Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution...

We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names...

Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time...

The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob...

We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else...

America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity
for risk, and a gift for reinvention...

For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn...

The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us...

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war...

America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad...

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still...

For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts...

For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay...

We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial...

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today...

They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope...

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time...

Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright...

Thank you, God bless you...