InAugural Address By President Bush

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.