selves, 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 sixty
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.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INAUGURAL PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS***

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