WASHINGTON– President Barack Obama made his second, and last, inaugural address Monday.
After citizens of the United States cast their votes in an effort to “lean forward”, Obama looked back to one of the most well known speeches in American history to help guide his own address to set the tone for his next term.
The words in his speech reflected the visions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., honoring his dream of equality for every human. Obama spoke of the people who gathered “to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.”
As the president repeated the first three words of the constitution a number of times throughout his address, he followed the famous phrase with the emphasis of what it means to be part of the whole of our nation.
“We, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it … We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity … We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity … We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”
President Obama married the aspirations for progress from the past with the issues we are facing now.
“It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity—until bright young students and engineers are enlisted into our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.”
The progressive tone and affirming ambition toward change made Obama look like he was not only taking off his coat in the Oval Office, but like he was rolling up his sleeves.
Obama also touched on the subject of the “threat of climate change,” a topic he avoided since his loss in Congress on the matter during his first term. But his attitude toward the many controversial issues was turned away from partisan malice and focused on the motivation every citizen needs in order to move forward.
Even after what seemed like a discouraging first term when looking at the efforts toward bi-partisanship, Obama made it apparent to the American people that he is still a strong advocate for change.
“For now our decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that out work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.”
