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Joe Biden tuyên thệ nhậm chức Tổng thống thứ 46: "Chúng ta làm việc cho dân ... Nền dân chủ đã chiến thắng"
President Biden’s Full Inauguration Speech, Annotated
‘Democracy Has Prevailed’: Biden Calls for National Unity
President Joseph. R Biden Jr. emphasized the importance of unity in his first speech as president of the United States.
Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause — the cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. [applause] So now on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries. As we look ahead in our uniquely American way — restless, bold, optimistic — and set our sights on a nation we know we can be, and we must be. To restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity. With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward work and rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice, and we can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.
President Joseph. R Biden Jr. emphasized the importance of unity in his first speech as president of the United States.CreditCredit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
By Glenn Thrush
- Jan. 20, 2021
President Biden delivered this address on Wednesday after taking the oath of office. These are his remarks as prepared for delivery.
Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans. This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day.
Glenn Thrush, WASHINGTON Correspondent:
From his opening words, President Biden made clear this would be a sober summons to service largely stripped of the rhetorical filigree often associated with inaugural addresses. He recognized the profound damage inflicted by the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and defined his assumption of power as “democracy’s day” — to contrast his approach with President Donald J. Trump’s view of the office as an extension of his personal power.
A day of history and hope. Of renewal and resolve.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden’s commingling of “history and hope” was noteworthy — a nod to his partnership with President Barack Obama, who ran on a hope-and-change platform with Mr. Biden, an aging senator who was thought to be washed up when Mr. Obama enlisted him as his running mate in 2008. The “renewal” is a shift back to Obama-era governance.
Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge. Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded. We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile.
And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.
So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden never mentions Mr. Trump by name. But his predecessor’s legacy weighed on nearly every paragraph. Mr. Trump steadfastly refused to say he would accede to the peaceful transfer of power — and here Mr. Biden declares, curtly and defiantly, that the process has been successfully completed without his predecessor’s participation.
We look ahead in our uniquely American way — restless, bold, optimistic — and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be. I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.
As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Trump was obviously not one of the “predecessors” who was “here today.” He chose not to attend.
I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took — an oath first sworn by George Washington.
Glenn Thrush:
In using “patriot,” Mr. Biden is trying to reclaim a resonant term in American history connected with the nation’s founders that has been appropriated in recent years by the right. Mr. Trump is said to be considering the creation of a new “Patriot Party” to compete with Republicans.
But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.
On “We the People” who seek a more perfect Union. This is a great nation and we are a good people. Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.
We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility. Much to repair. Much to restore. Much to heal. Much to build. And much to gain. Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now.
A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country. It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II. Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.
A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.
Glenn Thrush:
The speech had its soaring passages but, for the most part, it was as blunt, efficient and no-frills as his campaign. Here, then, is Mr. Biden’s winning 2020 message in a distilled paragraph: Accept the magnitude of the pandemic, summon the nation to fight it, attack racial injustice (justice “deferred” evokes the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”) and renew the Obama administration’s environmental policies.
A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear, and now arise political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.
Glenn Thrush:
This section might come to be regarded as one of the speech’s most consequential passages. While Mr. Biden steers clear of using the “war” terminology employed by his predecessors, he signaled his intention — on the threshold of the building attacked by domestic insurgents — to fight white supremacy and right-wing extremism. It echoed, in a muted way, President George W. Bush’s summons in his 2005 inaugural address to confront violent Islamic extremists.
To overcome these challenges — to restore the soul and to secure the future of America — requires more than words. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity. Unity.
In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. When he put pen to paper, the president said, “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”
My whole soul is in it.
Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people. And uniting our nation. I ask every American to join me in this cause. Uniting to fight the common foes we face: Anger, resentment, hatred. Extremism, lawlessness, violence. Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.
With unity we can do great things. Important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome this deadly virus. We can reward work, rebuild the middle class and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice.
We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world. I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear and demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial. Victory is never assured.
Glenn Thrush:
The invocation of America’s soul is at the heart of nearly every major Biden speech. (He called the racist riot in Charlottesville in 2017 “a battle for the soul of this nation.”) His definition of “soul” is rhetorically elastic, but most often, as here, it comprises unity, respect for democracy and personal empathy.
Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our “better angels” have always prevailed. In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward. And, we can do so now. History, faith and reason show the way, the way of unity.
Glenn Thrush:
To move past Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden explicitly invokes more distant historical parallels to the current time. He refers to Lincoln’s invocation of the “better angels of our nature” — the 16th president’s unsuccessful plea for national unity at his first inauguration, in 1861 — but his overall message owed more to Lincoln’s second address, in 1865, when he called for the nation to heal “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.
We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature.
For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward. And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.
We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together. And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh. All of us. Let us listen to one another. Hear one another. See one another. Show respect to one another.
Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.
And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.
Glenn Thrush:
This is the section of Mr. Biden’s speech — his call for Americans to reject misinformation and embrace facts — that was expanded and fortified in the days after the Capitol riot, several of his aides said. The biggest lie, in the view of Mr. Biden, is Mr. Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen. But Mr. Biden’s advisers see the problem as one that extends well beyond Mr. Trump’s presidency, and they believe they will spend the next four years fighting conservative media and the fringe of the Republican Party that has been happy to embrace conspiracy theories.
My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. And, I believe America is better than this.
Just look around. Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance. Yet we endured and we prevailed.
Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream. Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.
Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office — Vice President Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me things can’t change.
Glenn Thrush:
On March 3, 1913 — the day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat — thousands of women, including a contingent of Black suffragists, were blocked from marching to the Capitol by a crowd of curious onlookers and male hecklers who opposed their demands for voting rights.
Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.
And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground. That did not happen. It will never happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us. To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart.
And if you still disagree, so be it. That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.
Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.
Glenn Thrush:
“Disunion” is a startling word to hear from an American president in the post-Civil War era, but its inclusion — when added to Mr. Biden’s references to Lincoln — indicates the seriousness of the threat he sees in the current discord.
And I pledge this to you: I will be a president for all Americans. I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden is picking up the mantle of Mr. Obama here. In his remarks after defeating Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden pledged “to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States” — a nearly word-for-word echo of Mr. Obama’s career-making call for bipartisanship at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love. What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans? I think I know. Opportunity. Security. Liberty. Dignity. Respect. Honor. And, yes, the truth.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden, a Catholic who attended a Mass in Washington before his inauguration, has been known to invoke his faith not only in speeches but in day-to-day planning and policy conversations with staff. This quote, from an early church philosopher, has often been used to rally people to address the needs of the poor — and is not infrequently invoked by Mr. Biden’s adviser Jon Meacham, a historian and speechwriter.
Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders — leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.
I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation. I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.
I get it.
But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do.
We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and humility.
As my mom would say just for a moment, stand in their shoes. Because here’s the thing about life. There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand, there are other days when we’re called to lend a hand.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden often seems more comfortable quoting others than coining his own phrases. In the 1988 presidential campaign, when he was accused of plagiarism, it cost him dearly. But since then, he has laced most of his speeches with carefully attributed quotes and homilies, less precisely rendered, from his family. Aphorisms from his mother, who died in 2002, have been a staple of his campaign language for years.
We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter. We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden deployed this exact phrase, “dark winter,” at his final debate against Mr. Trump to hammer his predecessor for failing to take the pandemic seriously.
And I promise you this. As the Bible says, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
We will get through this together. Together.
Look, folks, all my colleagues I serve with in the House and the Senate up here, we all understand the world is watching, watching all of us today.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden used his favorite expression — “folks” — only a couple of times in this speech, a sign of his determination to stay serious and on script.
So here’s my message to those beyond our borders. America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. And we’ll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
We’ll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security. Look, you all know, we’ve been through so much in this nation, and my first act as president I’d like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all of those we lost this past year to the pandemic. Those 400,000 fellow Americans. Moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
We’ll honor them and become the people and nation we know we can and should be. So I ask you, let’s say a silent prayer for those who have lost their lives and those left behind and for our country.
Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth. A raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis. Any one is enough to challenge us in ways. The fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we’ve had. Now we’re going to be tested.
Are we going to step up, all of us? It’s time for boldness, for there is so much to do. And this is certain. I promise you, we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. We will rise to the occasion is the question.
Will we master this rare and difficult hour? Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world to our children? I believe we must. I’m sure you do as well. I believe we will.
And when we do, we’ll write the next great chapter in the history of the United States of America, the American story, a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.
It’s called “American Anthem.”
There’s one verse that stands out, at least for me, and it goes like this.
“The work and prayers of century have brought us to this day. What shall be our legacy, what will our children say. Let me know in my heart when my days are through. America, America, I gave my best to you. Let’s add, let’s us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our great nation. If we do this, then when our days were through, our children and our children’s children will say of us, they gave their best. They did their duty. They healed a broken land.”
Glenn Thrush:
The 2007 song “American Anthem,” performed by Norah Jones and written by Gene Scheer, has become something of a Washington baby boomer staple.
My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath. Before God and all of you I give you my word. I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I will defend our democracy. I will defend America. I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities. Not of personal interest, but of the public good.
Glenn Thrush:
Mr. Biden ended much as he began, with a categorical rejection of Mr. Trump — the closest the new president gets to skirting an issue expected to dominate his earliest days in office: Mr. Trump’s pending impeachment trial in the Senate.
And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. An American story of decency and dignity. Of love and of healing. Of greatness and of goodness.
May this be the story that guides us. The story that inspires us.
The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived. That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forebears, one another, and generations to follow.
So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time. Sustained by faith. Driven by conviction. And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.
May God bless America and may God protect our troops. Thank you, America.
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Joe Biden Sworn in as the 46th President, Telling America: 'Democracy Has Prevailed'
Benjamin VanHoose
Wed, January 20, 2021, 9:13 AM·5 min read đã có từ trước
Joe Biden Sworn in as the 46th President, Telling America: 'Democracy Has Prevailed'
By Benjamin VanHoose and Diane Herbst
Updated January 13, 2021 05:12 PM
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Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States at his inauguration Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol. | Credit: Alex Wong/Getty
"Stop the shouting and lower the temperature," he said. "Without unity, there is no peace. Only bitterness and fury."
He went on: "Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war."
At one point he said: "I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days," as the camera put Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in view.
"America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge," Biden said. "Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a case: a case of democracy. The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded."
"Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed," he said.
"We come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have or more than two centuries," Biden said. "As we look ahead in our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic and set our sights on a nation we know we can be and must be."
The new president, 78, took the oath of office from the Supreme Court's chief justice, John Roberts, as is customary. His hand laid on a leather-bound, five-inch bible — held by wife Dr. Jill Biden — that has been in his family 1893, used each time he is been sworn into elected office during the course of his career.
President Biden enters the White House following a historic election that saw him garner more votes than any past candidate. Wednesday's ceremonies were unprecedented both because of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic and heightened security around the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 rioting.
Trump did not attend the inauguration, as he confirmed in a tweet prior to the event. (Since the Capitol riots, Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter.) Departing Vice President Mike Pence did, however.
While not naming Trump, during his speech Biden said to applause: "We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured," an apparent reference to the former president's voluminous false and misleading claims over the course of his administration.
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Tổng thống Joe Biden, và Đệ nhất Phu nhân Jill Biden và thân nhân trong gia đình đi bộ đến Tòa Bạch Ốc ngày 20/1/2021.
Tổng thống Biden kí hàng loạt sắc lệnh hành pháp sau khi nhậm chức
VOA 21/01/2021
Sắc lệnh đầu tiên mà ông Biden kí liên quan đến đại dịch virus corona. Ông cũng kí một sắc lệnh đưa Mỹ trở lại hiệp định khí hậu Paris.
Tổng thống Mỹ Joe Biden kí các sắc lệnh hành pháp trong Phòng Bầu dục của Nhà Trắng ở Washington, sau khi ông nhậm chức tổng thống thứ 46 của Hoa Kỳ, ngày 20 tháng 1, 2021.
Pháo hoa rực sáng bầu trời thủ đô Washington mừng tân Tổng thống Joe Biden và Phó Tổng thống Kamala Harris nhậm chức, Washington, ngày 20 tháng 1, 2021.
Ca sĩ Bruce Springsteen hát bài “Land of Hope and Dreams” khi ông đứng trình diễn một mình với đàn guitar trước Đài tưởng niệm Lincoln để mở màn nhạc hội “Celebrating America”, chương trình phát sóng đặc biệt để tôn vinh lễ nhậm chức của Tổng thống Joe Biden tối ngày thứ Tư.
Người dẫn chương trình diễn viên Tom Hanks, cũng có mặt tại Đài tưởng niệm Lincoln, giới thiệu chương trình: “Trong mấy tuần qua, trong mấy năm qua, chúng ta đã chứng kiến những chia rẽ sâu sắc và sự hiềm thù đáng lo ngại ở đất nước của chúng ta. Nhưng đêm nay chúng ta suy ngẫm về Hợp chúng quốc Hoa Kỳ.”
Hai nữ diễn viên Kerry Washington và Eva Longoria đồng dẫn chương trình. Chương trình cũng sẽ bao gồm các tiết mục trình diễn của John Legend, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, the Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake và Jon Bon Jovi.
Thư ký báo chí tòa Bạch Ốc Jen Psaki tổ chức cuộc họp báo đầu tiên trong nhiệm quyền tổng thống của Joe Biden tối ngày thứ Tư, nói rằng bà sẽ mang sự thật và sự minh bạch vào phòng họp báo của tòa Bạch Ốc
Bà cho biết ưu tiên hàng đầu của chính quyền Biden là đại dịch và cuộc khủng hoảng kinh tế đã bao trùm đất nước trong gần một năm qua.
Bà cho biết Tổng thống Biden sẽ điện đàm với Thủ tướng Canada Justin Trudeau vào ngày thứ Sáu, cuộc gọi đầu tiên với một nhà lãnh đạo nước ngoài sau khi ông Biden tuyên thệ nhậm chức.
Bà nói chủ đề của cuộc gọi sẽ là quan hệ giữa Mỹ và Canada cũng như tình trạng của đường ống dẫn dầu Keystone XL. Ông Biden đã thu hồi giấy phép hoạt động của đường ống này trong một trong những hành động đầu tiên của ông trên cương vị tổng thống.
Bà nói những cú điện đầu tiên của ông Biden với các nhà lãnh đạo nước ngoài sẽ là với các nước đồng minh, nói thêm rằng tân tổng thống có kế hoạch sửa chữa các mối quan hệ bị tổn hại dưới thời Tổng thống Donald Trump.
Tổng thống Joe Biden nhắc nhở những người được ông bổ nhiệm và nhân viên liên bang của ông rằng “chúng ta làm việc cho người dân” và kêu gọi họ hành xử “đứng đắn, trọng danh dự và sáng suốt.”
Ông Biden đọc lời tuyên thệ cho gần 1.000 người được bổ nhiệm và nhân viên liên bang trong một buổi lễ trực tuyến tại Phòng Quốc yến tại tòa Bạch Ốc tối ngày thứ Tư. Ông phát biểu trực tiếp trong khi những người được bổ nhiệm xuất hiện qua video trên hàng loạt màn hình tivi.
Ông Biden nói rằng nếu bất cứ người nào được bổ nhiệm mà đối xử thiếu tôn trọng với đồng nghiệp, ông sẽ sa thải họ “ngay tại chỗ.” Ông nói rằng tư duy này đã thiếu vắng trong tòa Bạch Ốc dưới thời Tổng thống Donald Trump.
Vị tân tổng thống cũng nói với nhóm công chức này rằng “chúng ta có vô số việc phải làm” và nói rằng kiềm chế đại dịch và tiêm ngừa vaccine COVID-19 sẽ là “công tác tổ chức hệ trọng nhất từng được thực hiện ở Mỹ.”
Ông cũng nói rằng ông “sẽ mắc lỗi” nhưng hứa trong buổi tuyên thệ ông sẽ “nhận lỗi” nếu điều đó xảy ra.
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Joe Biden’s inauguration speech: Read in full
Gino Spocchia
Thu, January 21, 2021, 3:27 AM
US president Joe Biden (AP)
Joe Biden was sworn in as the president of the United States on Wednesday, in a bright but sombre ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. The Democrat, who promised to unify America, delivered this inaugural address to the nation:
Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, speaker Pelosi, leader Schumer, leader McConnell, Vice President Pence. My distinguished guests, my fellow Americans.
This is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge. Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause, a cause of democracy. The people – the will of the people – has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded.
We've learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and, at this hour my friends, democracy has prevailed. So now on this hallowed ground where just a few days ago violence sought to shake the Capitol's very foundations, we come together as one nation under God – indivisible – to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.
As we look ahead in our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic, and set our sights on a nation we know we can be and must be, I thank my predecessors of both parties. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. And I know the resilience of our constitution and the strength, the strength of our nation, as does President Carter, who I spoke with last night, who cannot be with us today, but who we salute for his lifetime of service.
I've just taken a sacred oath each of those patriots have taken. The oath first sworn by George Washington. But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us. On we the people who seek a more perfect union. This is a great nation, we are good people. And over the centuries through storm and strife in peace and in war we've come so far. But we still have to go.
