B 3 (Inauguration Page Dreams Come True)
- 1. Dreams Can - Definitely Come, True...
Daring Challenge
in the United States of America.
“The American Dream [is] one of the greatest ideas in the history of human achievement...
It thrives today in an age when its core components of freedom and opportunity are open
to more Americans than ever before. It holds a real, identifiable place in the American
heart and mind, and it informs the aspirations of everyone from farmers to software
developers, from detectives to bankers, from soldiers to social workers... It defines us as a
people, even as we add to its meaning with each new chapter in our national experience
and our individual actions.”
- Dan Rather President Barack Obama is sworn in by US Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in Washington 20 January, 2009
(DoD photo by Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, U.S. Air ForceReleased)
First Lady Michelle Obama and President Obama wave to the crowd at the Commander in Chief’s Ball in
Washington, DC, 20 January 2009 (DoD photo by Senior Airman Kathrine McDowell, US Air Force/Released)
F or as much as government can and must do, it is ultimately the faith and
determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. Our
challenges and the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but
those values upon which our success depends: Honesty, hard work, courage,
fair play, tolerance, curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old, and
are true, and have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded is a return to these truths. They have been the quiet force
of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of
us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every
American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties
that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge
that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than
giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of
our confidence; the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain
destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed; why men and women
and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this
magnificent country. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago
might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to
take this most sacred oath.
Barack Obama
Presidential Inaugural Speech
1 Best of DC Best of DC 6
The crowd cheers as President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at the Neighborhood Ball in Washington, DC. on 20 January 2009.
More than 5,000 men and women in uniform provide ceremonial support to the Presidential Inauguration, a tradition dating back to George Washington’s 1789 iIauguration
Photography © Tom Field
(DoD photos by Tech. Sgt. Suzanne Day, U.S. Air Force/Released)