Several different version of Barack Hussein Obama's Inaugural
Address, as transcribed. Please see our eBook #28001 for theofficial White House version of the text.
Version 1: As transcribed by a team of Project Gutenberg volunteers
The following 2445 words comprise Barack Hussein Obama's
Inaugural Presidential Address given from noon to 12:15 P.M.,
January 20, 2009.
[Capitals represent emphasis, extra commas represent pauses,long pauses are represented by ellipses (. . .).]
This was typed by a team of volunteers, as the address was given,and put through several proofreadings for accuracy.
Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
This is Michael Hart's transcription of President Obama's Inaugural Speech.
It was typed my hand on a new computer, so there may be more errors than
I would have liked if my old one hadn't died last night.
We will be combining this with other versions that will be coming in anda few references to the official version, but we will stick to what wassaid as opposed to the official script. My paragraphs will not alwaysbe the same length, punctuation not always the same, etc.
Michael S. Hart
Founder
Project Gutenberg
///
My fellow Americans, I stand before you today, humbled by the task before us,grateful for the trust bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices born by ourancestors.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation [applause pause], aswell as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout thistransition.
44 Americans have now taken the presidential oath. Words have been spokenduring rising tides of prosperity, and the still waters of peace. Yet everyso often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds, and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on, not simply because of the vision orskill of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remainedfaithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.So it has been, so it must be with THIS generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood.
Our nation is at war with a far reaching network of violence and hatred.
Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility onthe part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices, andprepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed,businesses shuttered/shattered???, our health care is too costly, our schoolsfail too many, and each day brings brings new evidence that the way we useenergy strengthens our adversaries and threatens our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics.Less measurable, but no less profound is the sapping of confidence across ourland, a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the nextgeneration must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are seriousand they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time,but know this America, THEY WILL BE MET! [applause pause]
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity ofpurpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an endto the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations, and worn outdogmas that for far too long have strangles our politics.
We remain a youn