Full Text of President George W. Bush's Inaugural Speech

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 20 -- Below is the full text of President George W. Bush's inaugural speech on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001.

President Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellowcitizens, the peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yetcommon in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditionsand make new beginnings.

As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to ournation.

(APPLAUSE)

And I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted withspirit and ended with grace.

(APPLAUSE)

I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many ofAmerica's leaders have come before me, and so many will follow.

We have a place, all of us, in a long story—a story wecontinue, but whose end we will not see. It is the story of a newworld that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of aslave-holding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of apower that went into the world to protect but not possess, to defendbut not to conquer.

It is the American story—a story of flawed and falliblepeople, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.

The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding Americanpromise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, thatno insignificant person was ever born.

Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and inour laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimesdelayed, we must follow no other course.

Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom anddemocracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind,taking root in many nations.

Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it isthe inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, atrust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, wehave a long way yet to travel.

While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise,even the justice, of our own country. The ambitions of some Americansare limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and thecircumstances of their birth. And sometimes our differences run sodeep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country.

We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. Ourunity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in everygeneration. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build asingle nation of justice and opportunity.