Mindful of the gravity of this moment in history, President Barack Obama delivered an inaugural speech Tuesday that was striking not just for the soaring rhetoric we’ve come to expect, but for the measured words that conveyed the serious nature of the challenges that lay before the nation.
The president’s message was a sobering call to action that was two parts realism and one part inspiration — inspiration to find meaning in something greater than ourselves. It’s a challenge we hope the country will meet.
In taking the oath of office, Obama became our first African-American president, a remarkable milestone in this country’s history. He will live in a house built partly on the backs of slaves.
But like Obama’s candidacy, his inauguration transcended race. It was, as the president put it, about ushering in a new era of responsibility.
Obama called on Americans to join him in making our nation stronger and a better world citizen. His words were a reassuring salve for a country struggling to find its way in times of economic hardship and the uncertainty of war.
“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America,” he said.
The difficulty, of course, will be finding enough common ground to share with those who have made careers on the kind of venomous politics that define Washington.
There will be those who refuse to let go of dogma, be it for reasons of principle or political gain. But the elated and peaceful crowds who converged on the capital to witness Obama’s inauguration are illustrative of a collective desire for change that the country’s political leaders would do well to consider.
They came, more than a million of them, for reasons that likely were as individual as the people themselves. And they came in part to celebrate Obama’s barrier-breaking presidency, but also out of concern for the direction of the country.
All Americans, of course, would do well to find some common ground — a way to disagree, politically, without getting ugly — if we’re to move forward. Those who booed former President George W. Bush as he walked onto the dais Tuesday should know that unity is a two-way street.
For his part, Obama seized his historic moment to expound not only on the grave problems before us — historic job losses, stagnating economy and mounting debt — but to reject hyper-partisanship and draw, in broad strokes, the kind of America he envisions.
“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, health care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified,” he said. “Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.”
Obama also made a point of issuing a strong message about national defense to those who might be looking for a gap in the country’s armor.
“We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”
As the pageantry subsides, Obama faces a treacherous world and dire domestic circumstances. His speech Tuesday was an effort to reach out to Americans and remind them that he cannot set things right without them.
