, we recognize a simple but powerful truth: We need each other, and we
must care for one another.
We rededicate ourselves to the
very idea of America. We rededicate ourselves to the very idea of America, an
idea born in revolution and renewed through two centuries of challenge; an idea
tempered by the knowledge that, but for fate, we, the fortunate, and the
unfortunate might have been each other; an idea ennobled by the faith that our
Nation can summon from its myriad diversity the deepest measure of unity; an
idea infused with the conviction that America's long, heroic journey must go
forever upward.
And so, my fellow Americans,
as we stand at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin anew with energy and
hope, with faith and discipline. And let us work until our work is done. The
Scripture says, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not." From this joyful mountaintop of
celebration we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the
trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our own way and with
God's help, we must answer the call.
Barack Obama – January 20, 2009
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
forebears 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.
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, 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 time has come to set aside childish
things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to carry forward 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.
Starting today, we must pick
ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking
America.
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.
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.
As for our common defense, we
reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers,
faced with perils that 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 sake.
And so, to all the 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 we are ready to lead once more.
As we consider the role 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, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the
ages.
We honor them not only because
they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of
service -- a willingness to find meaning in something greater than
themselves.
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 -- honesty and hard work, 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.
Donald Trump – January 20,
2017
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort
to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for
years to come.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we
are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from
one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and
giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the
rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation
exists to serve its citizens.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are
our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart,
one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all
Americans.
For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of
American industry.
We've defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and
confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.
Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs,
will be made to benefit American workers and American families.
America will start winning again, winning like never before.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our
country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world –
but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put
their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let
it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United
States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover
our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our
divisions.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from
mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words:
You will never be ignored again.
And, Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God
Bless You, And God Bless America.
