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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
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Folder Title:
Inaugural Drafts - '97 [4]
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�Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
001. draft
President William J. Clinton Inaugural Address, 11:15 pm draft (2
pages)
January 14,
1997
P5
002. draft
President William J. Clinton Inaugural Address, 11:15 pm draft (2
pages)
January 14,
1997
P5
003. notes
Inaguaral address prep notes (4 pages)
nd
P5
004. draft
President William J. Clinton Inaugural Address, 11:15 pm draft, MW
copy (1 page)
January 14,
1997
P5
005. draft
President William J. Clinton Inaugural Address, 7:00 pm draft (10
pages)
1/15/97
P5
006. draft
President William J. Clinton Inaugural Address, 7:00 pm draft (6
pages)
1/15/97
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
OA/Box Number: 14539
FOLDER TITLE:
Inaugural Drafts - '97 [4]
2006-0469-F
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�January 14,1997 4ain
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather today at the last inauguration of an American President in the 20th century ~
200 years almost to the day after George Washington passed on his office and this country to the
generations that followed.
Let this be a time for reflection as well as celebration; a time to understand our past as we
chart our future.
Our nation, founded in the 18th Century on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . .
our union preserved and our unity deepened in the 19th Century — exploded onto the world stage
in this, the American Century.
We built the world's greatest industrial power; we rejected isolationism and accepted the
solemn obligation of world leadership. Under American command, the forces of freedom
crushed fascism and triumphed in the long twilight struggle against commuism.
Here at home, we fulfilled the democracy our forebears could only dream of ~ and we
went further. We expanded the circle of human dignity to include every single American. We
rescued the elderly from poverty. We brought a damaged environment back to life. And we
created the great American middle class.
And we reached back to our most enduring values, to redeem the very promise made by
our founders. 34 years ago, in words that rang across this mall, the man whose birth and life we
celebrate today called us to live up to the true meaning of our creed.
Our history has been the steady march of a nation striving to live up to our basic ideals.
They are the wellspring of our greatness. In times of peril and promise, these ideals sustained us,
challenged us, summoned us to do better. At every moment of challenge and change, our
forebears imagined the future they wanted for their children ~ and set out to make it so.
It is our time to ask: What future will we fashion for our children? How can we redeem
the sacrifices of this century? And how can we realize the promise of the next?
Four years ago, when we last gathered, far too many Americans feared that our
triumphant march would falter as we appraoched century's end.
�Then, we gathered in hope, but still in the shadow of drift and division. That day, we
solemnized our commitment to change, to press on with a course required by our challenges,
consistent with our enduring values, demanded by our proud heritage. Together, we vowed to
force the spring, to renew our nation in America's tradition of change. Since that day, in the
stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, the progress we have built, we have begun
together to renew America.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. From the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, those who
love peace look first to America for inspiration and for hope.
Once again, America's economy is an unrivaled engine of opportunity for our people.
We have brought down our deficit, we have increased prosperity, we have made economy the
strongest on earth.
And once again, family and faith and community are where they belong, at the center of
our social policy. Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to grow ~ crime,
welfare, poverty, inequality among working people ~ all are bending to our efforts. More
families are staying together. Fewer children are having children. Families are finally getting
support to succeed at work and in raising their children.
Once again, Americans have come to trust in their own creativity, renewing their own
genius for self-government. Four years ago, we doubted that we could cut our deficit even as we
increase investemnt; we doubted that we could prevent polllution even as we promote industry;
we didn't believe that the social cancers of crime and violence and dependency and decay, which
grew and compounded for so long, oculd ever be tamed.
Where once the ground seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, and
that center can hold. Out of a new vision, we have shaped a new consensus — anchored in our
oldest values, aimed at our newest challenges ~ to realize the promise of America.
To continue our progress; to build a future worthy of the Americans who created and
sustained this country, it is our time to act, our time to lead. Let us build our bridge to the 21st
Century.
[Over the past four years, Americans have seen a glimpse of the wonders the new century
can bring.
[POSSIBLE CHANGE GRAFS - I actually don't think we need any of this!] For the
first time in history, more people across the globe are living under democracy than dictatorship.
Scientissts are decoding the blueprint of human life - unlocking xxx. An information revolution,
sparked by a chip the size of a dime, allows billions of dollars to cross the globe at speed of light
... and children in their classrooms to explore the world of ideas by loggin onto the Internet. 100
�years ago, our forbears worked on farms; 50 years ago in factories. Tomorrow, our children
will work in jobs that have not been invented, in enterprises we cannot even imagine.
Our progress gives us great opportunities, but we also see its darker size. Ancient
threats like ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Modern
technology makes old demons even fiercer.
In this new era ofpromise and peril, where children of all kinds are learning at rapid
rates on computers; where the structure of the human gene is unlocked in a way that offers the
opportunity to medical miracles. And we see the darker side of the future: where modern
technollgy might be used to make old hatreds, old demons, old weaknesses even worse — in
ethnic and religious wars, terrorism and biological and chemical warfare.
These new times call forth a new approach to meeting our challenges.
In this century, our government helped Americ achieve great things. Being old no longer
means being poor; our environment is no longer left to take care of itself; a public education is
now the birthright of every citizen. Those ideals changed America and enrich us still.
Now we face new challenges, as sweeping as any we have faced before, and for them, the
old arrangements will not do.
[
We need a new government for a new century. At last, over the past four years, we have
laid to rest the old competing notions that government should do everything on the one hand or
nothing on the other. The course for our time is clear: Government hs no right to try solving all
our problems for us; it has a responsibility to give us the tools to solve our problems for
ourselves.] [bruce]
[Government is not the solution; government need not be the problem. Government is
but one instrument to meet our challenges.]
[The strength of our country depends on the spirit of our people, and the spirit of our
people depends on the responsibility of each citizen. Government cannot - and must never again
try - to do for Americans what Americans can only do for themselves.] [from earlier draft]
A new govenrment for a new century must be smaller, cheaper, less centralized and less
bureaucratic. But it is not enough to shrink the government. We must give it a purpose. It is
time to change the relationship between the people and their government — to put more
opportunity in the hands of individuals, and demand more responsibility in return. Where it can
stand up for the values and interests of ordinary Americans and make a real difference in their
everyday lives, this new government shoudl do more, not less. Keeping the streets safe from
gangs and drugs. Protecting the environment God gave us. Helping parents to protect their
children from harmful outside influences. Challenging every student with higher standards and
expectations. Protects the food we eat and the water we drink. It must offer the opportunity that
the Bill of Rights guarantees to us all; it must bring out the best in us, not the worst in us. Our
�government must shrink ~ but if it shrinks from these great challenges, our nation cannot grow.
And in this new time, let us declare: It is not in the narrow halls of government, but out
across the great sweep of America, in the towns and neighborhoods and homes, that we will
forge our destiny. Our greatness will come from the common efforts of our citizens, working
together.
So when business and community leaders join forces to provide jobs for welfare
recipients - we must be there. When parents and teachers and civic leaders demand the toughest
standards for our schools - we must be there. When communities band together to bring values,
discipline and hope to their children, we must be there — we must be there. We the people. All
of us. Together.
The challenge of our time is to take this precious moment of possibility to build an
America in a new century that will be a light unto the world. The education of our children; the
strength of our families; the safety of our streets; the sanctity of our environment; the power of
our science and technology; the force of our freedom: These are not the challenges of one family,
one neighborhood, one community, one city ~ these are the challenges of one nation ~ and we
must meet them as one America. For in America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
My fellow Americans, the demands of this particular time are great, are different. Of us —
each one of us — they ask much. But they cannot ask for too much, for we are Americans. We
must be strong, for there is much to dare. We must be bold, for there is much to do. We face no
Depression, no war, to test our spirit. But this time of peace and prosperity is no ordnary time it is an extraordinary moment of opportunity.
We - the American people - have made this century what it is: shoulder to shoulder, we
stood for freedom over tyranny; hand in hand, we chose brotherhood over division. And now we
stand together, in the closing years of the first American century, and on the leading edge of a
limitless second. It falls on us to choose the future we believe in, and brick by brick, to build a
bridge . . . that step by step will take us there.
We must build an America for the 21st century where the American promise is alive for
all our children, where every citizen is a part of our national community, and where our dream of
freedom spreads throughout the world.
An America where we have connected all our schools to the Information Superhighway,
established the highest standards for learning in the world, and opened the doors of college to all
our people.
An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job, where
children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility as
parents — where the problems of the underclass have beocme a thing of the past.
�An America where we can look at the national balance sheet and say: we have done it, the
budget is balanced, the deficit is zero.
An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents and
a secure retirement to future generations.
An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can be
protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk because a parent is changing jobs.
An America where the loudest voice in politics is the quiet voice of the voter, where a
smaller government does a better job.
An America where the miracle of science -- with a cure for cancer, a vaccine for AIDS extends our lives, and the wonder of technology fills it with knowledge, putting James Madison
at our fingertips and the reaches of the cosmos in our living rooms.
This can be the America toward which our journey carries us in the new century. And we
will only make that journey if we make it together.
Long before we were so diverse, our nation's motto was E Pluribus Unum, out of many,
we are one. We must be one, as neighbors, as fellow citizens, not separate camps, but family,
white, black, Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share basic American values and are
willing to live by them. This must be the America that we imagine, that we make real.
Today, I pledge to you, the American people, to use every ounce of my strength and every
power of my office to prepare our people for the century ahead. I ask the Members of Congress,
on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The American people, with eyes open,
returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another. They see, as we must, that
we must work together. We will have our differences ~ Democrats and Republicans, the
President and the Congress. But we are taught: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time
given to us on acrimony and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this moment. Let
us reach out across the lines of party and philosophy, let us work to balance our budget and
balance our values, and let us make this a time when we work together for the American people.
[transition]
Like him, we are dreamers ~ and more. We are the builders of bridges. It falls to us to
finish the job of building our bridge to th
e 21st Century ~ a bridge built on our sturdiest ideals, a bridge wide enough and strong enough
to carry all Americans across, a bridge that connects our oldest values to our newest challenges.
�As we look out upon the monuments to America's greatness, to Washington, Jefferson,
and Lincoln, to those who have fallen in service to our country, we must remember that they
bridges to an America not yet within their reach. They built their bridges not so much for
themselves, as for those who followed. Let us, like them, sacrifice and build, so that some day,
in an age we will never live to witness, Americans whose faces we will never see can have
America's ideals made real in their lives.
And so, my fellow Americans, let us heed the words of Scripture, and "strengthen our
hands for the good work"ahead. For us, in this place, in this moment, the dream lives on. Our
journey continues. It is our time to build.
�January 14, 1997 noon
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, 200 years almost to the
day after George Washington passed on his office and this country to the generations that
followed.
It is our time to recall the greatness of our past, to understand the progress of our present,
to chart the potential of our future.
We thank God that we face no Depression to sap our strength, no war to test our spirit.
But this time of peace and prosperity is no ordinary time - it is an extraordinary moment of
opportunity. We must use this moment in our history to seize hold of the age of possibility
before us. Here, after the great American triumph of the 20th Century, our time has come to
prepare for the 21st Century.
Our nation was founded on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the
18th Century. Our union was preserved and our unity deepened in the 19th Century. And we
exploded onto the world stage in this, the American Century.
�We built the world's greatest industrial power. We abandoned isolationism to fulfill our
responsibilities for freedom and peace in the world. We won two world wars. We waged a long
Cold War to defeat the forces of communism. And we have waged peace in the world.
Here at home, we created the greatest opportunity in human history for people to make
the most of their our own lives. Our people built the great American middle class. We lifted the
elderly out of poverty; began to restore and preserve our environment; extended the circle of
human dignity to include women and minorities.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose birth and life we celebrate today spoke to us in
words that rang out across this very mall. Martin Luther King, Jr. told of his dream ~ deeply
rooted in the American dream ~ "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
Our history has been the steady march of a nation striving to live up to our basic ideals.
They are the wellspring of our greatness. At every moment of challenge and change, our forbears
imagined that the future could be better than the past, and they assumed the moral responsibility
to make it so. Each new age has required us to reestablish the balance we have forged in
America between individual freedom and the duty we owe one another.
Now it is our time to ask: How do we redeem the sacrifice and brilliance of all who have
gone before us? What future will we build for our children, and their children?
�Four years ago, many Americans feared that our triumphant march would falter as we
approached century's end.
On that short day of winter, we gathered in hope, but still in the shadow of drift and
division. We sanctified our commitment to change, to press on with a course required by our
challenges, consistent with our enduring values, demanded by our proud heritage. Together, we
vowed to force the spring, to renew our nation in America's tradition of change.
Since that day, in the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, the progress we
have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground seemed to shift
beneath our feet, we have found a new center, and that center can hold.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. From the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, those who
love peace look first to America for inspiration and for hope.
Once again, America's economy is an unrivaled engine of opportunity for our people.
We have brought down our deficit, we have increased prosperity, we have made our economy the
strongest on earth.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
�Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen ~ crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people - all are bending to our efforts.
Above all, once again we are putting more opportunity in the hands of individuals, and
demanding more responsibility in return, changing the relationship between the people and their
government.
Four years ago, we doubted that we could cut our deficit even as we increase investment;
we doubted that we could prevent pollution even as we promote industry; we doubted that we
could ever tame the social cancers of crime and violence and dependency and decay, which grew
and compounded for so long. Now we know that nothing is impossible when we work together
for our future.
[We must build a new government for a new century.] The lesson of our age is clear:
government cannot solve our problems for us; it can only give us the tools to solve our problems
for ourselves^iovernment is not the soiutionj^^mment is not the proWemj^ We, the
American people, are the solution. And-it is up to all of us to make government a positive force^
in the daily lives of our people. -
^ Where it can stand up for the values and interests of ordinary Americans and make a real
difference in their everyday lives, our government should do more, not less.,Keeping the streets
safe from gangs and drugs. Protecting the environment God gave us. Helping parents to protect
r
�their children from harmfiil outside influences. Challenging every student with higher standards
and expectations. Protecting the food we eat and the water we drink. It must offer the
opportunity that the Bill of Rights guarantees to us all; it must bring out the best in us, not the
worst in us.
^ U k ^ '
0
^ ^ '
Our government must shrink ~ but we together must never shrink from our great
challenges as a nation. j^It is not in the narrow halls of government, but out across the great
sweep of America, in the towns and neighborhoods and homes, that we will forge our destiny.
The strength of our country depends on the spirit of our people; and the spirit of our people
depends on the responsibility of each citizen.
[So when business and community leaders join forces to provide jobs for welfare
recipients - we must be there. When parents and teachers and civic leaders demand the toughest
standards for our schools - we must be there. When communities band together to bring values,
discipline and hope to their children, we must be there - we must be there. We the people. All
of us. Together.] [cuttable]
My fellow Americans, for four years, we have worked to finish the unfinished business of
this century, and to prepare our people for the demands of the next. We stand together, in the
closing years of the first American century, and on the leading edge of a limitless second.
Over the past four years, we have seen the new century's wonders.
�All around us, we see dramatic change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we
relate to one another. An information revolution, sparked by a chip the size of a dime, allows
billions of dollars to cross the globe at speed of light... and children in their classrooms to
explore the world of ideas by logging on to the Internet. Scientists are decoding the blueprint of
human life. 100 years ago, our forbears worked on farms; 50 years ago in factories. Tomorrow,
our children will work in jobs that have not been invented, in enterprises we cannot even
imagine.
Our progress gives us great opportunities, but we also see its darker side. Ancient threats
like ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Modem technology
makes old demons evenfiercer— rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, and organized
criminals who exploit the very openness we cherish.
My fellow Americans, the demands of our time are great, are different. Of us ~ each one
of us ~ they ask much. But they cannot ask too much, for we are Americans. We must be
strong, for there is much to dare. We must be bold, for there is much to do. In our hands,
together, rests the promise of America.
It falls to us to make the most of this age of possibility, to push back the forces of peril, to
connect our oldest values to our newest challenges. It falls to us to choose the future we believe
in, and step by step, to build our bridge to the 21st Century.
�We must build an America for the 21st century where the American promise is alive for
all our children, where every citizen is a part of our national community, and whose dream of
freedom spreads throughout the world.
An America that leads the world in the next century as it has in this one ~ promoting
peace, opening trade, and fighting the forces of destruction. If we want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens.
We must build an America where we have connected all our schools to the Information
Superhighway, established the highest standards for learning in the world, and opened the doors
of college to all our people.
An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job, where
children aren't born to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility as
parents ~ where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can be
protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk because a parent is changing jobs.
�An America where the miracle of science ~ with a cure for cancer, a vaccine for AIDS extends our lives, and the wonder of technology fills it with knowledge.
An America where the loudest voice in politics is the quiet voice of the voter, where a
smaller government does a better job.
An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents and
a secure retirement for all generations to come.
An America where we set our course and achieve our purpose and balance our budget.
Just as important as what we do is how we do it. We never got anywhere except in the
right spirit.
Today, I pledge to you, the American people, to use every ounce of my strength and every
power of my office to bind us together as one nation and to prepare our people for the century
ahead. I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The
American people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of
another. They see, as we must, that we must work together. We will have our differences —
Democrats and Republicans, the President and the Congress. But let us reach out across the
lines of party and philosophy, let us work to balance our budget and balance our values, and let
us make this a time when we work together for the American people.
�For we are taught: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time given to us on acrimony
and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
My fellow Americans, the education of our children; the strength of our families; the
safety of our streets; the sanctity of our environment; the power of our science and technology;
the force of our freedom: These are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one
community, one city — these are the challenges of one nation — and we must meet them as one
America. For in America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Long before we were so diverse, our nation's motto was E Pluribus Unum, out of many,
we are one. We must be one, as neighbors, as fellow citizens, not separate camps, but family,
white, black. Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share basic American values and are
willing to live by them. This must be the America that we imagine, and then make real.
For we are not just dreamers — we are the builders of bridges. It falls to us to finish the
job of building our bridge to the 21st Century — a bridge built on our sturdiest ideals, a bridge
wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, a bridge that connects our oldest
values to our newest challenges.
As we look out upon the monuments to America's greatness, to Washington, Jefferson,
and Lincoln, to those who have fallen in service to our country, we must remember that they
bridges to an America not yet within their reach. They built their bridges not so much for
�themselves, as for those who followed. Let us, like them, sacrifice and build, so that some day,
in an age we will never live to witness, Americans whose faces we will never see can have
America's ideals made real in their lives.
And so, my fellow Americans, let us heed the words of Scripture, and "strengthen our
hands for the good work"ahead. For us, in this place, in this moment, the dream lives on. Our
journey continues. It is our time to build.
10
�January 14, 1997 11:15pm
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20, 1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to his office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, chart the potential ofour future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, we enjoy the blessings of peace and
prosperity. Yet though we are free of war and depression and social unrest, this, too, is no
ordinary time. For we stand on the threshold not only of a new century, a new millennium, but of
an Age of Possibility -^Tume whenmoiy people at home and throughout the world will have the
chance to live their drear^than ever before.
A
0
But first, we must do our duty./yThe demands of our time are great, are different. Of us ~
each one of us — they ask much. But tfySy cannot ask too much, for we are Americans. We must
/
be strong, for there is much to dare. We must be bold, for there is much to do. In our hands,
together, rests the promifee of America.
/I
/
�America wa&Jjoii^e^on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the 18th
Century. Our nation spread across the continent, preserved our union and abolished the awful
scourge of slavei^ in the 19th century^ And we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and
triumph, to make this the American century.
In this century, America-built-the world's greatest industrial power, won two world wars
-fi^/firTCdom^dlieace, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions to advance
peace and prosperity for the world, and time and again, reached out a helping hand to the-many•countrigs-who longed for the blessings of liberty &lH\we li^ve-corrie^ take for granted.
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
poverty; provided health carej^d nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
environment and public ^ s ; provided for public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities, brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts, advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities, and extended the circle
M^advj
of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose birth and life we celebrate today spoke to us in
words that rang out across this very mall. Martin Luther King, Jr. told of his dream ~ deeply
rooted in the American dream - "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
�Dr. King gave his life for that dream so that others might live it. America is the constant
movement toward living out our true creed. The future is built on our dreams and our labors. It
is our ideals and the striving to make them real that made this hundred years the American
century. And it is out of our dreams and our labors that we will build our bridge to the 21st
century.
^iXj^
Already, everywhere we look, we can see the fine lines of that new century ~ dramatic
change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another."~Four years ago,
only a handful of physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of
^
schoolchildren use it to explore the vast world of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the
blueprint of human life. 100 years ago, our forbears worked on farms; 50 years ago in factors.
Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that have not been invented, in enterprises
rfmaginQ"
Cfmagin^
-
^ j - ^ J-*--A
'
^iP ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ £ ^
Our progress gives us great opportunities, but we also see its darker side. Ancient threats
like ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Science and technology
can be used for evil as well as good ~ brandished b^rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, and
organized criminals who exploit the very openness we cherishrTl
verysteps-seerrrte-qutcken^sJ^
triumphant march had seemed to falter.
yavX four years ago, our
�jtey-of winter, we gatherec in hope, but stood in the shadow of drift and
division. Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation —
secure in the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with
America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, and that center can hold.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. From the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, those who
love peace|(X)lf^o^\meriica for inspiration and for hope.
^b*^)
Once again, America's economy is an unrivaled engine of opportunity for our people.
We have brought down our deficit, even as we have increased investment and promoted
prosperity - and made/bur economy the strongest on earth.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen - crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people — all are bending to our efforts. Once, we doubted ourselves
and our ability to master these times; today, with every step we take, every challenge we meet,
�our confidence is restored.
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As we turn to face
this new century, let us think anew and act anew for our new times. Let us build a new
government...
let us summon a new sense of responsibility ... let us establish a new spirit of
unfferstandittg.
r
^
^
•
r\ ^
^
We need a new government for a new century.
We have proved, in these last four years, that we can move beyond the competing
philosophies that threatened our progress. Today we can declare: Government is not the
problem; government is not the solution. We, the American people, are the solution.
Government cannot solve our problems for us; it can only give us the tools to solve our problems
for ourselves.
Where it can stand up for the values and interests of ordinary Americans and give them
the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, then our government should do more,
not less. Helping citizens to keep their streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities
protect the environment God gave us. Helping parents to protect their children from harmful
outside influences. Challenging every student with higher standards and expectations. It must
offer the opportunity that the Bill of Rights guarantees to us all; it must bring out the best in us,
not the worst in us.
�We need a new sense of responsibility for a new century.
Our government will shrink ~ but you must not shrink from our great national challenges.
Today more than ever, we must ask more of ourselves and expect more from one another.
It is not in the narrow halls of government, but out across the great sweep of America, in
the towns and neighborhoods and homes, that we will forge our destiny.
Business and community leaders have a responsibility to provide jobs for welfare
recipients. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to demand the toughest standards for our
schools. Young people have a responsibility to stay off drugs, stay in school, learn right from
wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together to bring values, discipline and
hope to our children. And each and every one of us must recognize our responsibility — not just
for ourselves, but for all those around us.
These are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one community, one city these are the challenges of one nation - and we must meet them as one America. For in
America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new spirit of understanding for a new century.
[This needs to be rewritten. Long before we were so diverse, our nation's motto was E
�Pluribus Unum, out of many, we are one. We must be one, as neighbors, as fellow citizens, not
separate camps, but family, white, black, Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share
basic American values and are willing to live by them. This must be the America that we
imagine, and then make real.]
[This section is unchanged from the last draft; we were not able to revise it in time to
include the balanced couplets that you wanted.] It falls to us to make the most of this age of
possibility, to push back the forces of peril, to connect our oldest values to our newest challenges.
It falls to us to choose the future we believe in, and step by step, to build our bridge to the 21st
Century.
An America that leads the world in the next century as it has in this one ~ promoting
peace, opening trade, and fighting the forces of destruction. If we want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens.
<e/
' We must buinn\an America where we-have cotmected all our schoolsjD the Information /
Superhighway, established the highest standards for learning in the world, and opened the doors
of college to all our people.
t
An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job, where
children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility as
parents ~ where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
�An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and worfcpchildren can be
protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and nodiild's
?e ^parem is changing jobs.
health is ever put at risk beeaSSe a-pareni is changing lobs.
Y
v
^
An America where the miracle of science ~ with a cure for cancer, a vaccine for AIDS ~
extgndsjauiUwes, and the wonder of technology fills it with knowledge
An America where the loudest voice in politics is the quiet voice of the voter, where a
smaller government does a better job.
An America where we have kep<bur obligations to provide health care to our parents and
a secure retirement for all generations to come.
/
* ^^> ^ ^ 3 " f * ^ "'
An America where we set our course and achieve our purpose and balance our budget -VT^Q
budget
"^T^
while we balance our values. ]
•4^Xz*-<_,^
Today, I pledge to you, the American people, to use every ounce of my strength and every
power of my office to bind us together as one nation and to prepare our people for the century
ahead. I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The
i
fT"
�American people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of
another. They see, as we must, that we must work together. Nothing big ever came from being
small. For we are taught: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time given to us on acrimony
and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
All of us here today are on a journey of life, which must some day come to an end. But
the journey of America must go on. And it will ~ if we do our duty.
My fellow Americans, the future is not a gift - it is an achievement.
We, we Americans, are not just dreamers ~ we are the builders of bridges. It falls to us to
finish the job of building our bridge to the 21st Century ~ a bridge built on our sturdiest ideals, a
bridge wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, a bridge built not so much
for ourselves as for those who will follow.
If we do our duty; if we build straight and true, then our journey will go on, forward, into
the 21st Century. Then our people will cross that bridge with the American Dream alive for all
of our children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of our people. With
America's dream of freedom spreading throughout the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, let us heed
the words of Scripture, and "strengthen our hands for the good work" ahead. For us, in this
�place, in this moment, the dream lives on. Our journey continues. It is our time to build.
10
�Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
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AND TYPE
003. notes
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, j 0
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DATE
Inaguaral address prep notes (4 pages)
nd
RESTRICTION
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
OA/Box Number:
14539
FOLDER TITLE:
Inaugural Drafts - '97 [4]
2006-0469-F
sbl30
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act -144 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act -15 U.S.C. 552(b)|
Pi
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information 1(b)(1) of the FOIAj
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency |(b)(2) of the FOI A|
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute 1(b)(3) of the FOIA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information 1(b)(4) of the FOIA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy 1(b)(6) of the FOIA|
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes 1(b)(7) of the FOIAj
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions 1(b)(8) of the FOIAj
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells |(b)(9) of the FOIA]
National Security Classified Information 1(a)(1) of the PRA|
Relating to the appointment to Federal office 1(a)(2) of the PRA|
Release would violate a Federal statute 1(a)(3) of the PRA]
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information 1(a)(4) of the PKA|
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors |a)(5) of the PRA|
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy |(a)(6)of the PRA)
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�January 14, 1997 11:15pm
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J . CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to his office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, chart the potential of our future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, we enjoy the blessings of peace and
prosperity. Yet though we are free of war and depression and social unrest, this, too, is no
ordinary time. For we stand on the threshold not only of a new century, a new millennium, but of
an Age of Possibility - a time when more people at home and throughout the world will have the
chance to live their dream than ever before.
^fiut first, we must do our duty. The demands of our time ate great, aiS different. Of us each one of us - they ask much. But they cannot ask too much, for we are Americans. We must
be strong, for there is much to dare. We must be bold, for there is much to do. In our hands,
together, rests the promise of America.
�America was founded on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the 18th
Century. Our nation spread across the continent, preserved our union and abolished the awful
scourge of slavery in the 19th century. And we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and
triumph, to make this the American century.
In this century, America built the world's greatest industrial power, won two world wars
for freedom and peace, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions to advance
peace and prosperity for the world, and time and again, reached out a helping hand to the many
countries who longed for the blessings of liberty that we have come to take for granted.
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
poverty; provided health care and nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
environment and public lands; provided for public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities, brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts, advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities, and extended the circle
of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose birth and life we celebrate today spoke to us in
words that rang out across this very mall. Martin Luther King, Jr. told of his dream - deeply
rooted in the American dream — "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
�Dr. King gave his life for that dream so that others might live it. America is the constant
movement toward living out our true creed. The future is built on our dreams and our labors. It
is our ideals and the striving to make them real that made this hundred years the American
century. And it is out of our dreams and our labors that we will build our bridge to the 21st
century.
Already, everywhere we look, we can see the fine lines of that new century -- dramatic
change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another. Four years ago,
only a handful of physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of
schoolchildren use it to explore the vast world of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the
blueprint of human life. 100 years ago, our forbears worked on farms; 50 years ago in factories.
Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that have not been invented, in enterprises we cannot
even imagine.
Our progress gives us great opportunities, but we also see its darker side. Ancient threats
like ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Science and technology
can be used for evil as well as good — brandished by rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, and
organized criminals who exploit the very openness we cherish.
Our very steps seem to quicken as we approach the new century. But four years ago, our
triumphant march had seemed to falter.
�On another short day of winter, we gathered in hope, but stood in the shadow of drift and
division. Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation —
secure in the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with
America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, and that center can hold.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For thefirsttime
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. From the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, those who
love peace look to America for inspiration and for hope.
Once again, America's economy is an unrivaled engine of opportunity for our people.
We have brought down our deficit, even as we have increased investment and promoted
prosperity ~ and made our economy the strongest on earth.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen -- crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people — all are bending to our efforts. Once, we doubted ourselves
and our ability to master these times; today, with every step we take, every challenge we meet,
�our confidence is restored.
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As wc turn to face
this new century, let us think anew and act anew for QUE new times. Let us build a new
government... let us summon a new sense of responsibility . . . let us establish a new spirit of
understanding.
We need a new government for a new century.
We have proved, in these last four years, that we can move beyond the competing
philosophies that threatened our progress. Today we can declare: Government is not the
problem; government is not the solution. We, the American people, are the solution.
Government cannot solve our problems for us; it can only give us the tools to solve our problems
for ourselves.
Where it can stand up for the values and interests of ordinary Americans and give them
the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, then our government should do more,
not less. Helping citizens to keep their streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities
protect the environment God gave us. Helping parents to protect their children from harmful
outside influences. Challenging every student with higher standards and expectations. It must
offer the opportunity that the Bill of Rights guarantees to us all; it must bring out the best in us,
not the worst in us.
�We need a new sense of responsibility for a new century.
Our government will shrink -- but you must not shrink from our great national challenges.
Today more than ever, we must ask more of ourselves and expect more from one another.
It is not in the narrow halls of government, but out across the great sweep of America, in
the towns and neighborhoods and homes, that we will forge our destiny.
Business and community leaders have a responsibility to provide jobs for welfare
recipients. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to demand the toughest standards for our
schools. Young people have a responsibility to stay off drugs, stay in school, learn right from
wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together to bring values, discipline and
hope to our children. And each and every one of us must recognize our responsibility — not just
for ourselves, but for all those around us.
These are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one community, one city —
these are the challenges of one nation ~ and we must meet them as one America. For in
America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new spirit of understanding for a new century.
[This needs to be rewritten. Long before we were so diverse, our nation's motto was E
�Pluribus Unum, out of many, we are one. We must be one, as neighbors, as fellow citizens, not
separate camps, but family, white, black. Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share
basic American values and are willing to live by them. This must be the America that we
imagine, and then make real.]
[This section is unchangedfrom the last draft; we were not able to revise it in time to
include the balanced couplets that you wanted. ] It falls to us to make the most of this age of
possibility, to push back the forces of peril, to connect our oldest values to our newest challenges.
It falls to us to choose the future we believe in, and step by step, to build our bridge to the 21st
Century.
An America that leads the world in the next century as it has in this one - promoting
peace, opening trade, and fighting the forces of destruction. If wc want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens.
We must build an America where we have connected all our schools to the Information
Superhighway, established the highest standards for learning in the world, and opened the doors
of college to all our people.
An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work canfinda job, where
children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility as
parents ~ where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
�An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can be
protectedfromdangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk because a parent is changing jobs.
An America where the miracle of science ~ with a cure for cancer, a vaccine for AIDS —
extends our lives, and the wonder of technologyfillsit with knowledge.
An America where the loudest voice in politics is the quiet voice of the voter, where a
smaller government does a better job.
An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents and
a secure retirement for all generations to come.
An America where we set our course and achieve our purpose and balance our budget
while we balance our values. ]
Today, I pledge to you, the American people, to use every ounce of my strength and every
power of my office to bind us together as one nation and to prepare our people for the century
ahead. I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The
�American people, with eyes open, returned to oftice a President of one party and a Congress of
another. They see, as we must, that we must work together. Nothing big ever camefrombeing
small. For we are taught: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time given to us on acrimony
and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
All of us here today are on a journey of life, which must some day come to an end. But
the journey of America must go on. And it will -- if we do our duty.
My fellow Americans, the future is not a gift - it is an achievement.
We, we Americans, are not just dreamers — we are the builders of bridges. It falls to us to
finish the job of building our bridge to the 21st Century — a bridge built on our sturdiest ideals, a
bridge wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, a bridge built not so much
for ourselves as for those who will follow.
If we do our duty; if we build straight and true, then our journey will go on, forward, into
the 21st Century. Then our people will cross that bridge with the American Dream alive for all
of our children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of our people. With
America's dream of freedom spreading throughout the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, let us
heed the words of Scripture, and "strengthen our hands for the good work" ahead. For us, in this
place, in this moment, the dream lives on. Our journey continues. It is our time to build.
�1/15/97^^FTS
�Draft 1/15/97 7:00PM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to this office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, and chart our course to the future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, we enjoy the blessings of peace and
prosperity. Yet, though we are free of war and depression and social unrest, this, too, is no
ordinary time. For we stand on the threshold not only of a new century in a new millennium, but
of an Age of Possibility. If we do our duty, more people at home and throughout the world will
have the chance to live out their dreams than ever before.
But first, we must do our duty. [Right now, this paragraph does not do enough to
emphasize a central point of the speech: This is a moment of rare opportunity and responsibility
for us as a country; if we do not seize it, the consequences will be borne not necessarily by us,
but by generations to come. (Then go to: "For in our hands, ...promise of America")] We must
be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and different. But they
do not ask too much of us, for we are Americans. Let us meet them with a happy and grateful
heart. For in our hands, together, rests the eternal promise of America. [If you make this change,
some of these sentences could be moved to the end of the address.]
In the 18th Century, America was bom under the bold conviction that all of us are created
equal, endowed by God with inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. In the 19th
Century, our nation spread across the continent, preserved our union and abolished the scourge of
slavery. Then we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and triumph, to make this the
American century.
What a century it has been. America became the world's greatest industrial power, won
two world wars against tyranny, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions
to advance peace and prosperity for the world, and time and again, reached out a helping hand to
millions in every part of the globe who longed for the blessings of liberty we take for granted.
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
1
�poverty; provided health care and nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
environment and public health; provided public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities; brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts; explored the heavens; advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities,
and extended the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the towering spirit whose life we celebrate today spoke to us on
this very mall in words that moved the conscience of the nation. He told of his dream ~ deeply
rooted in the American dream ~ "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
Too soon thereafter, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for that dream so that his fellow
Americans might live it.
His story is the story of America, the story of the constant dream-driven striving to live
out our true creed. Our future has ever been built on such dreams and labors. Dreams and labors
made this hundred years the American century. And it is out of dreams and labors that we will
build our bridge to the 21st century.
Already, we can see the fine lines of that new century ~ dramatically changing the way
we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another. Four years ago, only a handful of
physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of schoolchildren use it to explore
the vast world of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries seem within reach. In this century, we have seen the bulk of
our work shift from farm to factory to computers. Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that
have not been invented, in enterprises not yet imagined.
The world is no longer divided into two armed camps with the capacity to destroy each
other. Instead, the growing connections of commerce across borders give our world an
unprecedented chance for both peace and prosperity.
Such advances herald the dawn of the Age of Possibility. But there is a darker side to this
moment. Ancient ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Sciense
and technology and global interdependence can be used for evil as well as good - brandished by
rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, organized criminals who exploit the very progress and
openness we cherish to advance their dark designs.
The future will not simply unfold. It will be forged into hard steel by the choices we
make, or fail to make. And time is passing ever so quickly.
Just four years ago, our march to the future seemed less certain than today.
Then, though we gathered here in hope, we stood in the shadow of drift and division.
Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation - secure in
�the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, dynamic yet rock solid, that can
center can hold and propel forward on our historic mission.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. The nuclear
threat has been reduced. Commerce among nations has expanded to record levels. And from the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, to the
sunny shores of Haiti, those who love peace and freedom look to America for inspiration and
support.
Once again, America's economy is the strongest on earth, creating more jobs in a four
year term than ever before, the smallest deficit of any major economy, and at long last, rising
incomes for working families.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen -- crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people - all are bending to our efforts. Families are receiving support
in their efforts to succeed at home and at work, and in raising children in a culture too often at
odds with their values.
Once again, we are moving forward toward a genuine American community, founded in
mutual respect, exalting citizen service, resisting the use of race, religion and politics to sow
hatred, divide us, and threaten our own union, even as these forces destroy the lives and hopes of
millions around the world.
Once again, we have resolved for our time the age old debate of the role of government in
our common endeavors, moving beyond the competing philosophies that threatened our progress.
Today we can declare: Government is not the problem; government is not the solution. We, the
American people, are the solution. Government's role is to give us the tools to make the most of
our own lives.
To do that, we need a new government for a new century. Where it comes to our
common challenges, Americans cannot be left on their own. Where it can stand up for the values
and interests of ordinary Americans and give them the power to make a real difference in their
everyday lives, then our government should do more, not less. Helping citizens to keep their
streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities protect the environment God gave us.
Helping parents to protect their children from harmful influences. Challenging every student
with higher standards and stiffer expectations. Opening the doors of college to all. Bringing the
benefits of science and technology. Summoning citizens to responsibility and citizen service.
Providing the conditions of growth in poor areas, and opportunity for people to move from
�welfare to work. Calling forth the best in us, and standing firm against the worst.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to you. We need a new sense of
responsibility for anew century. After our Constitution was founded, Benjamin Franklin was
asked about what had been created. He replied: "A republic ~ if you can keep it."
For 200 years, Americans have kept our republic, meeting every challenge by moving
toward a more perfect union. Our troubles have come only when we denied our shortcomings, or
rested on our laurels. I am determined that we cannot rest.
You, too, have your responsibility to keep our republic in the 21st Century.
Business and community leaders must provide jobs for welfare recipients. Parents and
teachers must demand the toughest standards for our schools. Young people must stay off drugs,
stay in school, learn right from wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together
help parents bring values, discipline and hope to our children. Each and every one of us must
recognize our responsibility - not just for ourselves, but for all those around us.
We must affirm that ours are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one
community, one city — these are the challenges of one nation ~ and we must meet them as one
America. For in America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new sense of community for a new century.
We must understand that our rich texture of racial and ethnic diversity, deeply held
religious convictions, and widely different political philosophies is a Godsend for the 21st
Century world. We know of the dark impulses that lurk in the regions of the soul everywhere.
They have touched us and nearly destroyed us in our own past. They may tempt us again in our
future. And we see them in the lives of too many people around the world. We here must have
the generosity of spirit to repress those impulses, and to show the world: our differences do not
diminish us; they strengthen us for the work ahead. In a world of ever-more-open interaction
among people, our ability to live and work with people different from ourselves is a rich
resource, waiting to be tapped. Let us always remember: our nation imposes no test of creed or
religion or race. We say: if you believe in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the
Bill of Rights, you are an American.
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As we turn to face
this new century, let us think anew and act anew for our new times.
With a new government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we can
build our bridge to the 21st Century. On the one side, we will finish the unfinished business of
this century. On the other side, we will lay the foundations for an even greater America ~
— an America that leads the world in the next century — promoting peace and freedom,
4
�fighting the forces of destruction, expanding fair and open commerce. This is more than a
responsibility; it is a priceless opportunity without precedent. But if we want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens, and pay our way.
- An America with the world's finest education, with all our schools connected to the
Information Superhighway, the highest standards for learning in the world, and the doors of
college open to all our people.
-- An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job,
where children aren't born to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility
as parents ~ where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
- An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
- An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can
be protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk for lack of health care or safe water, air and land.
~ An America where the miracles of science extend our lives, and the wonders of
technology fills them with knowledge and power.
~ An America where our politics respond to the national interest and not narrow interests,
where a smaller government does a better job.
~ An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents
and a secure retirement for all generations to come.
- An America where we balance our budget and invest in our future.
Today, I pledge to you to use every ounce of my strength and every power of my office to
bind us together and to prepare our nation for the century ahead. Like you, I cannot do this alone.
I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The Amerisan
people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another.
Surely, they did not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and personal destruction
they plainly deplore. Now, they have asked us to honestly debate our differences, then work
together in a spirit of mutual respect. America demands and deserves big things from us.
Nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal
Bemadin, just weeks before the end of his life: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time
given to us on acrimony and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
All of us are on that same journey of life, which must surely come to an end. But the
journey of America must go on. And it will — if we do our duty.
�And so, my fellow Americans, let us run the race that is before us with patience and
determination, with mercy and charity. With our dreams and labor, let us build our bridge to the
21 st Century - wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, especially those in
generations to come whose faces we will never see.
Let is be said of us that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American
Dream alive for all of her children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of
her people. With America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, may God
guide those who would build ~ "strengthen our hands for the good work ahead" - and, always,
may God bless our America.
�Draft 1/15/97 7:00PM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to this office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, and chart our course to the future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, we enjoy the blessings of peace and
prosperity. Yet, though we are free of war and depression and social unrest, this, too, is no
ordinary time. For we stand on the threshold not only of a new century in a new millennium, but
of an Age of Possibility. If we do our duty, more people at home and throughout the world will
have the chance to live out their dreams than ever before.
But first, we must do our duty. [Right now, this paragraph does not do enough to
emphasize a central point of the speech: This is a moment of rare opportunity and responsibility
for us as a country; if we do not seize it, the consequences will be borne not necessarily by us,
but by generations to come. (Then go to: "For in our hands, ...promise of America")] We must
be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and different. But they
do not ask too much of us, for we are Americans. Let us meet them with a happy and grateful
heart. For in our hands, together, rests the eternal promise of America. [If you make this change,
some of these sentences could be moved to the end of the address.]
In the 18th Century, America was bom under the bold conviction that all of us are created
equal, endowed by God with inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. In the 19th
Century, our nation spread across the continent, preserved our union and abolished the scourge of
slavery. Then we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and triumph, to make this the
American century.
What a century it has been. America became the world's greatest industrial power, won
two world wars against tyranny, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions
to advance peace and prosperity for the world, and time and again, reached out a helping hand to
millions in every part of the globe who longed for the blessings of liberty we take for granted.
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
i
�poverty; provided health care and nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
environment and public health; provided public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities; brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts; explored the heavens; advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities,
and extended the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the towering spirit whose life we celebrate today spoke to us on
this very mall in words that moved the conscience of the nation. He told of his dream - deeply
rooted in the American dream — "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
Too soon thereafter, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for that dream so that his fellow
Americans might live it.
His story is the story of America, the story of the constant dream-driven striving to live
out our true creed. Our future has ever been built on such dreams and labors. Dreams and labors
made this hundred years the American century. And it is out of dreams and labors that we will
build our bridge to the 21 st century.
Already, we can see the fine lines of that new century - dramatically changing the way
we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another. Four years ago, only a handful of
physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of schoolchildren use it to explore
the vast world of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries seem within reach. In this century, we have seen the bulk of
our work shift from farm to factory to computers. Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that
have not been invented, in enterprises not yet imagined.
The world is no longer divided into two armed camps with the capacity to destroy each
other. Instead, the growing connections of commerce across borders give our world an
unprecedented chance for both peace and prosperity.
Such advances herald the dawn of the Age of Possibility. But there is a darker side to this
moment. Ancient ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Science
and technology and global interdependence can be used for evil as well as good -- brandished by
rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, organized criminals who exploit the very progress and
openness we cherish to advance their dark designs.
The fiiture will not simply unfold. It will be forged into hard steel by the choices we
make, or fail to make. And time is passing ever so quickly.
Just four years ago, our march to the future seemed less certain than today.
Then, though we gathered here in hope, we stood in the shadow of drift and division.
Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation ~ secure in
�the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, dynamic yet rock solid, that can
center can hold and propel forward on our historic mission.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. The nuclear
threat has been reduced. Commerce among nations has expanded to record levels. And from the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, to the
sunny shores of Haiti, those who love peace and freedom look to America for inspiration and
support.
Once again, America's economy is the strongest on earth, creating more jobs in a four
year term than ever before, the smallest deficit of any major economy, and at long last, rising
incomes for working families.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen ~ crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people - all are bending to our efforts. Families are receiving support
in their efforts to succeed at home and at work, and in raising children in a culture too often at
odds with their values.
Once again, we are moving forward toward a genuine American community, founded in
mutual respect, exalting citizen service, resisting the use of race, religion and politics to sow
hatred, divide us, and threaten our own union, even as these forces destroy the lives and hopes of
millions around the world.
Once again, we have resolved for our time the age old debate of the role of government in
our common endeavors, moving beyond the competing philosophies that threatened our progress.
Today we can declare: Government is not the problem; government is not the solution. We, the
American people, are the solution. Government's role is to give us the tools to make the most of
our own lives.
To do that, we need a new government for a new century. Where it comes to our
common challenges, Americans cannot be left on their own. Where it can stand up for the values
and interests of ordinary Americans and give them the power to make a real difference in their
everyday lives, then our government should do more, not less. Helping citizens to keep their
streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities protect the environment God gave us.
Helping parents to protect their children from harmful influences. Challenging every student
with higher standards and stiffer expectations. Opening the doors of college to all. Bringing the
benefits of science and technology. Summoning citizens to responsibility and citizen service.
Providing the conditions of growth in poor areas, and opportunity for people to move from
�welfare to work. Calling forth the best in us, and standing firm against the worst.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to you. We need a new sense of
responsibility for anew century. After our Constitution was founded, Benjamin Franklin was
asked about what had been created. He replied: "A republic ~ if you can keep it."
For 200 years, Americans have kept our republic, meeting every challenge by moving
toward a more perfect union. Our troubles have come only when we denied our shortcomings, or
rested on our laurels. I am determined that we cannot rest.
You, too, have your responsibility to keep our republic in the 21st Century.
Business and community leaders must provide jobs for welfare recipients. Parents and
teachers must demand the toughest standards for our schools. Young people must stay off drugs,
stay in school, learn right from wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together
help parents bring values, discipline and hope to our children. Each and every one of us must
recognize our responsibility ~ not just for ourselves, but for all those around us.
We must affirm that ours are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one
community, one city - these are the challenges of one nation - and we must meet them as one
America. For in America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new sense of community for a new century.
We must understand that our rich texture of racial and ethnic diversity, deeply held
religious convictions, and widely different political philosophies is a Godsend for the 21st
Century world. We know of the dark impulses that lurk in the regions of the soul everywhere.
They have touched us and nearly destroyed us in our own past. They may tempt us again in our
future. And we see them in the lives of too many people around the world. We here must have
the generosity of spirit to repress those impulses, and to show the world: our differences do not
diminish us; they strengthen us for the work ahead. In a world of ever-more-open interaction
among people, our ability to live and work with people different from ourselves is a rich
resource, waiting to be tapped. Let us always remember: our nation imposes no test of creed at
religion or race. We say: if you believe in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the
Bill of Rights, you are an American.
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As we turn to face
this new century, let us think anew and act anew for our new times.
With a new government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we can
build our bridge to the 21 st Century. On the one side, we will finish the unfinished business of
this century. On the other side, we will lay the foundations for an even greater America - an America that leads the world in the next century ~ promoting peace and freedom,
4
�fighting the forces of destruction, expanding fair and open commerce. This is more than a
responsibility; it is a priceless opportunity without precedent. But if we want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens, and pay our way.
- An America with the world's finest education, with all our schools connected to the
Information Superhighway, the highest standards for learning in the world, and the doors of
college open to all our people.
- An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job,
where children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility
as parents - where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
- An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
~ An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can
be protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk for lack of health care or safe water, air and land.
- An America where the miracles of science extend our lives, and the wonders of
technology fills them with knowledge and power.
- An America where our politics respond to the national interest and not narrow interests,
where a smaller government does a better job.
~ An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents
and a secure retirement for all generations to come.
- An America where we balance our budget and invest in our fiiture.
Today, I pledge to you to use every ounce of my strength and every power of my office to
bind us together and to prepare our nation for the century ahead. Like you, I cannot do this alone.
I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The Amerisan
people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another.
Surely, they did not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and personal destruction
they plainly deplore. Now, they have asked us to honestly debate our differences, then work
together in a spirit of mutual respect. America demands and deserves big things from us.
Nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal
Bemadin, just weeks before the end of his life: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time
given to us on acrimony and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
All of us are on that same journey of life, which must surely come to an end. But the
journey of America must go on. And it will ~ if we do our duty.
�And so, my fellow Americans, let us run the race that is before us with patience and
determination, with mercy and charity. With our dreams and labor, let us build our bridge to the
21st Century - wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, especially those in
generations to come whose faces we will never see.
Let is be said of us that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American
Dream alive for all of her children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of
her people. With America's brightflameof freedom spreading throughout the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, may God
guide those who would build ~ "strengthen our hands for the good work ahead" ~ and, always,
may God bless our America.
�Draft 1/15/97 7:00PM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of
the 20th Century. Vxaelfy 200 ycau uflu Giuige
^
JWachington aaid-mrewcll to this office antHiis fclli/w
Ulll^mm, liaviin/iumiuhud hib ncwbuuiiliy-on the Great
&>tpciiiiiLi^4taHias-brought us^o-this tirncahd placer
, this moment of consecration and dedication,
we come together to recall the greatness of our past,
understand the progress of our present, and chart our
course to the future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people,
we enjoy the blessings of peace and prosperity. IfeLf.
* X though we are free of war and depression and social
unres'^j^his, too, is no ordinary time. For we stand on
the threshold not only of a new century in a new
1
millennium, b«t-©£ an Age of Possibility. If wc du OUI—7 M Cf **'/.
^
Art. an.
-ehrty, more people at home and throughout the world
will have the chance to live out their dreams than ever
before.
But first, we must do our duty. [Right now, this
paragraph does not do enough to emphasize a central
�point of the speech: This is a moment of rare
opportunity and responsibility for us as a country; if we
do not seize it, the consequences will be borne not
necessarily by us, but by generations to come. (Then go
to: "For in our hands, ...promise of America")] We
must be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands
of our time are great and different. But they do not ask
too much of us, for we are Americans. Let us meet them
with a happy and grateful heart. For in our hands,
together, rests the eternal promise of America. [Ifyou
make this change, some of these sentences could be
moved to the end of the address.]
In the 18th Century, America was bemi under the
bold conviction that(aj^ ef4>6are]jcreated equal, endowed
by God with inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit
of happiness. In the 19th Century, our nation spread
across the continent, preserved our union and abolished
the scourge of slavery. Then we exploded onto the
A
world stage, in turmoil and triumph, to make this the
American century.
lO^pft
What a century it has been. America became the
world's greatest industrial power, won two world wars
against tyranny, waged a long mid war to defeat
communism jbuilt institutions to advance peace and
prosperity for the world^and time and again, reached out
K
%
j ^ - f h^tp^'g
to millions in.ovory pai t uf llll! glt»be who
longed for the blessings of liberty we take for granted.
�In this century, our people built the great
American middle class; itfi^t+H-xldcrlv ou^ of ppynrf*"
10
prgyiflfd iH^ftlth ••fii mid mitntrnr4" poor ^hiHr^ir
worked to restore and preserve our environment and
public health; provided public education to all our
children and built the world's greatest ayotcm of
universities; brought breathtaking advances in science,
technology and the arts; explored the heavens; advanced
equality for African-Americans and other minorities, and
extended the circle of citizenship, opportunity and
dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the towering spirit whose
life we celebrate today spoke to us on this very mall in
words that moved the conscience of the nation. He told
of his dream ~ deeply rooted in the American dream ~
"that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self
evident; that all men are created equal.'"
Too soon thereafter, Martin Luther KingUrygave
his life for that dream so that his fellow Americans
might live it.
His story is the story of America, the story of the
constant dream-driven striving to live out our true creed.
Our future has ever been built on such dreams and
labors. Dreams and labors made this hundred years the
American century. And it is out of dreams and labors
/st+J"^^.
�that we will build our bridge to the 21st century.
Already, we can see the fine lines of that
century — dramatically changing the way we work, tbe—^
'
>¥ay-we live, tho way we- relate to one another. Four
years ago, only a handful of physicists had heard of the
World Wide Web. Today, millions of schoolchildren
use it to explore the vast world of knowledge. Scientists
are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries seem within reach. In
this century, we have seen the bulk of our work shift
from farm to factory to computers. Tomorrow, our
children will work in jobs that have not been invented,
in enterprises not yet imagined.
The world is no longer divided into two armed
camps with the capacity to destroy each other, ynstead^
the growing connections of commerce across borders
give our world an unprecedented chance for both peace
and prosperity.
Such advances herald the dawn of the Age of
Possibility. But there is a darker side to this moment.
Ancient ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and
dangerous dimensions. Science and technology and
global interdependence can be used for evil as well as
good — brandished by rogue states, terrorists, drug
traffickers, organized criminals who exploit the very
progress-anil openness wo ohorioh'to advance thejr da*^"
�designs.
The future will not simply unfold. It will be
forged into hard steel by the choices we make, or fail to
make, ^ n d time is passing ever so quickly.
Just four years ago, our march to the future
seemed less certain than today.
Then, though we gathered here in hope, we stood
in the shadow of drift and division. Together, we vowed
to change our course, ttrfofoc the gpring, to renew our
nation - secure in the knowledge that what was wrong
with America could be cured by what is right with
America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the
battles we have waged, and the progress we have built,
we have begun together to renew America. Where once
the ground seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have
found a new center, dynamic yet rock solidathat can
ciMlUM cmi hold and propel forward on our hi3toric -»
. .
A
mission.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's
indispensable nation. For the first time in history, more
citizens of the earth are living under democracy than
dictatorship. The nuclear threat has been reduced.
Commerce among nations has expanded to record levels.
�And from the snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the
Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, to the
stniny shores of Haiti, those who love peace and
freedom look to America for inspiration and support.
Once again, America's economy is the strongest
on earth, creating more jobs in a four year term than ever
before, the smallest deficit of any major economy, and at
long last, rising incomes for working families.
Once again, we have put family and faith and
community at the center of our concerns. Our most
urgent social problems, which seemed destined to
deepen ~ crime, welfare, poverty, inequality among
working people ~ all are bending to our efforts.
Families are receiving support in their efforts to succeed
at home and at work, and in raising children in a culture
too often at odds with their values.
Once again, we are moving forward toward a
genuine American community, founded in mutual
respect, exalting citizen service, resisting the use of race,
religion and politics to sow hatred, divide us, and
threaten our own union, even as these forces destroy th/
lives and hopes of millions around the world.
Once again, we have resolved for our time the"l
age old debate oijthe role of government in our common
endeavors, moving beyond the competing philosophies
�that tkceateoedour progress.
Today we can declare: Government is not the problem;
government is not the solution. We, the American
people, are the solution. Government's role is to give
us the tools to make the most of our own lives.
To do that, we need a new government for a new
century. Where it comes to our common challenges,
Americans cannot be left on their own. Where it can
stand up for tha values and interests of ordinary
tikuji
it
Arqeutoum and ulVL' llieiu the irpw^-to makfl ^ r^al
tor
ditTI'I'l in n in thrir nrnyrlny livrir, then our government
should do more, not less. ^Helping citizens to keep their
streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities
protect the environment God gave us. Helping parents
to protect their children from harmful influences.
Challenging every student with higher standards and
stiffer expectations. Opening the doors of college to all.
Bringing the benefits of science and technology.
Summoning citizens to responsibility and citizen —
service. Providing the conditions of growth in poor
areas, and opportunity for people to move from welfare
to work. Calling forth the best in us, and standing firm
against the worst.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up
to you. We need a new sense of responsibility for a lew
century. Aftet^^T^STrtution was founded, Benjamin
Franklin was asked about what had been created. He
f'r*-
�replied: "A republic - if you can keep it."
For 200 years, Americans have kept our republic,
meeting every challenge by moving toward a more
perfect union. Our troubles have come only when we
denied our shortcomings, or rested on our laurels. I am
determined that we cannot rest.
You, too, have your responsibility to keep our
republic in the 21 st Century.
Business and community leaders must provide
jobs for welfare recipients. Parents and teachers must
demand the toughest standards for our schools. Young
people must stay off drugs, stay in school, learn right
from wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must
band together help parents bring values, discipline and
hope to our children. Each and every one of us must
recognize our responsibility - not just for ourselves, but
for all those around us.
ToA**** j i t * *
We must affimf.t&rff ours are not the challenges
of one family, one neighborhood, one community, one
city - these are the challenges of one nation ~ and we
must meet them as one America. For in America, the
challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new sense of community
for a new century.
TUG
�*V
WL must undorotand that our rich texture of
racial and ethnic diversity, deeply held religious
convictions, and widely different political philosophies
is a Godsend for the 21st Century world. We know of
£ the dark impulses that lurk in the regions of the soul
everywhere. They have touched us and nearly destroyed
us in our own past. They may tempt us again in our
future. And we see them inrthe livec of too many people.
around the world. Wt h i n iiiuut have tlic
apirit to retprocc those impulooo, and^o^how the world:
our differences do not diminish us; they strengthen us;
^ j f u i l h c wui'k ultwud. In a world of ever-more-open
interaction among people, our ability to live and work
with people different from ourselves is a rich resource,
waiting to be tapped. Let us always remember: our
nation imposes no test of creed or religion or race. We
say: if you believe in the Constitution, the Declaration of
Independence, the Bill of Rights, you are an American.
^
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think
anew, and act anew. As we turn to face this new
century, let us think anew and act anew for our new
times.
With a new government, a new sense of
responsibility, a new spirit of community, we can build
our bridge to the 21 st Century. On the one side, we will
finish the unfinished business of this century. On the
other side, we will lay the foundations for an even
^
'
�greater America ~
- an America that leads the world in the next
century - promoting peace and freedom, fighting the
forces of destruction, expanding fair and open
commerce. This is more than a responsibility; it is a
priceless opportunity without precedent. But if we want
the benefits of leadership, we must shoulder the burdens,
and pay our way.
- An America with the world's finest education, sckiob wiV«f £ tonortew,
its rfa***^****
.urith nil nnr crhnnlg
r
n
p r . ^ t ^ trw-tb^.T• 10
.IIMII
j
^hiphiifjy thp hiphpyt ctanHarfis for learning in the
WCJTW, and
the doors of college open to aU «ut4i£Qpte?—
- An America where anyone struggling to move
from welfare to work can find a job, where children
aren't born to children, imd vvliuc all paiuils livn up to
""^thrtrinrrrd r^rpon^ihility at; pnrrntK — where the
problems of the underclass have become a thing of the
past.
~ An America where familiar faces patrol our
streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people walk safely -—^
""^-diouud ths-bleek at night, and send their children safely
off to school each morning.
~ An America where parents have the chance to
succeed at home and work, chilriron^ao-be^flrotected
1 0
�from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and
television violence, and no child's health is ever put at
risk for lack of health care or safe water, air and land.
~ An America where the miracles of science
extend our lives, and the wonders of technology fills
them with knowledge and power.
- An America where our politics respond to the
national interest and not narrow interests, where a
smaller government does a better job.
- An America where we have kept our
obligatimre to provide health care to our parents and a
secure retirement for all generations to come.
- An America where we balance our budget and
invest in our future.
Today, I pledge to you to use every ounce of my
strength and every power of my office to bind us
together and to prepare our nation for the century ahead.
Like you, I cannot do this alone. I ask the Members of
Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that
pledge. The American people, with eyes open, returned
to office a President of one party and a Congress of
another. Surely, they did not do this to advance the
politics of petty bickering and personal destruction they
plainly deplore. Now, they have asked us to honestly
11
�debate our differences, then work together in a spirit of
mutual respect. America demands and deserves big
things from us. Nothing big ever came from being
small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of
Cardinal Bemadin, just weeks before the end of his life:
"It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time given to us
on acrimony and division." We must not waste the
precious gift of this time.
All of us are on that same journey of life, which
must surely come to an end. But the journey of America
must go on. And it will — if we do our duty.
And so, my fellow Americans, let us run the race
that is before us with patience and determination, with
mercy and charity. With our dreams and labor, let us
build our bridge to the 21st Century ~ wide enough and
strong enough to carry all Americans across, especially
those in generations to come whose faces we will never
see.
Let is be said of us that we led our beloved land
into a new century with the American Dream alive for
all of her children. With the American promise of
citizenship a reality for all of her people. With
America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout
the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and
12
�begin the work of a new one, may God guide those who
would build — "strengthen our hands for the good work
ahead" — and, always, may God bless our America.
13
�Draft 1/15/97 7:00PM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20, 1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to this office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, and chart our course to the future.
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, we enjoy the blessings of peace and
prosperity. Yet, though we are free of war and depression and social unrest, this, too, is no
ordinary time. For we stand on the threshold not only of a new century in a new millennium, but
of an Age of Possibility. If we do our duty, more people at home and throughout the world will
have the chance to live out their dreams than ever before.
But first, we must do our duty. [Right now, this paragraph does not do enough to
emphasize a central point of the speech: This is a moment of rare opportunity and responsibility
for us as a country; if we do not seize it, the consequences will be borne not necessarily by us,
but by generations to come. (Then go to: "For in our hands, ...promise of America")] We must
be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and different. But they
do not ask too much of us. for we are Americans. Let us meet them with a happy and grateful
heart. For in our hands, together, rests the eternal promise of America. [Ifyou make this change,
some of these sentences could be moved to the end of the address.]
In the 18th Century, America was bom under the bold conviction that all of us are created
equal, endowed by God with inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. In the 19th
Century, our nation spread across the continent, preserved our union and abolished the scourge of
slavery. Then we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and triumph, to make this the
American century.
What a century it has been. America became the world's greatest industrial power, won
two world wars against tyranny, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions
to advance peace and prosperity for the world, and time and again, reached out a helping hand to
millions in every part of the globe who longed for the blessings of liberty we take for granted.
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
1
�poverty; provided health care and nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
environment and public health; provided public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities; brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts; explored the heavens; advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities,
and extended the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Thirty-four years ago, the towering spirit whose life we celebrate today spoke to us on
this very mall in words that moved the conscience of the nation. He told of his dream ~ deeply
rooted in the American dream ~ "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
Too soon thereafter, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for that dream so that his fellow
Americans might live it.
His story is the story of America, the story of the constant dream-driven striving to live
out our true creed. Our future has ever been built on such dreams and labors. Dreams and labors
made this hundred years the American century. And it is out of dreams and labors that we will
build our bridge to the 21 st century.
Already, we can see the fine lines of that new century - dramatically changing the way
we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another. Four years ago, only a handful of
physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of schoolchildren use it to explore
the vast world of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries seem within reach. In this century, we have seen the bulk of
our work shift from farm to factory to computers. Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that
have not been invented, in enterprises not yet imagined.
The world is no longer divided into two armed camps with the capacity to destroy each
other. Instead, the growing connections of commerce across borders give our world an
unprecedented chance for both peace and prosperity.
Such advances herald the dawn of the Age of Possibility. But there is a darker side to this
moment. Ancient ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Science
and technology and global interdependence can be used for evil as well as good - brandished by
rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, organized criminals who exploit the very progress and
openness we cherish to advance their dark designs.
The future will not simply unfold. It will be forged into hard steel by the choices we
make, or fail to make. And time is passing ever so quickly.
Just four years ago, our march to the future seemed less certain than today.
Then, though we gathered here in hope, we stood in the shadow of drift and division.
Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation ~ secure in
�the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with America.
Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, dynamic yet rock solid, that can
center can hold and propel forward on our historic mission.
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensable nation. For the first time
in history, more citizens of the earth are living under democracy than dictatorship. The nuclear
threat has been reduced. Commerce among nations has expanded to record levels. And from the
snows of Bosnia, to the sands of the Middle East, to the cobblestone streets of Belfast, to the
sunny shores of Haiti, those who love peace and freedom look to America for inspiration and
support.
Once again, America's economy is the strongest on earth, creating more jobs in a four
year term than ever before, the smallest deficit of any major economy, and at long last, rising
incomes for working families.
Once again, we have put family and faith and community at the center of our concerns.
Our most urgent social problems, which seemed destined to deepen — crime, welfare, poverty,
inequality among working people ~ all are bending to our efforts. Families are receiving support
in their efforts to succeed at home and at work, and in raising children in a culture too often at
odds with their values.
Once again, we are moving forward toward a genuine American community, founded in
mutual respect, exalting citizen service, resisting the use of race, religion and politics to sow
hatred, divide us, and threaten our own union, even as these forces destroy the lives and hopes of
millions around the world.
Once again, we have resolved for our time the age old debate of the role of government in
our common endeavors, moving beyond the competing philosophies that threatened our progress.
Today we can declare: Government is not the problem; government is not the solution. We, the
American people, are the solution. Government's role is to give us the tools to make the most of
our own lives.
To do that, we need a new government for a new century. Where it comes to our
common challenges, Americans cannot be left on their own. Where it can stand up for the values
and interests of ordinary Americans and give them the power to make a real difference in their
everyday lives, then our government should do more, not less. Helping citizens to keep their
streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities protect the environment God gave us.
Helping parents to protect their children from harmful influences. Challenging every student
with higher standards and stiffer expectations. Opening the doors of college to all. Bringing the
benefits of science and technology. Summoning citizens to responsibility and citizen service.
Providing the conditions of growth in poor areas, and opportunity for people to move from
�welfare to work. Calling forth the best in us, and standing firm against the worst.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to you. We need a new sense of
responsibility for anew century. After our Constitution was founded, Benjamin Franklin was
asked about what had been created. He replied: "A republic -- if you can keep it."
For 200 years, Americans have kept our republic, meeting every challenge by moving
toward a more perfect union. Our troubles have come only when we denied our shortcomings, or
rested on our laurels. I am determined that we cannot rest.
You, too, have your responsibility to keep our republic in the 21st Century.
Business and community leaders must provide jobs for welfare recipients. Parents and
teachers must demand the toughest standards for our schools. Young people must stay off drugs,
stay in school, learn right from wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together
help parents bring values, discipline and hope to our children. Each and every one of us must
recognize our responsibility - not just for ourselves, but for all those around us.
We must affirm that ours are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one
community, one city - these are the challenges of one nation - and we must meet them as one
America. For in America, the challenges of one are the challenges of all.
Above all, we need a new sense of community for a new century.
We must understand that our rich texture of racial and ethnic diversity, deeply held
religious convictions, and widely different political philosophies is a Godsend for the 21st
Century world. We know of the dark impulses that lurk in the regions of the soul everywhere.
They have touched us and nearly destroyed us in our own past. They may tempt us again in our
future. And we see them in the lives of too many people around the world. We here must have
the generosity of spirit to repress those impulses, and to show the world: our differences do not
diminish us; they strengthen us for the work ahead. In a world of ever-more-open interaction
among people, our ability to live and work with people different from ourselves is a rich
resource, waiting to be tapped. Let us always remember: our nation imposes no test of creed or
religion or race. We say: if you believe in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the
Bill of Rights, you are an American.
Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As we turn to face
this new century, let us think anew and act anew for our new times.
With a new government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we can
build our bridge to the 21st Century. On the one side, we will finish the unfinished business of
this century. On the other side, we will lay the foundations for an even greater America ~
~ an America that leads the world in the next century ~ promoting peace and freedom,
4
�fighting the forces of destruction, expanding fair and open commerce. This is more than a
responsibility; it is a priceless opportunity without precedent. But if we want the benefits of
leadership, we must shoulder the burdens, and pay our way.
An America with the world's finest education, with ail our schools connected to the
Information Superhighway, the highest standards for learning in the world, and the doors of
college open to all our people.
-- An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job,
where children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility
as parents - where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
- An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
- An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can
be protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk for lack of health care or safe water, air and land.
-- An America where the miracles of science extend our lives, and the wonders of
technology fills them with knowledge and power.
-- An America where our politics respond to the national interest and not narrow interests,
where a smaller government does a better job.
- An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents
and a secure retirement for all generations to come.
- An America where we balance our budget and invest in our future.
Today, I pledge to you to use every ounce of my strength and every power of my office to
bind us together and to prepare our nation for the century ahead. Like you, I cannot do this alone.
I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The American
people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another.
Surely, they did not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and personal destmction
they plainly deplore. Now, they have asked us to honestly debate our differences, then work
together in a spirit of mutual respect. America demands and deserves big things from us.
Nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal
Bemadin, just weeks before the end of his life: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time
given to us on acrimony and division." We must not waste the precious gift of this time.
All of us are on that same journey of life, which must surely come to an end. But the
journey of America must go on. And it will - if we do our duty.
�And so, my fellow Americans, let us run the race that is before us with patience and
determination, with mercy and charity. With our dreams and labor, let us build our bridge to the
21st Century -- wide enough and strong enough to carry all Americans across, especially those in
generations to come whose faces we will never see.
Let is be said of us that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American
Dream alive for all of her children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of
her people. With America's bright flame offreedomspreading throughout the world.
And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, may God
guide those who would build ~ "strengthen our hands for the good work ahead" -- and, always,
may God bless our America.
�Draft 1/15/97 7:00PM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
U.S. CAPITOL
January 20,1997
Fellow citizens:
We gather at the last American inauguration of the 20th Century, exactly 200 years after
George Washington said farewell to this office and his fellow citizens, having launched his new
country on the Great Experiment that has brought us to this time and place.
At this moment of consecration and dedication, we come together to recall the greatness
of our past, understand the progress of our present, and chart our course to the future
By the grace of God and the labor of our people, weenjoy the blessings.of ^eace and
prosperity. Yet, though we are free of war and depressionjand social unrcstrthis, too^is no ,
ordinary time. rFo? we stand on the threshold not only of a new centuryfin a new millenni-um, but
> of an Age or Possibility. I f we do our duty, more people at home and throughout the world will
\have the chance to live out their dreams than ever before.
x
-
r
But'first^e nmst do om^Sixty.f^r07t nowrtlfis p^pagrapfydoes nof^cfo enough to
emphasize a^entral-^oint ofvxe spjetm: Thiols a mopient ofodre oppjomtnitypnarespj -ibilityitsthe con. juence, 'will become noynecessftmy by.m,
forps as avountf^y; if we do
vut by generations to come.
CptomisejSLAmerica")! -Wc must
to: "Fpj^in.mK..mn,ds,.
3ng,-forthoro ia much^to dflr&^The demands of our time are great and different. But they /
^do not ask too much of us, for we are Americans. Let us meet them with a happy and gratefuL/
leart. For in our hands, together, rests the eternal promise of AmericanT/j'OH make this change,
some
tflhese^rtrekegrmuld'be-mouedJaJM^
In the 18th Century, America was bom under the bold conviction that all of us are created
equal, endowed^ b^God with inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. In the 19th
Century, our^a^ei^spread across the continent, pj^pp/pH nnr nnini ?n^ahr.iioVipri the scourge of
slavery. Then we exploded onto the world stage, in turmoil and triumpfeTo make this the
American century.
»
y(/hat a century it has been. America became the world's greatest industrial power, won
two world v^a^ against tyranny, waged a long cold war to defeat communism, built institutions
to advancl^peace ^and prosperity for the worty and time and again, reached out a helping hand t
<
millions m cvery'p^rt oftfcc^gteb^who longed for the blessings of libert^jwe-take-foE-granted}^
f
In this century, our people built the great American middle class; lifted the elderly out of
poverty; provided health care and nutrition to poor children; worked to restore and preserve our
�environment and public health; provided public education to all our children and built the
world's greatest system of universities; brought breathtaking advances in science, technology and
the arts; explored the heavens; advanced equality for African-Americans and other minorities,
and extended the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women. /''KJeM' U'tf&t-:/-'; ••/i->U"^i
__ ^
r-—r
I '-J-SV wvor? -^-t
MllL-
1
veo. JLju\^
"
••+'
Thirty-four years ago, the towering -sptn^whose life we celebrate today spoke to us on
I^IIMW^AU I this very mall in words that moved the conscience of the nation. He told of his dream - deeply
HL-l:- ^'- -^ j rooted in the American dream - "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
o (f.-^ -'
i meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.'"
,"
.
\
m
1
\
\
.'M
r'
A-». b'v*
Too soon thereafter, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life for that dream so that his fellow
Americans might live it.
i
His story is the story of America, the story of the constant dream-driven striving to live
.
.
=
H-OvM w f i ^ L X
^ ^ i|
^ ^
l
1
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L^.
/,,,,, i ; . :
f-.- •
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(M'
l
.
Vj ^ o u r m o e j ^ e d / O t t F - f t r t ^ ^
and labors
made this hundred years the j'Vmohcan century. And it is out of dreams and labors that we will
madelhis
Amol-ican centuryf
build our bridge to the 21 st century.
Already, we can see the fine lines of that new century - dramatically changing the way
we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another. Four years ago, only a handful of
physicists had heard of the World Wide Web. Today, millions of schoolchildren use it to explore
the vast^wofl^ of knowledge. Scientists are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for
cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries seem within reach. In this century, we have seen the bulk of
our work shift from farm to factory to computers. Tomorrow, our children will work in jobs that
have not been invented, in enterprises not yet imagined.
-\ -
The world is no longer divided into two armed camps with the capacity to destroy each
other. Instead^the growing oonnoottons of cornmcroc ac\oss buiders give oui world anunprecedented chance for both peace and prosperity.
MPSuch advances herald the dawn of the Age of Possibility. But there is a darker side to this
moment. Ancient ethnic and religious hatreds take on new and dangerous dimensions. Science
and technology and global interdependence can be used for evil as well as good ~ brandished by
rogue states, terrorists, drug traffickers, organized criminals who exploit the very progress and
openness we cherish to advance their dark designs.
^
V>M^ '
.L^w \
L-x\u (...> ^
^
(
The future will not simply unfold. -It will he forged into hajAiStee^by4he-€feoiees-we
-maker©Hiaii-te-make. And time is passing ever so quickly.
Just four years ago, our march to the future seemed less certain them today.
Then, though we gathered here in hope, we stood in the shadow of drift and division.
Together, we vowed to change our course, to force the spring, to renew our nation ~ secure in
the knowledge that what was wrong with America could be cured by what is right with America.
�Since that day, with the stands we have taken, the battles we have waged, and the
progress we have built, we have begun together to renew America. Where once the ground
seemed to shift beneath our feet, we have found a new center, dynamic yet rock solid, that can
(^eftter-eanfhold and propef^forward on our historic mission.
..
Once again, America stands strong as the world's indispensablenationj^orthe first tjm^.
f"
in histoi^more ckiz^
4&e-fl«eiear J
^ " ^ T r g j ^ fi^ been^cdfeccd^Commerce among nations^hagjexpanded to record l e v e l s . / ^ ^ f i m tfie
"^nows of Bosnia, to the sands of The Middle East, to the cobblestone st'reetsof Belfast, to the
sunny shores of Haiti, those who love peace and freedom look to America for inspiration and
support.
Once again, America's economy is the strongest on earth, creating more jobs in a four
year term than ever before, the smallest deficit of any major economy, and at long last, rising
incomes for working families.
odds-with-their-valuesT^'"
Once again, we are moving forward toward a genuine American community, founded in
mutual respect, exalting citizen service, resisting the use of race, religion and politics to sow
hatred, divide us, and threaten our own union, even as these forces destroy the lives and hopes of
millions around the world.
Once again, we have resolved for our time the age old debate of the role of govemmeny n
our common endeavors, moving beyond the competing philosophies that threatened our progress.
Today we ^r9ect3Ee: Government is not the problem; government is not the solution. We, the
American people, are the solution. Government's role is to give us the tools to make the most of
our own lives.
To deihi^t, we need a new government for a new century. Wherf it comes to our
common challenges, Americans cannot be left on their own. Where it can stand up for the values
and interests of ordinary Americans and give them the power to make a rcafdiffcrencc in their
everyday-Hvef, then our government should do more, not less. Helping citizens^keep their
streets safe from gangs and drugs. Helping communities protect the environment God gave us.
Helping parents J^fprotectJhei^children from harmful influences. Challenging every^tu^nt
with higher standards and ^tiffe^expectations. Opening the doors of college to all. Bnngmffihe
benefits of science and technology. Summoning citizens to responsibility and/sitizei^service.
Providing the conditions of growth in poor areas, and opportunity for people to move from
welfare to work. Calling forth the best in us, and standing firm against the worst.
i
\
�u
/
^Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future_isi_ P to youJWe need a new sens^of J
rresponsibility for anew centuryLAfter our Constitution was founded, Benjamin Franklin was
asked^abou^what had been created. He replied: "A republic ~ if you can keep it." j
("' For 200 years, Americans have kept our republic, meeting every challenge by moving
toward a more perfect union. Our troubles have come only when we defied our shortcomings, or
rested on our laurels. I am determined that we carmot-resfce_ T^IAJ, yt^db**, m ^/SV rc,f.
—Yourtoor^ave-yeur-fesponsibtlity to keep our-republie m-the-^ist-GenturyT-^Business and community leaders must provide jobs for welfare recipients. Parents and
teachers must demand the toughest standards for our schools. Young people must stay off drugs,
stay in school, learn right from wrong. Families, neighbors, communities, must band together V
help parents bring values, discipline and hope to our children. Each and every one of us must
recognize our responsibility - not just for ourselves, but for all those around us.
1
1
Mi
We must affirm that ours are not the challenges of one family, one neighborhood, one
community, one city — these are the challenges of one nation — and we must meet them as one
\ America. For in America, the challengQG of one arc the ohallenges-of-all.—•Q
Above all, we need a new sense of community for a new century.^)
We must understand
Iztsf religious convictions, and
Centun^wW^We
know of
^
They have touched us^n^nekrlyTtestroye^ us in our own past. They may temptus again in our
future. And we see them in the lives of too many people around the world. We^lgemust have
the generosity of spirit to repress those impulses, and to show the world: our differences do not
diminish us; they strengthen us for the work ahead. In a world of ever-more-open interaction
among people, our ability to live and work with people different from ourselves is a^ielj_ ^tlM^v, <y
-resouFGe^ waiting to be tapped. (Tet us always remember: our nation imposes no test of creed or
religion or race. We say: if you believe in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the
Bill of Rights, you are an AmericanfJ f (Ao
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Lincoln said, as our case is new, we must think anew, and act anew. As we turn to face
this new century, let us think^ane^and act anew for our ney/ times.
With a new government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we can
build our bridge to the 21st Century. On the one side, we will finish the unfinished business of
this century. On the other side, we will lay the foundations for an even greater America ~ V_
- an America that leads the world in the next century - promoting peace and freedom,
fighting the forces of destruction, expanding fair and open commerce. This is more than a
responsibility; it is a priceless opportunity witS^S^pr^eder^. But if we want the benefits of
�leadership, we must shoulder the burdens, and pay our-way^
~ An America with the world's finest education, with all our schools connected to the
Information Superhighway, the highest standards for learning in the world, and the doors of
college open to all our people.
~ An America where anyone struggling to move from welfare to work can find a job,
where children aren't bom to children, and where all parents live up to their sacred responsibility
as parents ~ where the problems of the underclass have become a thing of the past.
~ An America where familiar faces patrol our streets, criminals cannot buy guns, people
walk safely around the block at night, and send their children safely off to school each morning.
~ An America where parents have the chance to succeed at home and work, children can
be protected from dangerous influences like tobacco ads and television violence, and no child's
health is ever put at risk for lack of health care or safe water, air and land.
~ An America where the miracles of science extend our lives, and the wonders of
technology fills them with knowledge and power.
- An America where our politics respond to the national interest and not narrow interests,
where a smaller government does a better job.
- An America where we have kept our obligations to provide health care to our parents
and a secure retirement for all generations to come.
- An America where we balance our budget and invest in our future.
Today, I pledge to you to use every ounce of my strength and every power of my office to
bind us together and to prepare our nation for the century ahead. k i l ^ - y S ^ I cannot do this alone.
I ask the Members of Congress, on this platform beside me, to join in that pledge. The American
people, with eyes open, returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another.
Surely, they did not <fo tfu^ to advance the politics of petty bickering and personal destmction
they plainly deplore. Now, they have asked us to honestly debate our differences, then work
together in a spirit of mutual respect. America demands and deserves big things from us.
Nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal
Bemadin, just weeks before the end of his life: "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time
given to us on acrimony and division." We must not waste the precioijs gift of £his time.
All of us are on that same journey of life, which must surely come to an end. But the
journey of America must go on. And it will - if we do our duty.
And so, my fellow Americans, let us run the race that is before us with patience and
determination, with mercy and charity. With our dreams and labor, let us build our bridge to the
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Let is be said of us that we led our belovedlan^ into a new century with the American
Dream alive for all of hJ^ children. With the American promise of citizenship a reality for all of
fe^ people. With America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout the world.
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And so, as we close the work of one century, and begin the work of a new one, may God
guide those who would build -- "strengthen our hands for the good work ahead" ~ and, always,
may God bless our America.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-1999
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Inaugural Drafts - '97 [4]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 65
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36404"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 2
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/3/2015
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg2-065-002-2015