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President Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 20, 1981

Senator Hatfield, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens. To a few of us here today this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four-year ceremony we accept as normal is...

George Washington First Inaugural Address In the City of New York Thursday, April 30, 1789 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------   The Nation's first chief executive took his oath of office in April in New York City on the balcony of the Senate Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. General Washington had been unanimously elected President by the first electoral college, and John Adams was elected Vice President because he received the second greatest number of votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. The Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office. The Bible...

Give people a taste of freedom and they will never tolerate tyranny again. On this belief rests the fate of democracy in the Middle East. A taste of freedom was not enough to woo Iraq's once powerful Sunni Muslims into wider participation in the recent national elections. But Kurds and Shiite Muslims jumped at the chance to shape their nation's future. The world cannot afford to let this historic opportunity to grow robust democracy in the Middle East slip away. If freedom fails, the people of this troubled region will remain enslaved by fear, shut out of a globalized economy,...

In a second inaugural address tinged with evangelical zeal, George W. Bush declared: "Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world." The peoples of the world, however, do not seem to be listening. A new world order is indeed emerging - but its architecture is being drafted in Asia and Europe, at meetings to which Americans have not been invited. Consider Asean Plus Three (APT), which unites the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations with China, Japan and South Korea. This group has the potential to be the world's largest trade bloc, dwarfing the European...

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch is blasting African American columnist Les Payne for what he says were racist remarks directed at President Bush. In a letter to Newsday, Koch complained about Payne's Jan. 23 column responding to Bush' inaugural address, where the pundit wrote: "The president was barely in better voice than [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist, with his simian lips tripping workmanlike over his prose." Said Koch: "Payne described the president as having 'simian lips.' The definition of simian in Webster's Dictionary is, 'Relating to, characteristic of, or resembling an ape or monkey.' "Payne is entitled to his...

Fidel Castro says he was paying close attention during President's Bush inaugural address. And the Cuban president says what he saw was "the face of a deranged person." His comments were aired on live Cuban television as Castro spoke to thousands of teachers attending an international conference in Havana. The comments were Castro's first in public since the United States dubbed Cuba an "outpost of tyranny." Castro also said his communist-run island is a paradise that is doing fine without the help of the United States or Europe.

Last Sunday, to judge by their repeated words and stated positions, the necessity of victory is not something these leaders of the Democratic party see as a needful thing. In the moral swamp of the Reid-Kerry-Kennedys it doesn't matter if evil men and tyrannical systems win as long as America is made to lose. Sunk in the minor depravities of frustrated political ambitions, they cannot see -- they cannot allow themselves or their supporters to see -- the deep and abiding depravity of those who kidnap, execute, behead, blow-up, and otherwise destroy men, women, and children en masse in search...

It was about two years ago when I was talking to my friend Tony Blankley of the Washington Times and Fox News, and commented that someday George Bush’s greatness as a president would be compared to Ronald Reagan’s. Tony’s response floored me: “You know, Jack, someday it might be the other way around.” The trifecta of the last two weeks – the Second Inaugural Address, the elections in Iraq, the State of the Union – provide an undeniable demonstration of Tony’s prescience. Yet next December 10 in Oslo, Norway, there will be another undeniable demonstration – this one of undiluted...

 Print Copyright (c) 2005 The Daily Star   Tuesday, February 01, 2005 Bush must embrace the values of open societies By George Soros   President George W. Bush's second inaugural address set forth an ambitious vision of the role of the United States in advancing the cause of freedom worldwide, fueling worldwide speculation over the course of American foreign policy during the next four years. The ideas expressed in Bush's speech thus deserve serious consideration. "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture,"...

Most of the punditry got it right about GW’s second inaugural address: it was a monumental speech that prescribed a major shift in our foreign policy and national security posture.  Not only was it a true description of the dangerous world we live in, it also established the framework for our military operations in the years to come. Some analysts have examined the implications of the speech for our armed forces and their roles and responsibilities in ensuring freedom and promotion of democracy around the world. But they lose sight of the historical context of how this changes our strategic outlook....

Dr. Jack Wheeler, creator of a unique intelligence website dubbed "the oasis for rational conservatives," shares how a gift of vodka and a little ingenuity helped Ukraine's Orange Revolution succeed, bringing the former Russian satellite onto President Bush's list of new democracies. On his website, To the Point, Wheeler begins his column with a defense of the president's inaugural address and his call for peace through freedom, explaining the principle of "democratic pacifism." "If two countries are real democracies, the odds of them going to war against each other are small, very small," Wheeler explains. "History gives no guarantees for...

Few noticed that key portion of President's second inaugural address borrowed from Jewish liturgy, philosophy President George W. Bush's second Inaugural Address was certainly ecumenical. As he honored Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he recalled the "truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people." But the 43rd President went far beyond that. The speech used the language of the traditional Jewish liturgy to outline a breathtaking vision for the future of the world. The President and his speech writer, Michael Gerson, appear to have infused the text and tone...

SURELY some bright bulb from the Council on Foreign Relations in New York or the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton has already remarked that President Bush's inaugural address 10 days ago is the fourth corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. No? So many savants and not one peep out of the lot of them? Really?The president had barely warmed up: "There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants ... and that is the force of human freedom.... The survival of liberty in...

In his inaugural address, President Bush promised that “America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling.” His words and actions, however, indicate otherwise. According to media reports, large sectors of the Iraqi population will be excluded from the Jan. 30 elections. Iraq’s introduction to “democracy” will occur under U.S. military occupation and in a time of extreme danger and war. Democracy imposed with the threat of force is not democracy at all. It didn’t work in Puerto Rico a century ago, and it’s not going to work in Iraq this week. What’s the connection between Puerto...

In President Bush's speech, his writers showed their zeal to reach the status of "Most Remembered Historical Inauguration Speeches Ever" by a United States president. In doing this, they stole the style from the speeches of Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson. It is a pity his writers couldn't come up with original content and style that would deal with reality as we American citizens know it today. It is as though President Bush is in denial as to what is going around about him. He has said he never reads newspapers but relies on the people around...

Interesting Times: What the realists don't realize -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saul Singer, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 27, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We can be sure that there was jubilation among political prisoners all over the world as the news inevitably filtered through to them of the gauntlet thrown down to their tormentors by President George W. Bush. We know this, because we know how Natan Sharansky and his fellow inmates celebrated in the Soviet gulag when Ronald Reagan gave his "evil empire" speech. If there is panic, it is among a dominant school in Western foreign policy, the misnamed "realists." Swiftly riding to the...

In 2001, George W. Bush's hand wavered in the air as he took the oath of office, pushing against the words "so help me God." The speech that followed was humane and poetic, if uncertainly delivered; the President later admitted he had been pretty nervous. Bush's hand was rock solid last week as the oath was administered, his look calm and confident - but the speech that followed was far less accommodating than the one in 2001. It was, in fact, a fearsome statement of petulant idealism, a challenge to the nation and the world. It was a powerful and...

Sometimes, when a plain man speaks, those who are paid to analyze his words are instead mystified by them. In an elegant inaugural address last week, President Bush gave words to the deeds undertaken on the world's behalf by the United States and its military for the last hundred or so years; the spreading and defense of freedom. He spoke of our nation's founding and of the founders' assertion that all people have natural rights, chief among them that of liberty. And he spoke of the simple notion that liberty breeds peace and that this nation has not and will...

Local critics have found in President Bush's second inaugural address an excellent opportunity to remonstrate, revile, and ridicule the president. Only they've had to rewrite the speech to do it. On Friday, January 21, the day after Inauguration Day, John F. Harris published an "analysis" on the front page of the Washington Post which set the stage by citing unnamed authorities who maintained that the president had spoken in absolute and inflexible terms: "The immediate question, presidential scholars and foreign policy experts say, is … What to make of such idealistic and uncompromising language from an incumbent president? If taken...

<p>Many commentators have noted that President Bush’s Second Inaugural Address presented “lofty” themes, rather than “plans for specific action in his second term.” Some saw this as a virtue, that too little attention is paid to the long span of America’s civic life. Others saw this as over-reaching, and some objected especially to the many religious references in Bush’s speech.</p>

When you read that Jordan’s King Abdullah is taking steps to organize new elections in his country, with regional election districts that look a lot like Iraq’s, you realize just how wrong my friend Peggy Noonan is when she writes that President Bush’s inaugural speech “forgot context.” When you read the latest fatwa from the murdering terrorist Zarqawi, that it is our democratic, freedom-embracing way of life that makes us the enemy, you realize how wrong Noonan is in calling Bush’s vision of eradicating tyranny worldwide “rhetorical and emotional overreach of the most embarrassing sort.” When you recall FDR’s famous...

January 26, 2005 The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States The White House Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Bush: Congratulations on beginning your second term as President of the United States. Your leadership will continue to inspire America for another four years. Many people around the world, including the Sikh Nation, were very impressed with your Inaugural Address. We agree with you that “the survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world....

President Bush’s extraordinary inauguration speech — touched by greatness and easily the best since John F. Kennedy’s, probably better — has a mighty advantage over most of the criticism flung at it, namely that it comprehends the nature of idealism. It is the “calling of our time,” said the President, to advance the cause of liberty throughout the world, and here is how critics responded: We will be crushed by the weight of this goal, we will interfere where we shouldn’t, we will have to go to war everywhere, we will alienate allies, we will exhaust our national treasure, we...

Reports from across Iran are stating about the massive welcoming of President George W. Bush's inaugural speech and his promise of helping to bring down the last outposts of tyranny. Millions of Iranians have been reported as having stayed home, on Thursday night which is their usual Weekend and outgoing night, in order to see or hear the Presidential speech and the comments made by the Los Angeles based Iranian satellite TV and radio networks, such as, NITV or KRSI. The speech and its package of hope have been, since late yesterday night and this morning, the main topics of...

I think that the current incumbent means for us to either take a stand as a nation or else (perhaps) to fall as a nation--and it may well prove to be the latter case--but I believe it will be the former as I have faith in our people amidst adversity (more than at all other times.) More than at any time in our history, I feel our nation is sharply divided into camps that are split deeply. This is a philosophical split, not about minor points of politics or geographical differences, but issues like the value of human life, the...

New Hampshire‘It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.’ Idealism is the new realism. Or as one of my disaffected conservative neighbours summed up the Bush speech: ‘Great. We’re gonna invade every country and shove freedom down their throats, whether they want it or not.’ Or in the words of a newly popular bumper sticker on the back of Vermont granolamobiles: ‘FOUR MORE WARS!’ As for what passes for the grandees in what’s left...

I originally planned to defend President Bush's second inaugural address from the usual and increasingly bitter Democratic attacks. But with four more years of the Bush White House, there will be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I must answer the few - but pressing - conservative criticisms of Bush's truly momentous speech. In a National Review article assessing the inaugural address, conservative commentator Peter Robinson disturbingly lamented that "the speech was in almost no way that of a conservative ... It amounted to a thoroughgoing exaltation of the state." I couldn't believe my eyes, but unfortunately, some...

The new Bush doctrine — George Soros We may be wrong. This is a possibility that Bush refuses to acknowledge. His denial appeals to a significant segment of the American public. An equally significant segment is appalled. This has left the US not only deeply divided, but also at loggerheads with much of the rest of the world, which considers our policies high-handed and arbitrary President George W Bush’s second inaugural address set forth an ambitious vision of the role of the United States in advancing the cause of freedom worldwide, fuelling worldwide speculation over the course of American foreign...

Krauthammer Consulted on Inaugural, Then Praised It By Dave Astor Published: January 26, 2005 12:05 PM ET NEW YORK Liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America says columnist Charles Krauthammer praised President Bush's Jan. 20 inauguration speech on TV without disclosing his role consulting on the speech. Krauthammer's syndicate responded this morning. When Krauthammer was among a group of people invited to the White House Jan. 10, "he did not get the sense that this was an exercise in speech preparation," Alan Shearer, editorial director/general manager of the Washington Post Writers Group, told E&P. "If he had, he would very...

Is is the most un-American speech I've ever heard a chief executive give to the United States, and only one was as gruesome and off key as this and that guy is Harry Truman who's being made into a hero because he fits the imperial mode.That's just never existed in our history, that a president says 'Well, I think Im going to take over Costa Rica. There may be some terrorists down there some day. Oh, they arent there yet, but they are planning for it. And they've got bicarbonate of soda. Once you have that, you can build all...

I have been called old, jaded, a sourpuss. Far worse, I have been called French. A response is in order. You know the dispute. Last week I slammed the president's inaugural address. I was not alone, but I came down hard, early and in one of the most highly read editorial pages in America. Bill Buckley and David Frum also had critical reactions. Bill Safire on the other hand called it one of the best second inaugurals ever, and commentators from right and left (Bill Kristol, E.J. Dionne) found much to praise and ponder. (To my mind the best response...

Dwight D. Eisenhower First Inaugural Address Tuesday, January 20, 1953 My friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads: Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the executive branch of government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. Give us, we pray, the...

Observing one of the more obvious idiosyncrasies concerning President Bush one can always tell when his heart fully believes what his mouth is saying. Contrast the inauguration speech given on Thursday against his occasional press conferences and interviews, and the differences are night and day. In settings outside of a "big soulful moment," like parrying with the press corps, or even the 2004 State of the Union speech, Bush does not rise to the moment. For in those settings, it is not Bush the visionary, but rather Bush the functionary.

Celebration and ConcernWill the Bush administration remember what the president said Thursday? By William J. BennettPresident George W. Bush's inaugural address pleased and inspired me. Talk about a return to, and affirmation of, first and best principles! This exhilarating testament to freedom reminded me of why I became a member of the Republican party 20 years ago, the Democrats having then abandoned the fields of human rights and national security. And, it warmed my heart to see the long and hard-wrought toilings of old friends payoff in what sounded to me like a new theme in foreign policy: "The...

"WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE political philosopher?" a group of Republican candidates were asked early in the 2000 race for president. And the frontrunner at the time, a Texas governor named George W. Bush, calmly answered, "Christ, because he changed my life." Well. You could barely hear the other candidates' answers in the crash and clatter of overturned chairs as reporters scrambled to reach the phones and call in the story. Some commentators decided Bush was nakedly pandering to Evangelical voters in a Machiavellian ploy so bold that he should have said his favorite political philosopher was, um, Machiavelli. Most of...

WASHINGTON - President Bush [related, bio] will take new aim at tyranny across the globe in next week's State of the Union Address - bolstering his inaugural pitch that America must expand freedom and democracy abroad to stay safe at home.      ``It will be a speech that continues to talk about freedom,'' Bush said in a wide-ranging 45-minute Oval Office interview with Herald editors yesterday, one of his first such sessions since being sworn in to a second term last week. ``In order to lead, you gotta know where you are going. These two speeches will make it very clear...

President Bush's 2005 inaugural address was one of the most exhilarating ever delivered — but also one of the most disconcerting. The address was soaringly eloquent, audaciously idealistic and deeply reverent. Yet its content was so breathtakingly ambitious as to verge on hubris. The president set nothing less than this as the standard by which his tenure will be judged: "America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout the world, and to all inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength — tested, but not weary — we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." This was a...

“There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.” George W. Bush, January 20, 2005. As noteworthy as what President Bush said in this and similar passages of his remarkable second inaugural is what he did not say. In particular, he did not declare the force upon which we must increasingly depend for “the survival of liberty in our land” to be the United Nations or multilateralism or supranational government....

I happen to believe that President Bush's inaugural speech was both a very big deal and not that big of a deal at all, a classic paradox. To be sure, President Bush laid out an idealistic foreign policy vision endorsing the transforming power of democracy and liberty. To be sure, he spoke expansively -- pun intended -- of freedom: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. But these words represent no departure from...

Michael Hirsh Jan. 25 - Natan Sharansky can bestow no higher praise than to call George W. Bush an honorary “dissident.” And the Israeli cabinet minister says he is elated that the U.S. president, in his second inaugural speech last week, appeared to fully embrace Sharansky’s vision of foreign policy. “It’s clear to me that he read my book,” Sharansky, a squat cannonball of a man with a heavy Russian accent, told NEWSWEEK. “I only wish that my mentor, Andrei Sakharov, were alive to see this,” Sharansky added, referring to the Soviet nuclear scientist who risked his life and career...

Many are saying that the administration is pulling back on the president's inaugural address, in which George W. Bush declared his "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." Don't believe it. Bush may adjust his tactics, but his strategy is still to go straight ahead. Of course, much of the commentary in the usual-suspect mainstream media was hostile. Of course, the foreign reaction was even more hostile. But what took the White House by surprise was a blast from a strong supporter, Peggy Noonan. Her Wall Street Journal piece, entitled "Way Too Much God," took Bush to task for...

George W. Bush is, above all, an idealist. We saw it during his first term in his passionate advocacy of faith-based charity and in his ardent desire to reform education. This is not a leader who thinks small. Now, by inaugurating his second term with a sweeping declaration of ambition for world freedom, he has found the perfect mold into which to pour his vaulting idealism. Echoing the words from Leviticus that grace the Liberty Bell, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof," President Bush declared that those words have meaning still. "America, in this young...

I have a confession to make. I liked President Bush’s Second Inaugural Address and even found parts of it moving. It was, I thought, carefully crafted to articulate a vision of what it means to be an American and what America means to the world. The President laid out an ambitious but nonetheless plausible agenda in both the foreign and domestic arenas, one that challenges us to live up to our principles and our promises. Roughly two-thirds of the speech focused on foreign affairs, purporting to reconcile the oft-noted tension between realism and idealism in American foreign policy. "America’s vital...

An Alternative Inaugural Address From the January 24, 2005 issue: What if George W. Bush weren't a compassionate conservative . . . by P.J. O'Rourke 01/24/2005, Volume 010, Issue 18 MY FELLOW AMERICANS, I had intended to reach out to all of you and bring a divided nation together. But I changed my mind. America isn't divided by political ethos or ethnic origin. America isn't divided by region or religion. America is divided by jerks. Who wants to bring a bunch of jerks together with the rest of us? Let them stew in Berkeley, Boston, and Ann Arbor. The media...

WASHINGTON -- As happy conservatives gathered in Washington last week to celebrate the presidential re-election of one of their own, haunting questions were raised for some of them. Now that George W. Bush never will have to face the electorate again, is he sidestepping toward the middle? Is he looking more like his father and less like Ronald Reagan? The inaugural address, which evoked lavish praise from many Republicans attending the ceremonies, sounded less conservative than neo-conservative in advocating a global crusade for democracy. But it was not the speech that generated unease among some of President Bush's staunchest supporters....

Why is George Bush having to spend so much time defending a speech promoting freedom? It's amazing. Freedom is so unpopular around the world that you can't even stand up and deliver a speech extolling it's values and virtues without taking criticism from all corners. Such is the popularity of government-provided security. I ranted enough about this last Friday ... you can go to the archives for more. But, as I said, I just can't let it go. I grew up being told and actually believing that people love freedom. The biggest disappointment of my adult life may be the...

OP-ED COLUMNIST If you want to understand America, I hope you were in Washington on Thursday. I hope you heard the high ideals of President Bush's inaugural address, and also saw the stretch Hummer limos heading to the balls in the evening. I hope you heard the president talk about freedom as "the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul," and also saw the drunken, loud and privileged twentysomethings carrying each other piggyback down K Street after midnight. What you saw in Washington that day is what you see in America so often...

PEGGY NOONAN Way Too Much God Was the president's speech a case of "mission inebriation"? The inaugural address itself was startling. It left me with a bad feeling, and reluctant dislike. Rhetorically, it veered from high-class boilerplate to strong and simple sentences, but it was not pedestrian. George W. Bush's second inaugural will no doubt prove historic because it carried a punch, asserting an agenda so sweeping that an observer quipped that by the end he would not have been surprised if the president had announced we were going to colonize Mars. A short and self-conscious preamble led quickly to...

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday branded the U.S. president’s recent statements as a declaration of cultural and religious war against the world. Asefi also said that Bush’s remarks included many countries and that Bush’s own friends called it a comprehensive war against the world. “We consider such statements to be a clear example of cultural and religious war which produce only animosity toward U.S. policies throughout the world,” Asefi told reporters at his weekly press briefing. Asefi also stated that the U.S. charges against Iran are part of psychological operations which are carried out from...