Photo above:
Bill Clinton delivering his inaugural address on the west
front of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1997 — Architect of
the Capitol.
Here is a video clip of the first few minutes of Bill Clinton's
Second Inaugural
Address. Scroll down for the transcript.
It follows the full text transcript of
Bill Clinton's Second Inaugural Address, delivered at
the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. — January 20,
1997.
My fellow
citizens:
At this last
presidential inauguration of the 20th century,
let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that
await us in the next century. It is our great
good fortune that time and chance have put us
not only at the edge of a new century, in a new
millennium, but on the edge of a bright new
prospect in human affairs, a moment that will
define our course, and our character, for
decades to come. We must keep our old democracy
forever young. Guided by the ancient vision of a
promised land, let us set our sights upon a land
of new promise.
The promise of America was born in the 18th
century out of the bold conviction that we are
all created equal. It was extended and preserved
in the 19th century, when our nation spread
across the continent, saved the union, and
abolished the awful scourge of slavery.
Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise
exploded onto the world stage to make this the
American Century.
And what a century it has been. America became
the world's mightiest industrial power; saved
the world from tyranny in two world wars and a
long cold war; and time and again, reached out
across the globe to millions who, like us,
longed for the blessings of liberty.
Along the way, Americans produced a great middle
class and security in old age; built unrivaled
centers of learning and opened public schools to
all; split the atom and explored the heavens;
invented the computer and the microchip; and
deepened the wellspring of justice by making a
revolution in civil rights for African Americans
and all minorities, and extending the circle of
citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Now, for the third time, a new century is upon
us, and another time to choose. We began the
19th century with a choice, to spread our nation
from coast to coast. We began the 20th century
with a choice, to harness the Industrial
Revolution to our values of free enterprise,
conservation, and human decency. Those choices
made all the difference.
At the dawn of the 21st century a free people
must now choose to shape the forces of the
Information Age and the global society, to
unleash the limitless potential of all our
people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.
When last we gathered, our march to this new
future seemed less certain than it does today.
We vowed then to set a clear course to renew our
nation.
In these four years, we have been touched by
tragedy, exhilarated by challenge, strengthened
by achievement. America stands alone as the
world's indispensable nation. Once again, our
economy is the strongest on Earth. Once again,
we are building stronger families, thriving
communities, better educational opportunities, a
cleaner environment. Problems that once seemed
destined to deepen now bend to our efforts: our
streets are safer and record numbers of our
fellow citizens have moved from welfare to work.
And once again, we have resolved for our time a
great debate over the role of government. Today
we can declare: Government is not the problem,
and government is not the solution. We,- the
American people, we are the solution. Our
founders understood that well and gave us a
democracy strong enough to endure for centuries,
flexible enough to face our common challenges
and advance our common dreams in each new day.
As times change, so government must change. We
need a new government for a new century - humble
enough not to try to solve all our problems for
us, but strong enough to give us the tools to
solve our problems for ourselves; a government
that is smaller, lives within its means, and
does more with less. Yet where it can stand up
for our values and interests in the world, and
where it can give Americans the power to make a
real difference in their everyday lives,
government should do more, not less. The
preeminent mission of our new government is to
give all Americans an opportunity,- not a
guarantee, but a real opportunity to build
better lives.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is
up to us. Our founders taught us that the
preservation of our liberty and our union
depends upon responsible citizenship. And we
need a new sense of responsibility for a new
century. There is work to do, work that
government alone cannot do: teaching children to
read; hiring people off welfare rolls; coming
out from behind locked doors and shuttered
windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs
and gangs and crime; taking time out of our own
lives to serve others.
Each and every one of us, in our own way, must
assume personal responsibility, not only for
ourselves and our families, but for our
neighbors and our nation. Our greatest
responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of
community for a new century. For any one of us
to succeed, we must succeed as one America.
The challenge of our past remains the challenge
of our future, will we be one nation, one
people, with one common destiny, or not? Will we
all come together, or come apart?
The divide of race has been America's constant
curse. And each new wave of immigrants gives new
targets to old prejudices. Prejudice and
contempt, cloaked in the pretense of religious
or political conviction are no different. These
forces have nearly destroyed our nation in the
past. They plague us still. They fuel the
fanaticism of terror. And they torment the lives
of millions in fractured nations all around the
world.
These obsessions cripple both those who hate
and, of course, those who are hated, robbing
both of what they might become. We cannot, we
will not, succumb to the dark impulses that lurk
in the far regions of the soul everywhere. We
shall overcome them. And we shall replace them
with the generous spirit of a people who feel at
home with one another.
Our rich texture of racial, religious and
political diversity will be a Godsend in the
21st century. Great rewards will come to those
who can live together, learn together, work
together, forge new ties that bind together.
As this new era approaches we can already see
its broad outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet
was the mystical province of physicists; today,
it is a commonplace encyclopedia for millions of
schoolchildren. Scientists now are decoding the
blueprint of human life. Cures for our most
feared illnesses seem close at hand.
The world is no longer divided into two hostile
camps. Instead, now we are building bonds with
nations that once were our adversaries. Growing
connections of commerce and culture give us a
chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of
people the world over. And for the very first
time in all of history, more people on this
planet live under democracy than dictatorship.
My fellow Americans, as we look back at this
remarkable century, we may ask, can we hope not
just to follow, but even to surpass the
achievements of the 20th century in America and
to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its
legacy? To that question, every American here
and every American in our land today must answer
a resounding "Yes."
This is the heart of our task. With a new vision
of government, a new sense of responsibility, a
new spirit of community, we will sustain
America's journey. The promise we sought in a
new land we will find again in a land of new
promise.
In this new land, education will be every
citizen's most prized possession. Our schools
will have the highest standards in the world,
igniting the spark of possibility in the eyes of
every girl and every boy. And the doors of
higher education will be open to all. The
knowledge and power of the Information Age will
be within reach not just of the few, but of
every classroom, every library, every child.
Parents and children will have time not only to
work, but to read and play together. And the
plans they make at their kitchen table will be
those of a better home, a better job, the
certain chance to go to college.
Our streets will echo again with the laughter of
our children, because no one will try to shoot
them or sell them drugs anymore. Everyone who
can work, will work, with today's permanent
under class part of tomorrow's growing middle
class. New miracles of medicine at last will
reach not only those who can claim care now, but
the children and hardworking families too long
denied.
We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and
maintain a strong defense against terror and
destruction. Our children will sleep free from
the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons. Ports and airports, farms and factories
will thrive with trade and innovation and ideas.
And the world's greatest democracy will lead a
whole world of democracies.
Our land of new promise will be a nation that
meets its obligations, a nation that balances
its budget, but never loses the balance of its
values. A nation where our grandparents have
secure retirement and health care, and their
grandchildren know we have made the reforms
necessary to sustain those benefits for their
time. A nation that fortifies the world's most
productive economy even as it protects the great
natural bounty of our water, air, and majestic
land.
And in this land of new promise, we will have
reformed our politics so that the voice of the
people will always speak louder than the din of
narrow interests, regaining the participation
and deserving the trust of all Americans.
Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a
nation ever moving forward toward realizing the
full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity
and power, yes, they are important, and we must
maintain them. But let us never forget: The
greatest progress we have made, and the greatest
progress we have yet to make, is in the human
heart. In the end, all the world's wealth and a
thousand armies are no match for the strength
and decency of the human spirit.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we
celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the
other end of this Mall, in words that moved the
conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old,
he told of his dream that one day America would
rise up and treat all its citizens as equals
before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther
King's dream was the American Dream. His quest
is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out
our true creed. Our history has been built on
such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and
labors we will redeem the promise of America in
the 21st century.
To that effort I pledge all my strength and
every power of my office. I ask the members of
Congress here to join in that pledge. The
American people returned to office a President
of one party and a Congress of another. Surely,
they did not do this to advance the politics of
petty bickering and extreme partisanship they
plainly deplore. No, they call on us instead to
be repairers of the breach, and to move on with
America's mission.
America demands and deserves big things from us,
and nothing big ever came from being small. Let
us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal
Bernardin, when facing the end of his own life.
He said, "It is wrong to waste the precious gift
of time, on acrimony and division."
Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious
gift of this time. For all of us are on that
same journey of our lives, and our journey, too,
will come to an end. But the journey of our
America must go on.
And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong,
for there is much to dare. The demands of our
time are great and they are different. Let us
meet them with faith and courage, with patience
and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape the
hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our
history. Yes, let us build our bridge. A bridge
wide enough and strong enough for every American
to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.
May those generations whose faces we cannot yet
see, whose names we may never know, say of us
here that we led our beloved land into a new
century with the American Dream alive for all
her children; with the American promise of a
more perfect union a reality for all her people;
with America's bright flame of freedom spreading
throughout all the world.
From the height of this place and the summit of
this century, let us go forth. May God
strengthen our hands for the good work ahead,
and always, always bless our America.
Also called the
Persian Wars, the Greco-Persian Wars were
fought for almost half a century from 492 BC -
449 BC. Greece won against enormous odds. Here
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