1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:25,000 My fellow citizens, I present the distinguished Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable Warren Earl Burger, who will administer the oath of office to the President-elect. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Governor Carter, are you prepared to take the constitutional oath? 3 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:47,840 I am. 4 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:53,600 Would you place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me? 5 00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:56,700 I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear. 6 00:00:57,220 --> 00:00:59,240 I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear. 7 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,240 that I will faithfully execute 8 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,240 the office of President of the United States 9 00:01:08,060 --> 00:01:12,380 and will, to the best of my ability, 10 00:01:12,380 --> 00:01:16,800 preserve, protect, and defend 11 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,740 the Constitution of the United States. 12 00:01:21,740 --> 00:01:23,780 So help me God. 13 00:01:23,780 --> 00:01:24,960 Congratulations. 14 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:59,220 Thank you. 15 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:10,240 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. 16 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:54,040 For myself and for our nation, 17 00:02:54,040 --> 00:03:01,240 I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done 18 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:03,280 to heal our land. 19 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:48,560 In this outward and physical ceremony, we attest once again to the inner and spiritual 20 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:54,660 strength of our nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say, 21 00:03:54,660 --> 00:04:04,100 we must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. 22 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:16,400 Here before me is a Bible used in the inauguration of our first president in 1789, 23 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:26,460 and I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me just a few years ago, 24 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:45,390 opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah He has showed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee 25 00:04:45,390 --> 00:04:51,470 but to do justly, and to love mercy, 26 00:04:51,470 --> 00:04:57,430 and to walk humbly with thy God. 27 00:04:57,430 --> 00:05:03,050 This inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, 28 00:05:03,050 --> 00:05:07,110 a new dedication within our government, 29 00:05:07,110 --> 00:05:11,890 and a new spirit among us all. 30 00:05:11,890 --> 00:05:17,490 A president may sense and proclaim that new spirit, 31 00:05:17,490 --> 00:05:22,510 but only a people can provide it. 32 00:05:22,510 --> 00:05:25,850 Two centuries ago, our nation's birth 33 00:05:25,850 --> 00:05:32,450 was a milestone in the long quest for freedom. 34 00:05:32,450 --> 00:05:36,730 But the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders 35 00:05:36,730 --> 00:05:43,350 of this nation still awaits its consummation. 36 00:05:43,350 --> 00:05:48,190 I have no new dream to set forth today, 37 00:05:48,190 --> 00:05:54,570 but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream. 38 00:05:54,570 --> 00:05:58,630 Ours was the first society openly 39 00:05:58,630 --> 00:06:06,030 to define itself in terms of both spirituality and human 40 00:06:06,030 --> 00:06:07,850 liberty. 41 00:06:07,850 --> 00:06:11,490 It is that unique self-definition which 42 00:06:11,490 --> 00:06:16,030 has given us an exceptional appeal. 43 00:06:16,030 --> 00:06:22,430 But it also imposes on us a special obligation 44 00:06:22,430 --> 00:06:30,510 to take on those moral duties which, when assumed, 45 00:06:30,510 --> 00:06:35,670 seem invariably to be in our own best interest. 46 00:06:35,670 --> 00:06:40,070 You have given me a great responsibility 47 00:06:40,070 --> 00:06:48,070 to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, 48 00:06:48,070 --> 00:06:52,590 and to exemplify what you are. 49 00:06:52,590 --> 00:06:57,450 Let us create together a new national spirit of unity 50 00:06:57,450 --> 00:06:59,370 and trust. 51 00:06:59,370 --> 00:07:05,150 Your strength can compensate for my weakness, 52 00:07:05,150 --> 00:07:12,930 and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes. 53 00:07:12,930 --> 00:07:21,210 Let us learn together, and laugh together, and work together, 54 00:07:21,210 --> 00:07:26,790 and pray together, confident that in the end, 55 00:07:26,790 --> 00:07:32,190 we will triumph together in the right. 56 00:07:32,190 --> 00:07:33,490 The American dream. 57 00:07:42,930 --> 00:07:46,430 The American dream endures. 58 00:07:47,350 --> 00:07:54,350 We must once again have full faith in our country and in one another. 59 00:07:54,730 --> 00:07:58,250 I believe America can be better. 60 00:07:59,310 --> 00:08:02,850 We can be even stronger than before. 61 00:08:03,630 --> 00:08:12,130 Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our nation. 62 00:08:12,930 --> 00:08:21,330 For we know that if we despise our own government, we have no future. 63 00:08:21,770 --> 00:08:31,330 We recall in special times when we have stood briefly but magnificently united. 64 00:08:32,430 --> 00:08:36,750 In those times, no prize was beyond our grasp. 65 00:08:37,750 --> 00:08:41,690 But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. 66 00:08:41,690 --> 00:08:55,390 We cannot afford to drift. We reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality of life for any person. 67 00:08:56,410 --> 00:09:04,130 Our government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate. 68 00:09:04,130 --> 00:09:11,130 we have already found a high degree of personal liberty, 69 00:09:11,130 --> 00:09:24,140 and we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity Our commitment to human rights must be absolute 70 00:09:25,180 --> 00:09:31,080 Our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved. 71 00:09:32,140 --> 00:09:40,300 The powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced. 72 00:09:40,300 --> 00:09:48,980 we have learned that more is not necessarily better, 73 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:54,240 that even our great nation has its recognized limits 74 00:09:54,240 --> 00:10:00,500 and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems. 75 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:08,440 We cannot afford to do everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness 76 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:10,400 as we meet the future. 77 00:10:11,460 --> 00:10:17,020 So together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, 78 00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:21,540 we must simply do our best. 79 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:29,260 Our nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home. 80 00:10:29,260 --> 00:10:35,640 And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands 81 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:43,400 is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation. 82 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:50,780 To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. 83 00:10:51,720 --> 00:11:01,520 We will not behave in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home. 84 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:09,320 for we know that the trust which our nation earns is essential to our strength. 85 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:17,180 The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. 86 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,500 Peoples more numerous and more politically aware are craving 87 00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:27,740 and now demanding their place in the sun, 88 00:11:27,740 --> 00:11:33,120 not just for the benefit of their own physical condition, 89 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,840 but for basic human rights. 90 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,240 The passion for freedom is on the rise. 91 00:11:44,740 --> 00:11:45,940 Tapping this new spirit, 92 00:11:45,940 --> 00:11:52,580 there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task 93 00:11:52,580 --> 00:11:57,260 for America to undertake on this day of a new beginning 94 00:11:57,260 --> 00:12:04,660 than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane. 95 00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:13,160 We are a strong nation, and we will maintain strength so sufficient 96 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:21,160 that it need not be proven in combat, a quiet strength based... 97 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:36,660 A quiet strength based not merely on the size of an arsenal, 98 00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:40,940 but on the nobility of ideas. 99 00:12:40,940 --> 00:12:47,160 We will be ever vigilant and never vulnerable. 100 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,900 And we will fight our wars against poverty, ignorance, 101 00:12:52,900 --> 00:12:53,800 and injustice. 102 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:10,220 For those other enemies against which our forces 103 00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:17,060 can be honorably marshaled, we are a proudly idealistic 104 00:13:17,060 --> 00:13:24,300 nation, but let no one confuse our idealism with weakness. 105 00:13:24,300 --> 00:13:27,740 Because we are free, we can never 106 00:13:27,740 --> 00:13:32,900 be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. 107 00:13:41,940 --> 00:13:47,060 Our moral sense dictates a clear-cut preference. 108 00:13:47,060 --> 00:13:51,060 for those societies which share with us 109 00:13:51,060 --> 00:14:05,891 an abiding respect for individual human rights We do not seek to intimidate but it is clear that a world which others can dominate with impunity 110 00:14:05,891 --> 00:14:09,091 would be inhospitable to decency 111 00:14:09,091 --> 00:14:14,031 and a threat to the well-being of all people. 112 00:14:14,031 --> 00:14:20,891 The world is still engaged in a massive armaments race 113 00:14:20,891 --> 00:14:25,891 designed to ensure continuing equivalent strength 114 00:14:25,891 --> 00:14:28,471 among potential adversaries. 115 00:14:28,471 --> 00:14:33,511 We pledge perseverance and wisdom 116 00:14:33,511 --> 00:14:36,531 in our efforts to limit the world's armaments 117 00:14:36,531 --> 00:14:41,751 to those necessary for each nation's own domestic safety. 118 00:14:41,751 --> 00:14:47,751 And we will move this year a step toward our ultimate goal, 119 00:14:47,751 --> 00:14:52,991 the elimination of all nuclear weapons from this Earth. 120 00:15:04,471 --> 00:15:09,951 We urge all other people to join us, 121 00:15:09,951 --> 00:15:18,191 For success can mean life instead of death. 122 00:15:18,191 --> 00:15:22,291 Within us, the people of the United States, 123 00:15:22,291 --> 00:15:27,331 there is evident a serious and purposeful rekindling 124 00:15:27,331 --> 00:15:29,011 of confidence. 125 00:15:29,011 --> 00:15:33,951 And I join in the hope that when my time as your president 126 00:15:33,951 --> 00:15:39,951 has ended, people might say this about our nation. 127 00:15:39,951 --> 00:15:43,951 that we had remembered the words of Micah 128 00:15:43,951 --> 00:15:50,951 and renewed our search for humility, mercy, and justice, 129 00:15:50,951 --> 00:16:00,951 that we had torn down the barriers that separated those of different race and region and religion, 130 00:16:00,951 --> 00:16:10,051 and where there had been mistrust, built unity, with a respect for diversity, 131 00:16:11,011 --> 00:16:16,591 that we had found productive work for those able to perform it, 132 00:16:17,351 --> 00:16:23,871 that we had strengthened the American family, which is the basis of our society, 133 00:16:23,871 --> 00:16:28,531 that we had ensured respect for the law 134 00:16:28,531 --> 00:16:32,451 and equal treatment under the law 135 00:16:32,451 --> 00:16:35,431 for the weak and the powerful, 136 00:16:36,151 --> 00:16:38,351 for the rich and the poor, 137 00:16:39,091 --> 00:16:40,951 and that we had enabled our people 138 00:16:40,951 --> 00:16:45,811 to be proud of their own government once again. 139 00:16:46,811 --> 00:16:48,391 I would hope... 140 00:16:48,391 --> 00:16:49,871 applause 141 00:16:49,871 --> 00:17:02,791 I would hope that the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting peace 142 00:17:02,791 --> 00:17:15,911 based not on weapons of war, but on international policies which reflect our own most precious 143 00:17:15,911 --> 00:17:17,011 values. 144 00:17:17,011 --> 00:17:24,891 these are not just my goals, and they will not be my accomplishments, 145 00:17:24,891 --> 00:17:31,271 but the affirmation of our nation's continuing moral strength 146 00:17:31,271 --> 00:17:41,551 and our belief in an undiminished, ever-expanding American dream. 147 00:17:43,031 --> 00:17:44,571 Thank you very much. 148 00:17:47,011 --> 00:17:52,011 The President is a very fine speech. 149 00:17:52,011 --> 00:17:55,011 Very well done. 150 00:17:55,011 --> 00:17:57,011 Thank you very much. 151 00:18:17,011 --> 00:18:36,631 Thank you again.