President Clinton's Inaugural Address

My fellow citizens:

Today, we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.

This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.

A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.

When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purpose to the Almighty, they knew America, to endure, would have to change.

Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals--life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.

Each generation must define what it means to be an American.

On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor for his half century of service to America, and I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism, and Communism.

Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.

Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy still the world's strongest, but weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep division among our people.

When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land on horse-back and across the oceans by boat. Now the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.

Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is universal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.

Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our age is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.

This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates millions and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the life we are calling them to lead--we have not made change our friend.

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.

Though our challenges are fearsome, so are ourstrengths. Americans have ever been a restless,questioning hopeful people. We must bring to ourtask today the vision and will of those who camebefore us.

From our revolution to the Civil War, to theGreat Depression to the civil rights movement, ourpeople have mustered the determination toconstruct from these crises the pillars of ourhistory.

Thomas Jefferson believes that to preserve thevery foundations of our nation, we would needdramatic change from time to time. My fellowcitizens, this is our time. Let us embrace it.

Our democracy must be not only the envy of theworld but the engine of our own renewal. There isnothing wrong with America that cannot be cured bywhat is right with America.

So today, we pledge that the era of deadlockand drift is over--a new season of Americanrenewal has begun.

To renew America, we must be bold.

We must do what no generation has had to dobefore. We must invest more in our own people andin our future, and at the same time cut ourmassive debt. And we must do so in a world inwhich we must compete for every opportunity.

It will not be easy; it will require sacrifice.But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosingsacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake.We must provide for our nation the way a familyprovides for its children.

Our founders saw themselves in the light ofposterity. We can do no less. Anyone who has everwatched a child's eyes wander into sleep knowswhat posterity is. Posterity is the world tocome--the world for whom we hold our ideals, fromwhom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom webear sacred responsibility.

We must do what America does best: offeropportunity to all and demand responsibility fromall.

It is time to break the bad habit of expectingsomething for nothing, from our government or fromeach other. Let us take more responsibility, notonly for ourselves and our families but for ourcommunities and for our country.

To renew America, we must revitalize ourdemocracy.

This beautiful capital, like every capitalsince the dawn of civilization, is a place ofintrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuverfor position and worry endlessly about who is inand who is out, who is up and who is down,forgetting the people whose toil and sweat sendsthem here and pays their way.

Americans deserve better. In this city, thereare people who want to do better. Let us resolveto reform our politics, so that power andprivilege no longer shout down the voice of thepeople. Let us put aside personal advantage sothat we can feel the pain and see the promise ofAmerica.

Let us resolve to make our government a placefor what Franklin Roosevelt called "bold,persistent experimentation," a government for ourtomorrows, not our yesterdays.

Let us give this capital back to the people towhom it belongs.

To renew America, we must meet the challengesabroad as well as at home. There is no cleardivision today between what is foreign and what isdomestic--the world economy, the worldenvironment, the world AIDS crisis, the world armsrace affects us all.

Today, as an old order passes, the new world ismore free but less stable. Communism's collapsehas called forth old animosities and new dangers.Clearly America must continue to lead the world wedid so much to make.

While America rebuilds at home, we will notshrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize theopportunities, of this new world. Together withour friends and allies, we will work to shapechange, lest it engulf us.

When our vital interests are challenged, or thewill and conscience of the international communitydefied, we will act--with peaceful diplomacy whenpossible, with force when necessary. The braveAmericans serving our nation in the Persian Gulf,in Somalia, and wherever else they stand aretestament to our resolve.

But our greatest strength is the power of ourideas, which are still new in many lands. Acrossthe world, we see them embraced--and we willrejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, and our hands, arewith those on every continent who are buildingdemocracy and freedom. Their cause in America'scause.

The American people have summoned the change wecelebrate today. You have raised your voices in anunmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes inhistoric numbers. And you have changed the face ofthe Congress, the presidency, and the politicalprocess itself.

Yes, you have forced the spring.

Now, we must do the work the season demands.

To that work I now turn, with all the authorityof my office. I ask the Congress to join with me.But no President, no Congress, no government canundertake this mission alone.

My fellow Americans, you too, must play yourpart in our renewal.

I challenge a new generation of young Americansto a season of service--to act on your idealism byhelping troubled children, keeping company withthose in need, reconnecting our torn communities.There is much work to be done--enough for millionof other who are still young in spirit to give ofthemselves in service, too.

In serving, we recognize a simple but powerfultruth: We need each other. And we must care forone another.

Today, we do more than celebrate America; werededicate ourselves to the very idea of America:

--an idea born in revolution and renewedthrough two centuries of challenge;

--an idea tempered by the knowledge that, butfor fate, we--the fortunate and theunfortunate--might have been each other;

--an idea ennobled by the faith that our nationcan summon from its diversity the deepest measureof unity;

--an idea infused with the conviction thatAmerica's long heroic journey must go foreverupward.

And so, at the edge of the twentyfirst Century,let us begin with energy and hope, with faith anddiscipline, and let us work until our work isdone. The scripture, says, "And let us not beweary in well-doing, for in due season, we shallreap, if we faint not."

From this joyful mountain-top of celebration,we hear a call to service in the valley.

We have heard the trumpets. We have changed theguard. And now--each in our own way, and withGod's help--we must answer the call

Though our challenges are fearsome, so are ourstrengths. Americans have ever been a restless,questioning hopeful people. We must bring to ourtask today the vision and will of those who camebefore us.

From our revolution to the Civil War, to theGreat Depression to the civil rights movement, ourpeople have mustered the determination toconstruct from these crises the pillars of ourhistory.

Thomas Jefferson believes that to preserve thevery foundations of our nation, we would needdramatic change from time to time. My fellowcitizens, this is our time. Let us embrace it.

Our democracy must be not only the envy of theworld but the engine of our own renewal. There isnothing wrong with America that cannot be cured bywhat is right with America.

So today, we pledge that the era of deadlockand drift is over--a new season of Americanrenewal has begun.

To renew America, we must be bold.

We must do what no generation has had to dobefore. We must invest more in our own people andin our future, and at the same time cut ourmassive debt. And we must do so in a world inwhich we must compete for every opportunity.

It will not be easy; it will require sacrifice.But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosingsacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake.We must provide for our nation the way a familyprovides for its children.

Our founders saw themselves in the light ofposterity. We can do no less. Anyone who has everwatched a child's eyes wander into sleep knowswhat posterity is. Posterity is the world tocome--the world for whom we hold our ideals, fromwhom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom webear sacred responsibility.

We must do what America does best: offeropportunity to all and demand responsibility fromall.

It is time to break the bad habit of expectingsomething for nothing, from our government or fromeach other. Let us take more responsibility, notonly for ourselves and our families but for ourcommunities and for our country.

To renew America, we must revitalize ourdemocracy.

This beautiful capital, like every capitalsince the dawn of civilization, is a place ofintrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuverfor position and worry endlessly about who is inand who is out, who is up and who is down,forgetting the people whose toil and sweat sendsthem here and pays their way.

Americans deserve better. In this city, thereare people who want to do better. Let us resolveto reform our politics, so that power andprivilege no longer shout down the voice of thepeople. Let us put aside personal advantage sothat we can feel the pain and see the promise ofAmerica.

Let us resolve to make our government a placefor what Franklin Roosevelt called "bold,persistent experimentation," a government for ourtomorrows, not our yesterdays.

Let us give this capital back to the people towhom it belongs.

To renew America, we must meet the challengesabroad as well as at home. There is no cleardivision today between what is foreign and what isdomestic--the world economy, the worldenvironment, the world AIDS crisis, the world armsrace affects us all.

Today, as an old order passes, the new world ismore free but less stable. Communism's collapsehas called forth old animosities and new dangers.Clearly America must continue to lead the world wedid so much to make.

While America rebuilds at home, we will notshrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize theopportunities, of this new world. Together withour friends and allies, we will work to shapechange, lest it engulf us.

When our vital interests are challenged, or thewill and conscience of the international communitydefied, we will act--with peaceful diplomacy whenpossible, with force when necessary. The braveAmericans serving our nation in the Persian Gulf,in Somalia, and wherever else they stand aretestament to our resolve.

But our greatest strength is the power of ourideas, which are still new in many lands. Acrossthe world, we see them embraced--and we willrejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, and our hands, arewith those on every continent who are buildingdemocracy and freedom. Their cause in America'scause.

The American people have summoned the change wecelebrate today. You have raised your voices in anunmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes inhistoric numbers. And you have changed the face ofthe Congress, the presidency, and the politicalprocess itself.

Yes, you have forced the spring.

Now, we must do the work the season demands.

To that work I now turn, with all the authorityof my office. I ask the Congress to join with me.But no President, no Congress, no government canundertake this mission alone.

My fellow Americans, you too, must play yourpart in our renewal.

I challenge a new generation of young Americansto a season of service--to act on your idealism byhelping troubled children, keeping company withthose in need, reconnecting our torn communities.There is much work to be done--enough for millionof other who are still young in spirit to give ofthemselves in service, too.

In serving, we recognize a simple but powerfultruth: We need each other. And we must care forone another.

Today, we do more than celebrate America; werededicate ourselves to the very idea of America:

--an idea born in revolution and renewedthrough two centuries of challenge;

--an idea tempered by the knowledge that, butfor fate, we--the fortunate and theunfortunate--might have been each other;

--an idea ennobled by the faith that our nationcan summon from its diversity the deepest measureof unity;

--an idea infused with the conviction thatAmerica's long heroic journey must go foreverupward.

And so, at the edge of the twentyfirst Century,let us begin with energy and hope, with faith anddiscipline, and let us work until our work isdone. The scripture, says, "And let us not beweary in well-doing, for in due season, we shallreap, if we faint not."

From this joyful mountain-top of celebration,we hear a call to service in the valley.

We have heard the trumpets. We have changed theguard. And now--each in our own way, and withGod's help--we must answer the call