Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter,
President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow
citizens:
On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we
celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep
commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour,
mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill
the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the
words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century,
America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the
shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of
sabbatical – and then there came a day of fire.
We have seen our vulnerability – and we have seen its deepest
source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and
tyranny – prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder – violence will
gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders,
and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the
reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and
reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human
freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The
survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty
in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom
in all the world.
America’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.
From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on
this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the
image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have
proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a
master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission
that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it
is the urgent requirement of our nation’s security, and the calling of our time.
So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the
growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture,
with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend
ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its
nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of
law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally
speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very
different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on
the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain
their own freedom, and make their own way.
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work
of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it.
America’s influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed,
America’s influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom’s
cause.
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people
against further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test
America’s resolve, and have found it firm. We will persistently clarify
the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between
oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right.
America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that
women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live
at the mercy of bullies.
We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear
that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own
people. America’s belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights
must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by
free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no
justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty –
though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of
freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people,
should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of
freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of
permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery.
Liberty will come to those who love it.
Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United
States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you
stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can
know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as
Abraham Lincoln did: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for
themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.”
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to
know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey
of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.
And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your
friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among
free nations is a primary goal of freedom’s enemies. The concerted effort of
free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies’ defeat.
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of
securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has
accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to
abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this
nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope,
millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well – a fire
in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight
its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest
corners of our world.
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause –
in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy … the idealistic work of helping
raise up free governments … the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our
enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored
their whole lives – and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the
first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes.
You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You
have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the
choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself – and in
your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its
character.
America has need of idealism and courage, because we have
essential work at home – the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world
moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of
liberty.
In America’s ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and
security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of
subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the
Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we
will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of
our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our
country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an
ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses,
retirement savings and health insurance – preparing our people for the
challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or
her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and
fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.
In America’s ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on
private character – on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of
conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the
governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported
by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths
of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths
of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all
that is good and true that came before – ideals of justice and conduct that are
the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In America’s ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is
ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does
not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who
look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best,
value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the
unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism,
because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the
same time.
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of
dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the
viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did
our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit
to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans
of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to
one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be
healed to move forward in great purposes – and I will strive in good faith to
heal them. Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and
fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came
like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and
pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given
hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph
of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human
choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God
moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the
permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul.
When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave
upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful
outrage under the banner “Freedom Now” – they were acting on an ancient hope
that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but
history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public
and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, “It rang as if
it meant something.” In our time it means something still. America, in this
young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the
inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength – tested, but not weary – we are
ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.
May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of
America.
