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January 20, 2005
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
United States Capitol
January 20, 2005
AS DELIVERED
11:59 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President
Bush, President Clinton, members of the United States Congress, reverend clergy,
distinguished guests, fellow citizens: (Applause.)
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 half a 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people from further attacks
and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and
have found it firm. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
Few Americans 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America. (Applause.)
END
12:20 P.M. EST
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