SELECT YOUR VOTE

As the holiday season arrives, our thoughts on The Ticket turn to
working not quite so hard for a few days. So we are re-publishing some
of our favorite or most-read items from 2009. This item originally appeared on Jan. 20.

It is the official text of Obama's first spoken words as the 44th president of the United States, watched by millions around the world. In the subsequent 339 days, Obama's job approval has fallen father than any other freshman president in almost six decades, below the 50% level. Read these words of his from back then and see how you would grade him now nearly one-quarter of the way through his term.

Inaugural address of Barack Hussein Obama

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Washington, D.C.

My fellow citizens:

I
stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust
you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I
thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the
generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words
have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters
of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds
and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply
because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We
the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, 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, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our
economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility
on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard
choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost;
jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our healthcare ….

…
is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further
evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and
threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics.
Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across
our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and
that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to
you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are
many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know
this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On
this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long
have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in
the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better
history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed
on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are
equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full
measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our
nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be
earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for
less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who
prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and
fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of
things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in
their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards
prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time
and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till
their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw
America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater
than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is
the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful
nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this
crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services
no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our
capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of
protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions –
that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For
everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy
calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create
new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the
roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our
commerce and bind us together.

We will restore science to its rightful
place, and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality and
lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to
fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools
and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All
this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who
question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system
cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they
have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and
women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and
necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that
the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political
arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. 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, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward.

Where the answer is
no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars
will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do
our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore
the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is
the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill.
Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this
crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin
out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors
only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not
just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our
prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart
– not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common
good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice
between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with
perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of
law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of
generations.

Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give
them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and
governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the
small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend
of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of
peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall
that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with
missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it
entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows
through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our
cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility
and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by
these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand
even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding
between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people,
and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.

With old friends and
former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and
roll back the specter of a warming planet. 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.

For we
know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are
a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and
non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from
every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of
civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger
and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall
someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the
world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that
America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To
the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest
and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow
conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your
people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To
those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the
silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history;
but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To
the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make
your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved
bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy
relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to
suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources
without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change
with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we
remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very
hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something
to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington
whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are
guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of
service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than
themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a
generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For
as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith
and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.
It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the
selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a
friend lose their job, which sees us through our darkest hours. It is
the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but
also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides
our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which
we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success
depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and
curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things
are true. 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 mall, 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 a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day
with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the
year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of
patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The
capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained
with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in
doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the
people:

"Let it be told to the future world … that in the
depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive …
that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth
to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in
this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With
hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure
what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that
when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not
turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and
God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and
delivered it safely to future generations. – Barack Hussein Obama.    ###—–

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