Inaugural Presidential Address | Page 2

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. It will not be easy. It will require sacrifice, but it can
be done, and done fairly. Not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but
for OUR own sake. We must provide for our nation the way a family
provides for its children. Our founders saw themselves in the light of
posterity. We can do no less. Anyone who has ever watched a child's
eyes wander into sleep knows what posterity is. Posterity is the world
to come, the world for whom we hold our ideals, from whom we have
borrowed our planet, and to whom we bear sacred responsibilities. We
must do what America does best, offer more opportunity TO all and
demand more responsibility FROM all.
It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing:
from our government, or from each other. Let us all take more
responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families, but for our

communities and our country. To renew America we must revitalize
our democracy. This beautiful capitol, like every capitol 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 paves our way.
Americans deserve better, and in this city today there are people who
want to do better, and so I say to all of you here, let us resolve to
reform our politics, so that power and privilege no longer shout down
the voice of the people. 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 capitol 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. Today as an old order
passes, the new world is more free, but less stable. Communism's
collapse has called forth old animosities, and new dangers. Clearly,
America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make.
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 together 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. The brave Americans serving our nation today in the Persian
Gulf, in Somalia, and wherever else they stand, are testament to our
resolve, but our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are
still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced and
we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every
continent, who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is
America's cause. The American people have summoned the change we
celebrate today. You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus,
you have cast your votes in historic numbers, you have changed the

face of congress, the presidency, and the political process itself. Yes,
YOU, my fellow Americans, have forced the spring. Now WE must do
the work the season demands. To that work I now turn with ALL the
authority of my office. I ask the congress to join with me; but no
president, no congress, no government can undertake THIS mission
alone.
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. Today we do more than celebrate America,
we rededicate ourselves to the very idea of