雖然我們的挑戰是可畏的，但我們的力量也是可畏的。以下本站小編整理的克林頓兩屆就職演講稿，供大家參考，希望大家能夠有所收穫!
克林頓首任就職演講稿（中英文）：
My fellow citizens :
Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.
This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring. A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.
When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless. Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.
On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America. And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.
Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.
Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world's strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.
When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.
Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is now universal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.
Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.
This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.
We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.
Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people. We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.
From our revolution, the Civil War, to the Great Depression to the civil rights movement, our people have always mustered the determination to construct from these crises the pillars of our history.
Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundations of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time. Well, my fellow citizens, this is our time. Let us embrace it.
Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.
And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift; a new season of American renewal has begun. To renew America, we must be bold. We must do what no generation has had to do before. We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt. And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for every opportunity. It will not be easy; it will require sacrifice. But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake. We must provide for our nation the way a family provides for its children.
Our Founders saw themselves in the light of posterity. We can do no less. Anyone who has ever watched a child's eyes wander into sleep knows what posterity is. Posterity is the world to come; the world for whom we hold our ideals, from whom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom we bear sacred responsibility. We must do what America does best: offer more opportunity to all and demand responsibility from all.
It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing, from our government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our communities and our country. To renew America, we must revitalize our democracy.
This beautiful capital, like every capital since the dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and sweat sends us here and pays our way.
Americans deserve better, and in this city today, there are people who want to do better. And so I say to all of us here, let us resolve to reform our politics, so that power and privilege no longer shout down the voice of the people. Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America. Let us resolve to make our government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called "bold, persistent experimentation," a government for our tomorrows, not our yesterdays. Let us give this capital back to the people to whom it belongs.
To renew America, we must meet challenges abroad as well at home. There is no longer division between what is foreign and what is domestic; the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race; they affect us all.
Today, as an old order passes, the new world is more free but less stable. Communism's collapse has called forth old animosities and new dangers. Clearly America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make.
While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world. Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us.
When our vital interests are challenged, or the will and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act; with peaceful diplomacy when ever possible, with force when necessary. The brave Americans serving our nation today in the Persian Gulf, in Somalia, and wherever else they stand are testament to our resolve.
But our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced, and we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America's cause.
The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today. You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes in historic numbers. And you have changed the face of Congress, the presidency and the political process itself. Yes, you, my fellow Americans have forced the spring. Now, we must do the work the season demands.
To that work I now turn, with all the authority of my office. I ask the Congress to join with me. But no president, no Congress, no government, can undertake this mission alone. My fellow Americans, you, too, must play your part in our renewal. I challenge a new generation of young Americans to a season of service; to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, keeping company with those in need, reconnecting our torn communities. There is so much to be done; enough indeed for millions of others who are still young in spirit to give of themselves in service, too.
In serving, we recognize a simple but powerful truth, we need each other. And we must care for one another. Today, we do more than celebrate America; we rededicate ourselves to the very idea of America.
An idea born in revolution and renewed through two centuries of challenge. An idea tempered by the knowledge that, but for fate we, the fortunate and the unfortunate, might have been each other. An idea ennobled by the faith that our nation can summon from its myriad diversity the deepest measure of unity. An idea infused with the conviction that America's long heroic journey must go forever upward.
And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done. The scripture says, "And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not."
From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our way, and with God's help, we must answer the call.
Thank you, and God bless you all.
譯文
同胞們:
今天，我們慶祝振興美國這件令人感到異常驚奇的事。
儘管這個儀式在隆冬舉行，但是，我們所説的話，我們向全世界所顯示的面貌，將促使春天的早日來臨。春天重新降臨到這個世界上最古老的民主國家，它給我們帶來了重新塑造美國的構想和勇氣。
當我們的締造者們大膽地向全世界宣佈美國的獨立，向上帝宣佈我們的目的時，他們知道，美國要長久地存在下去，就必須改革。我們不是為改革而改革，而是為了保持美國的理想——生活、自由和追求幸福。雖然我們伴隨着時代的樂曲前進，我們的使命卻是永恆的。每一代美國人都必須明確作為一個美國人意味着什麼。
我的前任布什總統為美國服務了半個世紀，在此，我代表我們的國家向他致以崇高的敬意。
我還要向千百萬人民表示感謝，他們以堅定的信念和犧牲戰勝了經濟蕭條、法西斯主義。今天，在冷戰的陰影下成長起來的一代人在世界上已肩負起新的責任。這個世界雖然沐浴在自由的陽光下，但仍然面臨着舊的仇恨和新的災禍的威脅。
我們在無與倫比的繁榮中成長，繼承了一個仍然是世界上最強大經濟，但是，商業失敗、工資停滯、不平等加劇，以及我們自己的人民四分五裂，削弱了這個經濟。
當喬治華盛頓第一次發出我剛才宣誓信守的誓言時，消息緩慢地通過騎馬傳遍大陸和乘船漂洋過海。而今，這個儀式的情景和聲音可以立即向全世界數十億人廣播。
通訊和商業是全球性的，投資是流動性的，技術幾乎是神祕的，而要求改善生活的強烈願望是全世界人民共同的。今天，我們美國人是和全世界人民在和平競爭中謀求我們的生計。
各種根深蒂固和強大的勢力正在動搖和重新塑造我們的世界。我們時代迫切需要解決的問題是，我們能否使改革成為我們的朋友，而不是我們的敵人。
儘管這個新的世界已經使千百萬能夠在其中競爭並取勝的美國人富裕起來了，但是，在大多數人更加拼命地工作而收入卻在減少的時候，在還有人根本找不到工作的時候，在衞生保健費用使許多人傾家蕩產、使大大小小的企業行將倒閉的時候，在恐懼犯罪而使奉公守法的公民喪失自由的時候，在千百萬貧困兒童甚至難以想象我們正召喚他們去過的那種生活的時候，我們卻還沒有使改革成為我們的朋友。
我們知道，我們必須正視嚴酷的現實並且採取有力的措施，但是，我們沒有這樣做。相反，我們所奉行的是放任自流的政策，這種政策已經削弱了我們的力量，破壞了我們的經濟，動搖了我們的信心。
雖然我們的挑戰是可畏的，但我們的力量也是可畏的。美國人民從來就是一個不甘寂寞、勇於探索和充滿希望的人民。我們必須使我們今天的任務體現我們前人的遠見和意志。
從美國革命到南北戰爭，到大蕭條，到民權運動，我們的人民總是下定決心，從這些危機中擺脱出來去建立我們歷史的支柱。
托馬斯傑斐遜認為，要保持我們國家的基礎，我們就需要不時地進行改革。同胞們，這是我們的時代，讓我們去擁抱它。
我們的民主制度不僅要為全世界所仰慕，還必須成為我們自我振興的發動機。美國完全有能力自己解救自己。
因此，今天我們決心結束這個僵持停頓和放任自流的時代。一個振興美國的新時代已經到來。要振興美國，我們必須有足夠的勇氣和膽量。我們必須對自己的人民——對他們的工作和對他們的未來——增加投資，同時削減我們的鉅額債務。在一個我們必須靠競爭才能獲得每個機會的世界上，我們一定要這樣做。雖然，這不是一件輕而易舉的事，它需要作出犧牲。但是，我們能夠做到，而且能夠做得很好。我們不是為了犧牲而犧牲，而是為我們自己的利益而犧牲。我們必須像一個家庭撫育它的孩子那樣撫育我們的國家。
我們的締造者們是從子孫後代的角度來審視他們自己的行為。我們也必須這樣做。任何曾經注意過孩子的雙眼朦朧進入夢鄉的人，都知道後代是什麼。後代是未來的世界。為了他們，我們滿懷理想。從他們那裏，我們借用了這塊地球，對他們，我們負有神聖的責任。我們必須盡美國之所能：向所有人提供更多的機會，要求所有人承擔更多的責任。
現在，已經到了該破除那種只望政府或別人給予，而自己不願付出的壞習慣的時候了。讓我們大家都擔負起更多的責任，不光是為我們自己和我們的家庭，而且是我們的社會和我們的國家。為振興美國，我們必須給我們的民主制度帶來新的活力。
這個美麗的首都，就像文明出現以來的所有首都一樣，往往是一個搞陰謀詭計和勾心鬥角的地方。達官貴族們玩弄權術、爭名奪利，隨時都在擔心誰進誰出、誰升誰降，忘記了那些用辛勤和汗水把我們送到這裏，併為我們承擔費用的人。
美國人應當生活得更好。今天，在這座城市裏，人們希望把事情辦得更好。所以，我要向在場的諸位説，讓我們下定決心改革我們的政治，使人民的呼聲不再被權力和特權所壓倒。讓我們拋開個人利益，這樣，我們便能感受到美國的痛苦，也看到美國的希望。讓我們下定決心，使我們的政府成為一個富蘭克林羅斯福所説的，進行“大膽而持久的實驗”的地方，即是説，成為一個着眼於未來，而不是留戀過去的政府。讓我們把這個首都還給她所屬的人民。
為了振興美國，我們必須迎接來自國內、國外的種種挑戰。在什麼是國外和什麼是國內之間已不再有明確的界線。全球經濟、全球環境、全球艾滋病危機和全球軍備競賽，這一切影響着所有的人。
今天，隨着舊秩序被打破，新的世界更加自由，但又更加不穩定。共產主義的崩潰激起了舊的仇恨和新的危險。顯然，美國必須繼續領導這個我們曾經付出巨大努力而創造的世界。
當我們致力於重建美國的時候，我們不會在這個新世界的挑戰面前退縮，也不會坐失良機。我們將同我們的朋友和盟國一道，努力確定改革和發展方向，以免被改革所吞沒。
當我們的國家利益受到挑戰，或者國際社會的意志及公德遭到蔑視的時候，我們將盡可能地通過和平外交手段去解決。必要時也可以訴諸武力。今天，在波斯灣，在索馬里，在其他地方，那些為國效力的美國勇士們都證明了我們的決心。
然而，我們最大的實力是我們的思想力量。在許多國家，美國的思想還是一種新生力量。看到這些思想為世界各國所接受，我們感到由衷的高興。我們的希望、我們的心，我們的手，同五大洲正在建設民主和自由的人民是聯在一起的。他們的事業就是美國的事業。
美國人民呼喚我們今天慶祝的變革。你們異口同聲地提高了自己的呼聲。你們以前所未有的人數參加了投票。你們改變了國會、總統以及政治進程本身的面貌。同胞們，是的，你們已經促使春天提前到來了。現在，我們必須致力於這個時期所賦予我們的任務。
為了這個任務，我將充分行使我的職權。我請求國會同我合作。但是，任何一位總統，任何一個國會，任何一屆政府，都無法獨自承擔這一使命。同胞們，你們也必須在國家的振興中發揮作用。我要求新一代美國青年按照你們的理想行動起來，幫助困難兒童，同患難者休慼與共，把我們這個四分五裂的社會重新凝為一體，為祖國貢獻你們的力量。要做的事情太多——確實足以使千百萬精神上依然年輕的其他人也投身其中。
在振興祖國的事業中，我們認識到一個簡單而強有力的真理。我們不僅彼此需要，還必須相互關心。今天，我們不只是在慶祝美國，而且是在重新獻身於美國的思想。
這種思想是一種在革命中誕生、經過兩個世紀的挑戰而獲得新生的思想。一種經受過這種認識錘鍊的思想，即我們這些幸運者和不幸者，若非因為命運的安排，可能已經變換位置。一種因為這種信念而變得崇高的思想，即相信我們的國家能夠從無數的分歧中求得最大程度的團結一致。一種充滿信心的思想，即相信美國漫長而英勇的旅程定會永遠向上。
為此，同胞們，在即將跨入21世紀的時候，讓我們重新開始，鼓起勇氣、滿懷希望、堅定信念、遵守紀律，把我們的事業進行到底。《聖經》説：“我們行善，不可喪志，只要堅持，終有收穫。”
在這個歡慶的高山之巔，我們聽到山谷裏傳來為國效力的召喚。我們聽到了號聲。我們已經換崗。現在，我們每個人都必須以自己的方式在上帝的幫助下響應這一號召。
謝謝你們。願上帝保佑大家。
克林頓二任就職演講稿(中英文)：
The Second Inaugural Address by Bill Clinton
January 20, 1997
My fellow citizens :
At this last presidential inauguration of the 20th century, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs, a moment that will define our course, and our character, for decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever young. Guided by the ancient vision of a promised land, let us set our sights upon a land of new promise.
The promise of America was born in the 18th century out of the bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our nation spread across the continent, saved the union, and abolished the awful scourge of slavery.
Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto the world stage to make this the American Century.
And what a century it has been. America became the world's mightiest industrial power; saved the world from tyranny in two world wars and a long cold war; and time and again, reached out across the globe to millions who, like us, longed for the blessings of liberty.
Along the way, Americans produced a great middle class and security in old age; built unrivaled centers of learning and opened public schools to all; split the atom and explored the heavens; invented the computer and the microchip; and deepened the wellspring of justice by making a revolution in civil rights for African Americans and all minorities, and extending the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.
Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and another time to choose. We began the 19th century with a choice, to spread our nation from coast to coast. We began the 20th century with a choice, to harness the Industrial Revolution to our values of free enterprise, conservation, and human decency. Those choices made all the difference.
At the dawn of the 21st century a free people must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.
When last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed less certain than it does today. We vowed then to set a clear course to renew our nation.
In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy, exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement. America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation. Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. Once again, we are building stronger families, thriving communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner environment. Problems that once seemed destined to deepen now bend to our efforts: our streets are safer and record numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to work.
And once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate over the role of government. Today we can declare: Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We,- the American people, we are the solution. Our founders understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.
As times change, so government must change. We need a new government for a new century - humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves; a government that is smaller, lives within its means, and does more with less. Yet where it can stand up for our values and interests in the world, and where it can give Americans the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, government should do more, not less. The preeminent mission of our new government is to give all Americans an opportunity,- not a guarantee, but a real opportunity to build better lives.
Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. Our founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty and our union depends upon responsible citizenship. And we need a new sense of responsibility for a new century. There is work to do, work that government alone cannot do: teaching children to read; hiring people off welfare rolls; coming out from behind locked doors and shuttered windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and gangs and crime; taking time out of our own lives to serve others.
Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume personal responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families, but for our neighbors and our nation. Our greatest responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of community for a new century. For any one of us to succeed, we must succeed as one America.
The challenge of our past remains the challenge of our future, will we be one nation, one people, with one common destiny, or not? Will we all come together, or come apart?
The divide of race has been America's constant curse. And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense of religious or political conviction are no different. These forces have nearly destroyed our nation in the past. They plague us still. They fuel the fanaticism of terror. And they torment the lives of millions in fractured nations all around the world.
These obsessions cripple both those who hate and, of course, those who are hated, robbing both of what they might become. We cannot, we will not, succumb to the dark impulses that lurk in the far regions of the soul everywhere. We shall overcome them. And we shall replace them with the generous spirit of a people who feel at home with one another.
Our rich texture of racial, religious and political diversity will be a Godsend in the 21st century. Great rewards will come to those who can live together, learn together, work together, forge new ties that bind together.
As this new era approaches we can already see its broad outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of physicists; today, it is a commonplace encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren. Scientists now are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for our most feared illnesses seem close at hand.
The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps. Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once were our adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of people the world over. And for the very first time in all of history, more people on this planet live under democracy than dictatorship.
My fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but even to surpass the achievements of the 20th century in America and to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its legacy? To that question, every American here and every American in our land today must answer a resounding "Yes."
This is the heart of our task. With a new vision of government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we will sustain America's journey. The promise we sought in a new land we will find again in a land of new promise.
In this new land, education will be every citizen's most prized possession. Our schools will have the highest standards in the world, igniting the spark of possibility in the eyes of every girl and every boy. And the doors of higher education will be open to all. The knowledge and power of the Information Age will be within reach not just of the few, but of every classroom, every library, every child. Parents and children will have time not only to work, but to read and play together. And the plans they make at their kitchen table will be those of a better home, a better job, the certain chance to go to college.
Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our children, because no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs anymore. Everyone who can work, will work, with today's permanent under class part of tomorrow's growing middle class. New miracles of medicine at last will reach not only those who can claim care now, but the children and hardworking families too long denied.
We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong defense against terror and destruction. Our children will sleep free from the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Ports and airports, farms and factories will thrive with trade and innovation and ideas. And the world's greatest democracy will lead a whole world of democracies.
Our land of new promise will be a nation that meets its obligations, a nation that balances its budget, but never loses the balance of its values. A nation where our grandparents have secure retirement and health care, and their grandchildren know we have made the reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for their time. A nation that fortifies the world's most productive economy even as it protects the great natural bounty of our water, air, and majestic land.
And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so that the voice of the people will always speak louder than the din of narrow interests, regaining the participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.
Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward toward realizing the full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity and power, yes, they are important, and we must maintain them. But let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King's dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.
To that effort I pledge all my strength and every power of my office. I ask the members of Congress here to join in that pledge. The American people returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another. Surely, they did not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and extreme partisanship they plainly deplore. No, they call on us instead to be repairers of the breach, and to move on with America's mission.
America demands and deserves big things from us,- and nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin, when facing the end of his own life. He said, "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time, on acrimony and division."
Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of this time. For all of us are on that same journey of our lives, and our journey, too, will come to an end. But the journey of our America must go on.
And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and they are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with patience and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let us build our bridge. A bridge wide enough and strong enough for every American to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.
May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American Dream alive for all her children; with the American promise of a more perfect union a reality for all her people; with America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all the world.
From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good work ahead, and always, always bless our America.
【中文譯文】：
同胞們：
藉此二十世紀最後一屆總統就職演説之際,讓我們睜開眼睛迎接下一世紀我們將面臨的挑戰.所幸的是,時間和機遇不僅將我們置身於一個新世紀的邊緣,一個新的千周年,而且將我們置身於人類事業一個嶄新新的、光輝的邊緣——一個決定我們未來數十年方向和地位的時刻.我們必須使我們古老的民主永葆青春.在“希望之鄉”這一古老憧憬的指引下,讓我們着眼於新的“希望之鄉”.
美國的希望源於十八世紀一種無畏的信念：人生來皆平等.在十九世紀,我們的國家橫跨大陸,拯救了聯邦,廢除了恐怖的奴隸制的蹂躪.
這一信念得以流傳和擴展.然後,在辛勞和勝利之中,這種希望奔上了世界的舞台,使本世紀成為美國的世紀.
這是怎樣的一個世紀啊.美國成為世界上最強大的工業大國,它把世界從兩次世界大戰和曠日持久的冷戰的暴虐中拯救出來,並且一再向全球上百萬像我們一樣渴望自由賜福的人們伸出援助之手.
在這一進程中,美國產生 了龐大的中產階級和老年人保險制度,建立了無與倫比的學習中心,並對全民開放公立學校,分裂了原子且探索了太空,發明了計算機和微芯片,通過發起一場非裔美國人和少數民族的民權革命,及擴大婦女的公民權利,就業機會和人身尊嚴,而深掘了正義之泉.
現在,也是第三次,一個新世紀來到我們面前,這又是一個選擇的時候,我們進入十九世紀時有一個選擇,使得我們國家從一個海岸擴展到另一個海岸,我們進入二十世紀時又有一個選擇,使得工業革命能符合我們的價值觀,即自由經營,水土保持,和恪守人類正義,這些選擇使得一切迥然不同.
在二十一世紀曙光來臨之際,一個自由的民族必須做出選擇,去打造信息時代和全球一體化的力量.去釋放全民無盡的潛能,並且,去成就一個更完美的聯邦國家.
上次我們在此相聚時,我們向這個新未來的進軍似乎沒有今天這麼明確,我們那時曾宣誓 確立新的道路,復興我們的國家.
在這四年中,我們感到悲劇帶來的觸動,挑戰帶來的興奮,成就帶來的增強,美國作為世界不可缺少的國家巍然挺立,再一次,我們的經濟是世界上最強大的經濟,再一次,我們建設着更牢固的家庭,繁榮的社區,更好的教育機會,更清潔的環境,曾經似乎註定要惡化的問題現在也屈服於我們 的努力,我們的街道更安全,我們的同胞有創記錄的人數已從福利走向工作.
再一次,我們解決了當前關於政府角色問題的巨大爭論.今天我們可以宣告：政府不是問題的產生者,政府也不是問題的解決者,我們-美國人民-我們才是問題的解決者,我們的締造者深深地瞭解這一點,他們給予我們的民主強壯的足以持續幾個世紀.柔韌地足以在每一新的日子裏迎接我們共同的挑戰並推進我們共同的夢想.
同胞們,讓我們建設這樣的美國,一個永遠前進,以充分發揮全民潛力的國家.是的,我們必須保持繁榮強大.但是,我們不能忘記：我們已取得的偉大成就,我們將取得的偉大的成就,就在人民心中.到最後,整個世界的財富和千支軍隊都無法與人類精神力量和精神文明相匹敵.
三十四年前,有一個人,他的一生為我們今天所歌頌,他就在那邊,在廣場的另一端對我們演講,他的話打動了國民的良知.像是一個古時的預言家,他訴説着他的夢想：有一天美國終會站起來,在法律面前和人們心中所有公民都將得到平等對待.馬丁·路德·金的夢是美國之夢.他的要求就是我們的要求,即不斷努力實現我們生活信條.我們的歷史就建立在這樣的夢想和努力上.通過我們的夢想和努力,我們重贖二十一世紀美國的希望.
同胞們,我們不能浪費當前寶貴的時機.因為我們大家都在生命的同一旅途上,我們的旅途會有終點.但我們的美國之路必須走下去.
我們還看不到我們的後代的面孔,也永遠不會知道他們的名字,但是當他們談論到我們的時候,希望他們會説我們把祖國領進了新的世紀,把有活力的美國夢留給了所有的子孫
讓我們從此地之峯,從世紀之巔前進.願上帝給我們強有力的雙手,做好未來的工作——並且,永遠,永遠保佑我們美國.