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Obama, Barack - President
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, |
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Obama, Barack - President
members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: |
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Obama, Barack - President
Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy.... |
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Obama, Barack - President
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these... |
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Obama, Barack - President
And for more than two hundred years, we have. |
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Obama, Barack - President
Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers. |
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Obama, Barack - President
Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. |
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Obama, Barack - President
Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. |
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Obama, Barack - President
Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be... |
| 00:38:241 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges;... |
| 00:39:2553 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. (Applause.)... |
| 00:40:1856 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. (Applause.) We... |
| 00:41:1444 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government,... |
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Obama, Barack - President
We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost... |
| 00:42:4845 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we... |
| 00:43:3345 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate... |
| 00:44:1845 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot... |
| 00:45:0358 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. (Applause.) Our brave men and women in uniform,... |
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Obama, Barack - President
We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences... |
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Obama, Barack - President
America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage... |
| 00:47:1940 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it... |
| 00:47:591 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters... |
| 00:49:3350 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
That is our generation’s task -- to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American.... |
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Obama, Barack - President
For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat... |
| 00:51:1449 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country,... |
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Obama, Barack - President
They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. You and... |
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Obama, Barack - President
Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion... |
| 00:52:5424 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
Thank you. God bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America. (Applause.) |