Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Carter, President Bush, President

Clinton, distinguished¹ 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 Vice² President Gore³ for a contest conducted with spirit and

ended with grace.

I am honored and humbled⁴ 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 liberator⁵ 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 be

longs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant⁶ person was

ever

born.

Americans are called to enact⁷ this promise in our lives and in our laws.

And t

hough our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must

follow n

o 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 creed⁸ of our country, it is the

inborn⁹ h

ope 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 prosper¹⁰, 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 unity¹¹, 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 onward¹².

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. E

very 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, compassion¹³ 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 dealing¹⁴ 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 su

ffer most.

We must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a tactic¹⁵ or a

sentime nt. It is the determined¹⁶ choice of trust over cynicism, of

community over chaos¹⁷. And this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to

shared accomplishment¹⁸.

America, at its best, is also courageous¹⁹.

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 condemn²⁰ us. We

must show courage in a time of blessing²¹ by confronting problems instead of

passing them on to

future generations.

Together, we will reclaim²² America's schools, before ignorance and apathy²³

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 momentum²⁴ 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

remains²⁵ engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance

of power tha

t favors freedom. We will defend our allies and our interests. We will

show purpose without arrogance²⁶. We will meet aggression²⁷ 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 compassionate²⁸. In the quiet of American

conscience, we know that deep, persistent²⁹ 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 lo

ve.

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 mosque³⁰ 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 scapegoats³¹, it is a call to

concience. 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 civic³² duty and family

bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency³³ 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 citizenship³⁴ is missing, no government program can replace it. When this

spirit is pre

sent, 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 batt

le 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 inauguration³⁵. 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 eternity³⁶ 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

whirl wind and directs this storm.

God bless you all, and God bless America.