With
the pledge to “faithfully execute the Office of President
of the United States” and “to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of
the United States”, President Bush took the oath of
office at the U.S. Capitol, today, in a ceremony outdoors
on the west front of the building, which overlooks the National
Mall and its many monuments. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice
William Rehnquist administered the oath.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by
Bush’s family, President Carter, President Clinton,
cabinet members, members of the Senate and House of Representatives,
other Supreme Court justices and invited guests. Once the
oath was completed, the Army Herald Trumpets played “Ruffles
and Flourishes” and the U.S. Marine Band played “Hail
to the Chief.”
Declaring that the global expansion of freedom
is "the best hope for peace in our world," President
Bush told Americans in his inaugural address that he would
pursue the success of liberty around the world:
INAUGURAL
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
United States Capitol
January 20, 2005 11:59 A.M. EST
AUDIO
THE PRESIDENT: 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.
END
12:20 P.M. EST
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WHITE HOUSE VIDEO
Play "Hail to the Chief" 
