 by Dr. Jeffrey Lant. Author's program note. Everything, absolutely everything, pertaining to a presidential inauguration is not only of immediate, obsessive interest but constitutes, we know, History... moreover History in which we can and must participate, mull, comment upon, scrutinize, analyze, and, it's our right, even excoriate, denounce and ridicule without fear of retribution. And so we watch as it all unfolds for you, for me, for each of us... What the President did while he waited to take his place in the bullet-proof limousine... what the First Lady wore and whose fashion career she made thereby... how the Vice President, the person always just a heart beat away, looked as he took the 1884 oath to uphold the Constitution that kept him next to the most important person in the world but powerless and obscure for another four years. We cannot get enough, no detail too small. And so we watch, mesmerized, by the most ordinary activities... we learn the President has a new coat and a new reason for his radiant smile... we watch as he walks briskly to the dais where the World, every friend and foe, is waiting impatiently for him... we note the dignitaries... each one a power in our fragmented, federal nation, forged by revolution. Who is here today... where do they sit and why... who is absent? It is all grist for our mill. The Great Republic does not have the brilliant pageantry of a monarchy nor would it be appropriate, for the precise traditions of our nation are simple and unadorned. Yet there is not a freedom-loving person on Earth who does not find the matter at hand moving, grand, capable of putting a lump in your throat at any moment. America stands before the world today, proud, reverent, hopeful, riven with problems of every kind, glad to have the opportunity to solve them. At this moment the sharp notes of "Hail to the Chief", written in 1812 for just one person and this moment, rain upon us all. It is our President and whatever our party affiliation and opinion we wish him Godspeed... for he is our pilot now. "My fellow citizens: Forty-five times before, most recently by me at this place four years go, each President has taken the short oath that transforms him from citizen to your servant. It is a moment of awe, humility, and for celebration of the endless possibilities which constitute our Great Republic, and for the vision and genius of our people who, day by day, make these endless possibilities constantly improved realities. God bless America! Let me share my vision of this place with you, this land of purple mountain's majesty, from sea to shining sea. My America is a place of tolerance and unstinting welcome; not merely a great nation, however significant, but bigger than this place, a concept. That here we have as our rooted objective not merely talking about pluralism but fostering it so that we create a nation whose strength is based on, drawn from every diverse strand. As such I shall urge the Congress to give first and prominent attention to creating a workable immigration policy that is at once fair, inclusive, and flexible. Franklin D. Roosevelt once reminded us that we are all immigrants. We must work together so that these immigrants become the best possible Americans, the pride of the Great Republic. Americans need work and must find their way to success amidst the vicissitudes of the ever changing global economy. This means constant, sustained, never-ending focus on jobs for Americans. Thus, as Commander-in-Chief I hereby declare war on unemployment, war on underemployment, war on dead-end jobs, jobs without future, for America must shape the future in which she'll abide... creating the jobs that future will demand. Thus, today, a day of national renewal, I will commence a new, focused attack on the many destructive, pernicious, debilitating aspects of unemployment. Our headquarters will be what in World War II was called the "situation room." It is now named after Franklin Roosevelt and here I shall work with America to the very moment when every American who wants a job has a job, for my vision of America is an employed America. It is also a nation where children are safe and not murdered, where the smiles and joys of youth are fostered, valued, treasured... because their smiles and trusting natures brighten the lives of so many, including my own. Just a few weeks ago, I went to Connecticut, to Newtown, and what I experienced there changed my attitude and my life. And so I say this to you, my fellow citizens, "Remember Newtown" and work with me to make sure the sweet laugher of our youngest is not lost forever, their innocent blood dappling the snows of New England, or anywhere else. Thus I have today instructed Vice President Biden, one of the finest public officials it has been my privilege to know and to call upon for the benefit of America, to take the chair of a national commission on this important matter. I have advised him to invite good people of different viewpoints to participate. The issue is multi-faceted, complicated, thorny and difficult. But the good people of America will solve this matter and stop its terrible manifestations. Because that's what America does... and what we owe those poor dead children, the children we failed... and must never fail again. Now I wish to speak to you about health, because life without health is a cruel hoax. We have, I am proud to say, made many advancements towards total national fitness. It is my pride that some of the most important of these were made on my watch. This is good, but America, citadel of the healing arts, can do better, must do better. Thus, I have called upon Bill Gates, a man of vision, kindness, and determination to head a multi-national commission on the eradication of disease, one disease at a time. Such an effort must link government resources and those of generous private donors, individual and corporate. America is admirably suited to lead this initiative... and to lead it now. Since we are able, so must we do. Similarly, it is time to erase the pirates, marauders and e-highwaymen, the people who have turned one of history's greatest devices, the Internet, into a mine field where the legitimate and necessary interests of individuals, businesses and government are attacked and destroyed by a handful of criminals and malcontents. This scourge must be stopped and stopped at once. Officials from my administration have been instructed at once to eradicate cyber-crime and free the world from the depredations of the destructive few and so advance universal amity and communication; a future where the entire globe and every person benefits from this epochal advance of massive utility. Utility, too, must be brought to our foreign policy and diplomatic endeavors. I intend to remind the people of our troubled planet that we have not forgotten our roots, our heritage, the great ideas of democratic governance conceived here, developed here, perfected here, still living here. We are a government of the people, by the people, for the people. This is our heritage, our creed, and our undying example. No foe whoever he is, wherever he may be should forget this and no friend must ever call upon us in need, only to discover that this is nothing more than empty words. And so I have requested outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to take up a new role in her historic career; to transform American diplomacy so that America's mission, America's message, and America's heart are known to every person everywhere. This lady who has forged new pathways for women has now agreed to assist me forge new pathways for world peace, for only in peace is security. One more lady and her crusade must be cited, my rock and loving friend Michelle, always First Lady of my heart. Michelle has been a tireless supporter of American arts, literature, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, and historic preservation. Too often our national support for these essential cultural features has been paltry, derisory, an afterthought. But no longer. A Great Republic requires thoughtful, sustained, and broad-based support for the arts, all the arts. We have waited too long to provide such support. If not now, when? If not us, who? Every great nation glories in its arts and its masters. It is time for our Great Republic to do so. It will be said that such a national agenda, with so many demanding, intractable problems, is too ambitious for a "lame duck" President. That second terms, however massively bestowed by our citizens, are often futile and bereft of meaningful successes and worthy endeavors. Perhaps. But we, improving everywhere, must not let such improving end at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where more than anywhere else vibrant change and unceasing betterment must be the order of the day, every day. Thus, I give you one last reform: the end of Presidential libraries as we have known them. Presently such libraries, monuments to men more than the great and high office itself, commence with President Herbert Hoover and end with President George Bush. It is now time to rethink this matter through the creation of a soaring institution featuring the Presidency, the Congress, and the Supreme Court of these United States, our three co-equal branches of government, too little known by our people, young and old. Such an institution, set in the midst of our great Capital, made awe-inspiring and thrilling by our unparalleled interactive technology would put the focus where it truly belongs... on the people and what we have, with God's help, wrought through days of duress and triumph. sacrifice and unified purpose. Now we must begin for there is much to do. Just steps from this place of our assembling, Abraham Lincoln said, "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history... No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us." Thus, I invite you to be an active participant in the greatest odyssey of your life, a voyage each generation must take all over again with determination, commitment and joy... the epic task of reinventing our Great Republic and the nation and people on whom God shed his grace and infinite love. Hallelujah!" |
