we your right hand. mr. president, and repeat after me. i george walker bush. i george walker bush. do solemnly swear. do solemnly swear.

that i will faithfully execute. i will faithfully execute. the office of president of the united states. office of. president, united states. and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve and defend. preserve, protect, defend the constitution of the united states, the constitution of the states. so help me god. so help me god. congratulations. oh. it's just.

ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct to introduce the 43rd president of the united the honorable george w bush.

vice president cheney. mr. chief justice, president carter. president bush. president clinton members of the united states congress. reverend clergy, guests, fellow citizens. on day. prescribed law and marked ceremony. we celebrate the durable wisdom our constitution and recall the commitments that unite our country. i am grateful for the honor of this hour. mindful of the cosmic times in which we live and determined to

fulfill the oath that i have sworn. and you have witnessed. at this second gathering our duties are defined not by the words i use, but by the history we have seen together together for a half a century. america defending, our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders after the shipwreck of communism came of relative quiet years of repose eight years of sabbatical, all. and then there came a day, a fire. we have seen our vulnerability and have seen its deepest source source for as long as whole regions. the world shimmer in resentment and prone ideologies that feed

hatred and excuse murder. violence will and multiply by in destructive power and cross the most borders and raise the mortal threat. there is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and exposed the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant and is the force of freedom. we are led by events and common sense to one conclusion. the survival of liberty. our land increasingly depends on

success of liberty. in lands. the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. america's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are one. from day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights and dignity and matchless value because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and earth. across the generations, we have proclaimed the imperative of because no one is fit to, be a

master and one deserves to be slave. advancing these ideals is the mission that created nation. it is the honorable achievement of our fathers. now it is urgent requirement of our nation's security and the calling of our time. so it is the policy of the united states to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in nation and culture with the ultimate goal ending tyranny in our world. this is not primarily the task of. though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary.

freedom by its nature must be chosen. and defended by citizens. and sustained by the rule of law and the protection minorities. and when the soul of a nation speaks, the institutions that arise. may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. america will not impose our own style of government on unwilling. our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way. the great objective of ending tyranny. the concentrated work of generations since the difficulty of the task is no excuse for it. america's influence is not. but fortunately for the oppressed. america's influence considerable

and will use it confidently in freedom's cause. my most solemn duty is to this nation and its people from further attacks and emerging threats. some have unwisely chosen to test america's and have found it firm. we will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler in every nation. the moral choice oppression which always wrong. and freedom which is eternally right. america will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer, their

chains or women, welcome humiliation, servitude or, that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies. we will encourage reform and other governments by making clear that success in our relations, will require the decent treatment of their own people. america's belief in human dignity will guide our policies. yet rights be more than the grudging concessions of dictators. they are secured by free dissent and. the participation of the governed in long run. there is no justice without freedom. and there can be no human without. human liberty.

some i know questioned the global of liberty, though this time in history. for decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen is an odd time for doubt. americans, of all people should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. we do not accept they of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent. liberty will to those who love it. today, america speaks anew to the of the world.

all who live in tyranny. hopelessness can no. the united states will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. when you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. democratic reformers. facing repression, prison or exile can know america sees you for who you are. the future leaders of your free country. the rulers of outlaw regimes know that we still believe, as abraham lincoln did. those who deny freedom to others it not for themselves and under the rule of a just god cannot long retain it.

the leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know to serve your people. you must to trust them. start on this journey. progress and justice. and america will at your side. and all the allies of the united states can no, we honor your friendship. we rely on your counsel and we depend on your help. division among nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. the concerted effort, free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies. defeat today. i also speak anew to fellow citizens from all of you. i have asked patience in the hard task of securing america,

which you have granted in good measure, our country has accepted that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon. yet, because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. and as hope, kindles, hope, millions more will find it by. by our efforts, we have lit a as well a fire in the minds of. it warms who feel its power. it burns those who fight progress. and one day this untamed aimed fire of freedom will reach darkest corners of our world

world. few americans have accepted the hardest duties. this cause the quiet work of intelligence diplomacy. the idealist work of helping raise up free governments the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored whole lives. and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice. all americans have witnessed this idealism and some for the first time. i ask our youngest citizens to believe evidence of your eyes. you have seen duty and allegiance in the determined of our soldiers.

you have seen. life is fragile and evil is real. and courage, triumph, ups make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself. and in your days, you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character. america has of idealism and courage. because we have essential work at home. the unfinished work of american. in a world moving toward liberty, we are determined show the meaning and promise of liberty in america. ideal of freedom, fellow citizens find, the dignity and security of economic independence. instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. this is broader definition of liberty that motivated homestead

act, the social act and, the g.i. bill of rights. and now we will this vision by reforming greatest to serve the needs our time to give every american a stake in the promise and future of our country. we will bring the standards to our schools and build an ownership. we widen the ownership of homes and businesses as retired savings and health insurance. preparing our people. the challenges of life in free society by making every an agent of his or her own destiny. we will give our fellow americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our

society more prosperous. and just an equal. in america's ideal of freedom in the public interest depends on private character, on integrity and tolerance toward others and the rule of conscience in our own lives. self relies in the end on governing of the self that of character is built in families supported by community ease with standards and sustained in our national life, by truths of sinai. the sermon on the mount. the words of the koran. and the varied faiths of our people. america can move forward in every generation by reaffirming all. that is good and true.

that came before ideals of and conduct that are the same yesterday, today and forever ever. in america's ideal of freedom. the exercise of rights is ennobled by service and mercy and a heart for the weak. liberty for all does not mean. independence from one another. our relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love americans at our value. the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have.

oh. oh. and our country must abandon all the habits of racism. because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time. from the perspective of a single day including this day of. the issues and questions before our are many from the viewpoint of centuries. the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. did our generation advance the cause of freedom and did our character bring credit to that cause? this question is a judge us also unite us because americans every party and background. americans by and by birth are

bound to one another in the cause of freedom. we have known divisions which must be healed to move forward and great purposes. and i will strive in good faith to heal them. yet divisions do not define america. we felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack and our response came like a hand over a single heart. and we can feel that same and pride when america asks for good and the victims of disaster are given hope and the unjust justice and the captives are set free.

we go forward with confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom, not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability. it is human choices that move events not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation. god moves and chooses as he wills. we have confidence. freedom is the permanent hope of mankind. the hunger and dark places. the longing of the soul. when founders declared a new order of the ages. when soldiers in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty. when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner of freedom. now they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. history has an ebb and flow of

justice, but history also a visible direction set by liberty and the author of liberty. oh oh oh. oh. oh. when the declaration of independence was first read in public and, the liberty bell was sounded in celebration when a witness said it rang as if it meant something in our time means something still, america, in this young century proclaims liberty throughout, all the world and to all inhabitants thereof, renewed in our strength, tested but not weary. we ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.

may god bless you and may he watch over the united states of america.