第一篇：杜鲁门总统就职演讲1949全稿(中英版)
杜鲁门总统就职演讲1949：四项主要的行动方针
Inaugural Address of Harry S.Truman THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1949
Mr.Vice President, Mr.Chief Justice, and fellow citizens, I accept with humility the honor, which the American people have conferred upon me.I accept it with a deep resolve to do all that I can for the welfare of this Nation and for the peace of the world.In performing the duties of my office, I need the help and prayers of every one of you.I ask for your encouragement and your support.The tasks we face are difficult, and we can accomplish them only if we work together.Each period of our national history has had its special challenges.Those that confront us now are as momentous as any in the past.Today marks the beginning not only of a new administration, but of a period that will be eventful, perhaps decisive, for us and for the world.It may be our lot to experience, and in large measure to bring about, a major turning point in the long history of the human race.The first half of this century has been marked by unprecedented and brutal attacks on the rights of man, and by the two most frightful wars in history.The supreme need of our time is for men to learn to live together in peace and harmony.The peoples of the earth face the future with grave uncertainty, composed almost equally of great hopes and great fears.In this time of doubt, they look to the United States as never before for good will, strength, and wise leadership.It is fitting, therefore, that we take this occasion to proclaim to the world the essential principles of the faith by which we live, and to declare our aims to all peoples.The American people stand firm in the faith, which has inspired this Nation from the beginning.We believe that all men have a right to equal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good.We believe that all men have the right to freedom of thought and expression.We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.From this faith we will not be moved.The American people desire, and are determined to work for, a world in which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life.Above all else, our people desire, and are determined to work for, peace on earth--a just and lasting peace--based on genuine agreement freely arrived at by equals.In the pursuit of these aims, the United States and other like-minded nations find themselves directly opposed by a regime with contrary aims and a totally different concept of life.That regime adheres to a false philosophy which purports to offer freedom, security, and greater opportunity to mankind.Misled by this philosophy, many peoples have sacrificed their liberties only to learn to their sorrow that deceit and mockery, poverty and tyranny, are their reward.That false philosophy is communism.Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and in adequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters.Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.Communism subjects the individual to arrest without lawful cause, punishment without trial, and forced labor as the chattel of the state.It decrees what information he shall receive, what art he shall produce, what leaders he shall follow, and what thoughts he shall think.Democracy maintains that government is established for the benefit of the individual, and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights of the individual and his freedom in the exercise of his abilities.Communism maintains that social wrongs can be corrected only by violence.Democracy has proved that social justice can be achieved through peaceful change.Communism holds that the world is so deeply divided into opposing classes that war is inevitable.Democracy holds that free nations can settle differences justly and maintain lasting peace.These differences between communism and democracy do not concern the United States alone.People everywhere are coming to realize that what is involved is material well-being, human dignity, and the right to believe in and worship God.I state these differences, not to draw issues of belief as such, but because the actions resulting from the Communist philosophy are athreat to the efforts of free nations to bring about world recovery and lasting peace.Since the end of hostilities, the United States has invested its substance and its energy in a great constructive effort to restore peace, stability, and freedom to the world.We have sought no territory and we have imposed our will on none.We have asked for no privileges we would not extend to others.We have constantly and vigorously supported the United Nations and related agencies as a means of applying democratic principles to international relations.We have consistently advocated and relied upon peaceful settlement of disputes among nations.We have made every effort to secure agreement on effective international control of our most powerful weapon, and we have worked steadily for the limitation and control of all armaments.We have encouraged, by precept and example, the expansion of world trade on a sound and fair basis.Almost a year ago, in company with 16 free nations of Europe, we launched the greatest cooperative economic program in history.The purpose of that unprecedented effort is to invigorate and strengthen democracy in Europe, so that the free people of that continent can resume their rightful place in the forefront of civilization and can contribute once more to the security and welfare of the world.Our efforts have brought new hope to all mankind.We have beaten back despair and defeatism.We have saved a number of countries from losing their liberty.Hundreds of millions of people all over the world now agree with us, that we need not have war--that we can have peace.The initiative is ours.We are moving on with other nations to build an even stronger structure of international order and justice.We shall have as our partners countries which, no longer solely concerned with the problem of national survival, are now working to improve the standards of living of all their people.We are ready to undertake new projects to strengthen the free world.In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize four major courses of action.First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the United Nations and related agencies, and we will continue to search for ways to strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness.We believe that the United Nations will be strengthened by the new nations what are being formed in lands now advancing toward self-government under democratic principles.Second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery.This means, first of all, that we must keep our full weight behind the European recovery program.We are confident of the success of this major venture in world recovery.We believe that our partners in this effort will achieve the status of self-supporting nations once again.In addition, we must carry out our plans for reducing the barriers to world trade and increasing its volume.Economic recovery and peace itself depend on increased world trade.Third, we will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression.We are now working out with a number of countries a joint agreement designed to strengthen the security of the North Atlantic area.Such an agreement would take the form of a collective defense arrangement within the terms of the United Nations Charter.We have already established such a defense pact for the Western Hemisphere by the treaty of Rio de Janeiro.The primary purpose of these agreements is to provide unmistakable proof of the joint determination of the free countries to resist armed attack from any quarter.Each country participating in the se arrangements must contribute all it can to the common defense.If we can make it sufficiently clear, in advance, that any armed attack affecting our national security would be met with over whelming force, the armed attack might never occur.I hope soon to send to the Senate a treaty respecting the North Atlantic security plan.In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations that will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security.Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery.Their food is inadequate.They are victims of disease.Their economic life is primitive and stagnant.Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people.The United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development of industrial and scientific techniques.The material resources that we can afford to use for the assistance of other peoples are limited.But our imponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantly growing and are inexhaustible.I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples thebenefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help the mrealize their aspirations for a better life.And, in cooperation with other nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needingdevelopment.Our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, throughtheir own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more materialsfor housing, and more mechanical power to lighten their burdens.We invite other countries to pool their technological resources inthis undertaking.Their contributions will be warmly welcomed.Thisshould be a cooperative enterprise in which all nations work togetherthrough the United Nations and its specialized agencies whereverpracticable.It must be a worldwide effort for the achievement ofpeace, plenty, and freedom.With the cooperation of business, private capital, agriculture, andlabor in this country, this program can greatly increase the industrialactivity in other nations and can raise substantially their standardsof living.Such new economic developments must be devised and controlled tobenefit the peoples of the areas in which they are established.Guarantees to the investor must be balanced by guarantees in theinterest of the people whose resources and whose labor go into thesedevelopments.The old imperialism--exploitation for foreign profit--has no place in our plans.What we envisage is a program of development based on the concepts of democratic fair dealing.All countries, including our own, will greatly benefit from a constructive program for the better use of the world's human and natural resources.Experience shows that our commerce with other countries expands as they progress industrially and economically.Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace.And the key to greater production is a wider and more vigorous application of modern scientific and technical knowledge.Only by helping the least fortunate of its members to help themselvescan the human family achieve the decent, satisfying life that is theright of all people.Democracy alone can supply the vitalizing force to stir the peoplesof the world into triumphant action, not only against their humanoppressors, but also against their ancient enemies--hunger, misery, and despair.On the basis of these four major courses of action we hope to helpcreate the conditions that will lead eventually to personal freedom andhappiness for all mankind.If we are to be successful in carrying out these policies, it isclear that we must have continued prosperity in this country and wemust keep ourselves strong.Slowly but surely we are weaving a world fabric of international security and growing prosperity.We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear--even by those who live today in fear under their own governments.We are aided by all who want relief from the lies of propaganda--who desire truth and sincerity.We are aided by all who desire self-government and a voice in deciding their own affairs.We are aided by all who long for economic security--for the security and abundance that men in free societies can enjoy.We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends.Our allies are the millions who hunger and thirst after righteousness.In due time, as our stability becomes manifest, as more and morenations come to know the benefits of democracy and to participate ingrowing abundance, I believe that those countries which now oppose uswill abandon their delusions and join with the free nations of theworld in a just settlement of international differences.Events have brought our American democracy to new influence and newresponsibilities.They will test our courage, our devotion to duty, andour concept of liberty.But I say to all men, what we have achieved in liberty, we will surpass in greater liberty.Steadfast in our faith in the Almighty, we will advance toward a world where man's freedom is secure.To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and ourfirmness of resolve.With God's help, the future of mankind will beassured in a world of justice, harmony, and peace.【中文译文】：
四项主要的行动方针
哈里-杜鲁门 就职演讲
星期四,1949年1月20日
我国历史上的各个时期都面临过特殊的挑战。我们现在面临的挑战和过去面临的任何挑战一样严重，今天不仅标志着一届新政府的起点，而且标志着一个新时期的开始。对我们来说，对整个世界来说，这个时期特是个多事之秋，也许还将是决定性的岁月。也许命运注定我们要去体验，或者在更大程度上是去促成人类漫长历史中的一个重大转折。本世纪上半叶的特点是，人权遭到史无前例的粗暴践踏，并经历了历史上最可怕的两场战争。我们这个时代最迫切的需要是学会和睦相处。
世界各国人民都怀着忐忑不安的心情面对着未来，他们既充满希望又满腹忧虑。在这疑虑的时刻，他们比以往任何时候更期待着合众国的善意、力量以及明智的领导。
因此，我们审时度势，利用这一时机向全世界宣布指导我们生活的信念的基本原则，向所有的民族宜布我们的目标。
在今后几年，我们的和平自由纲领将着重于四项主要的行动方针。
第一，我们将继续坚定不移地支持联合国及其有关机构，继续寻求各种方法来加强这些机构的权威和增加这些机构的效率。今天，不少新的国家正在成立，正在民主原则的指引下向自治方向迈进，我们相信，联合国将因这些新国家而得到加强。
第二，我们将继续执行我们制定的世界经济复兴计划。
这意味着我们必须首先全力支持欧洲复兴计划。对于世界复兴中这一重大事业的成功，我们充满了信心。我们相信，通过这项工作，我们的伙伴将再一次取得自给国家的地位。此外，我们还必须执行为减少世界贸易壁垒、增加世界贸易额而制定的计划。经济复兴与和平本身都取决于世界贸易的增加。
第三，我们要加强热爱自由的国家的力量，以抵御侵略的威胁。
我们和许多国家一起，正在为增加北大西洋地区的安全面起草一项共同协议。这种协议将根据联合国宪章的规定，采取集体防御协定的形式。
我们已经根据里约热内卢公约为西半球建立了这样一个防御同盟。
这些协议的主要目的是明确表示自由国家抵抗来自任何地方的武装进攻的共同决心。参加这些协议的每个国家必须为共同防御贡献出全部力量。
如果我们能预先充分地表明，任何影响到我们国家安全的武装进攻必将遭到强大的抵抗，那么武装进攻也许就永远不会发生。
我希望关于北大西洋安全计划的条约不久将呈送参议院。
此外，我们还将向在维护和平与安全时同我们进行合作的自由国家，提供军事顾问和军事装备。
第四，我们必须着手拟定一项大胆的新计划，使不发达地区的进步与发展能受益于我们的先进的科学和发达的工业。
全世界半数以上的人口正濒临悲惨的境地，他们食不果腹、疾患加身。他们的经济生活原始落后，滞缀不振。无论对于他们自己还是对于比较繁荣的地区来说，他们的贫困既是一种阻碍又是一种威胁。
人类有史以来第一次掌握了能解除这些人苦难的知识和技术。
合众国在工业和科学技术发展方面居各国之首。尽管我们用来援助其他国家人民的物质资源是有限的，但我们在技术知识方面的资源却是无法估量的，是不断增长和用之不竭的。
我认为，为了帮助各爱好和平民族实现他们对美好生活的愿望，我们应该使他们受惠于我们丰富的技术知识。同时，我们还应该和其他国家合作，支持对急待开发的地区进行投资。
我们的目标应该是帮助世界上各个自由民族通过他们自己的努力，生产更多的食物，更多的衣物，更多的建筑材料，以及更多的机器来减轻他们的负担。
我们吁请其他国象汇集他们的技术力量以进行这项工作。我们热烈欢迎他们作出贡献。这应该是一种合作事业，所有国家通过联合国及其专门机构在任何可行的方面为此共同工作。这必须是在世界范围内为实现和平、繁荣和自由而作出的努力。
在我国企业、私人资本、农业和劳工等方面的协作下，这一计划能够极大促进其他国家的工业活动，从实质上提高他们的生活水平。
这种新的经济发展必须加以规划和控制，从而使被开发地区的人民有所得益。在保证投资者利益的同时，必须兼顾人民的利益，因为在这些经济发展中倾注着人民的才智和劳动。
在我们的计划中，剥削他国利润的老牌帝国主义没有立足之地。我们拟定的是一个以民主的公平交易的概念为基础的发展规划。
所有国家，包括我国在内，将极大地受益于为更合理地使用世界上的人力资源和自然资源而制定的一项建设性计划。经验证明，我们同其他国家的贸易将随着这些国家在工业和经济上的发展而扩大。
提高生产是繁荣与和平的关键，而提高生产的关键是更广泛、更积极地运用现代科学技术知识。
人类大家庭只有通过帮助最不幸的成员自助，才能享受体面的、令人满意的生活，而所有人郁有权过上这样的生活。
只有民主政治才能产生生机勃勃的力量，以激励世界人民不仅为反抗人类的压迫者，而且压力反抗人类古老的敌人——饥饿、贫困、失望——而斗争。
根据这四项主要的行动方针，我们希望有助于创造各种条件，最终实现个人自由和全人类的幸福。
第二篇：总统就职演讲
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 forebearers, 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 health care 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 fainthearted--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 toward 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 health care'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 nonbelievers.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.各位同胞：
今天我站在这里，为眼前的重责大任感到谦卑，对各位的信任心怀感激，对先贤的牺牲铭记在心。我要谢谢布什总统为这个国家的服务，也感谢他在政权转移期间的宽厚和配合。四十四位美国人发表过总统就职誓言，这些誓词或是在繁荣富强及和平宁静之际发表，或是在乌云密布，时局动荡之时。在艰困的时候，美国能箕裘相继，不仅因为居高位者有能力或愿景，也因为人民持续对先人的抱负有信心，也忠於创建我国的法统。
因此，美国才能承继下来。因此，这一代美国人也必须承继下去。
现在大家都知道我们正置身危机核心，我国正在与四处蔓延的 暴力和憎恨作战。我们的经济元气大伤——这既是某些人贪婪且不负责任的後果，也是大众未能做出艰难的选择，对国家进入新时代做准备不足所致。许多人失去房 子，丢了工作，生意萧条。我们的医疗太昂贵，学校教育让人失望。每天都有更
多证据显示，我们利用能源的方式壮大我们的对敌，威胁我们的星球。
这些都是得自资料和统计数据的危机指标。比较无法测量但同样深沉的，是举国信心尽失——持续担心美国将无可避免地衰退，也害怕下一代一定会眼界变低。
今天我要告诉各位，我们面临的挑战是真的，挑战非常严重，且不在少数。它们不是可以轻易，或在短时间内解决。但是，美国要了解，这些挑战会被解决。
在这一天，我们聚在一起，因为我们选择希望而非恐惧，有意义的团结而非纷争和不合。在这一天，我们来此宣示，那些无用的抱怨和虚伪的承诺已终结，那些扭曲我们政治已久的相互指控和陈旧教条已终结。我们仍是个年轻的国家，但借用圣经的话，摆脱幼稚事物的时刻到来了，重申我们坚忍精神的时刻到来了，选择我们更好的历史，实践那种代代传承的珍贵权利，那种高贵的理念：就是上帝的应许，我们每个人都是平等的，每个人都是自由的，每个人都应该有机会追求全然的幸福。
再次肯定我们国家的伟大，我们了解伟大绝非赐予而来，必须 努力达成。我们的旅程从来就不是抄捷径或很容易就满足。这条路一直都不是给不勇敢的人走的，那些偏好逸乐胜过工作，或者只想追求名利就满足的人。恰恰相 反，走这条路的始终是勇於冒险的人，做事的人，成事的人，其中有些人很出名，但更常见的是在各自岗位上的男男女女无名英雄，在这条漫长崎岖的道路上支撑我 们，迈向繁荣与自由。
为了我们，他们携带很少的家当，远渡重洋，追寻新生活。
为了我们，他们胼手胝足，在西部安顿下来；忍受风吹雨打，筚路蓝缕。为了我们，他们奋斗不懈，在康科特和盖茨堡，诺曼地和溪山等地葬身。
前人不断的奋斗与牺牲，直到双手皮开肉绽，我们才能享有比较好的生活。他们将美国视为大於所有个人企图心总和的整体，超越出身、财富或小圈圈的差异。
这是我们今天继续前进的旅程。我们仍旧是 全球最繁荣强盛的国家。这场危机爆发时，我们的劳工生产力并未减弱。我们的心智一样创新，我们的产品和劳务和上周或上个月或去年相比，一样是必需品。我们 的能力并未减损。但是我们墨守成规、维护狭小利益、推迟引人不悦的决定，这段时期肯定已经过去。由今天开始，我们必须振作起来，拍掉身上的灰尘，再度开始重塑美国。
我们无论朝何处望去，都有工作必须完成。经济情势需要大 胆、迅速的行动，我们将有所行动，不光是创造新工作，更要奠定成长的新基础。我们将造桥铺路，为企业兴建电力网格与数位线路，将我们联系在一起。我们将让 科学回归合适的用途，运用科技的奇蹟来提高医疗品质并降低费用。我们将利用
太阳能、风力和土壤作为汽车的燃料和工厂的能源。我们将让中小学及大专院校转 型，因应新时代的需要。这些我们可以作到。我们也将会作到。
现在，有人质疑我们的雄心，暗示说我们的体系无法承受太多的大计画。这些人的记性不好。因为他们忘记了这个国家已经完成的成就，当创造力朝同一个目标发展，不受约束的男男女女可以完成何等成就，必要的是勇气。
怀疑者无法理解的是他们的主张已经站不住脚，长期以来折磨 我们的陈腐政治争议已经行不通。我们今天的问题不是政府太大或太小，而是有无功效，是否能帮助家庭找到薪水不错的工作，支付得起照顾费用，有尊严的退休。哪个方向能够提供肯定的答案，我们就往那里走。答案是否定的地方，计画就会停止。所有我们这些管理大众金钱的人都将负起责任，花钱要精明，改掉恶习，正大 光明作事情，只有这样我们才能重建政府与人民间最重要的信任。
我们眼前的问题也不是说市场的力量是善或恶。市场创造财富 和增加自由的力量无与伦比，但是这场危机提醒我们没有监督时，市场发展将失控，当市场只偏爱有钱人时，国家无法永续繁荣。我们经济成功的依据，不只是国内 生产毛额的规模，还有繁荣可及的范围，以及我们将机会拓展给每个愿意打拚的人，不是因为施舍，而是因为这就是达到我们共同利益最稳健的途径。
至於我们的共同防卫，让我们必须在自由和理想之间作一抉 择，是错误的，我们拒绝接受。我们建国诸父在我们难以想像的危难之中。拟具了确保法治和人权的宪章，被一代代以鲜血扩大充实的宪章。这些理想依然照亮这个 世界，我们不会为了便宜行事而扬弃它。同样地，今日在观看此情此景的其他民族和政府，从最宏伟的都城到家父出生的小村庄，我要说：任何一个国家、男、女、和孩童，只要你在追求一个和平且有尊严的未来，美国就是你的朋友，我们准备再次带领大家。
回想先前的世代力抗法西斯主义和communist，靠的除了飞弹和战车之外，还有强固的联盟和持久的信念。他们知道单单力量本身不足以让我们自保，也不能让我们为所欲为。相反地，他们知道我们的力量因为谨慎使用而增强，我们的安全源自我们理想的正当性，我们所树立楷模的力量，以及谦逊和克制所具有的调和特质。
我们是这些遗产的保存者。在这些原则的再次指引下，我们可以面对那些新的威胁，这些威胁有赖国与国间更 大的合作与谅解方能因应。我们将开始以负责任的方式把伊拉克还给它的人民，并在阿富汗建立赢来不易的和平。我们会努力不懈地与老朋友和昔日的对手合作，以 减轻核子威胁，和地球的暖化。我们不会为我们的生活方式而道歉，也会毫不动摇地保护它，对那些想要藉由带来恐怖与杀害无辜以遂其目的者，我们现在告诉你，我们的精神强过你们，无法摧折，你们不可能比我们长久，我们必定打败你们。
因为我们知道，我们拼凑组合而成的遗产是我们的强处，而非弱点。我们是由基督徒和穆斯林，犹太教徒和印 度教徒，以及非信徒组成的国家。我们由取自世界四面八方的各种语文和文化所形塑。而且由於我们曾尝过内战和种族隔离的苦果，并且在走出那黑暗时期之後变得 更坚强和团结，这让我们不得不相信旧日的仇恨终究会过去，部族之间的界线很快就会泯灭。随着世界越来越小，我们共通的人性也会彰显，而美国必须扮演引进新 和平时代的角色。
对穆斯林世界，我们寻求一种新的前进方式，以共同的利益和尊重为基础。那些想播植冲突并把自己社会的问 题怪罪於西方的领袖，须知你的国民藉以判断你的，是你能建立什麽，而非你能毁坏什麽。那些靠着贪腐欺骗和箝制异己保住权势的人，须知你们站在历史错误的一 边，而只要你愿意松手，我们就会伸出援助之手。
那些穷国的人民，我们保证会和你们合作，让们的农场丰收，让清流涌入，滋补饿坏的身体，喂养饥饿的心灵。而对那些和我们一样比较富裕的国家，我要说，我们不能再对国界以外的苦痛视而不见，也不能再消耗世上的资源而不计後果。因为世界已经变了，我们也要跟着改变。
在我们思索眼前道路的此际，我们以谦虚感激的心想到，有些勇敢的美国同胞正在遥远的沙漠和山岭上巡逻。今天他们有话要对我们说，就和躺在阿灵顿（公墓）的英雄们世世代代轻声诉说的一样。我们尊荣他们，不只因为他们扞卫我们的自由，更因为他们代表着服务的精 神；愿意在比自己更大的事物上找寻意义。而在此刻，能够界定一个世代的此刻，必须常驻你我心中的，正是这种精神。
即使政府能做和必须做，这个国家最终仍得靠美国人民的信念与决心。在堤防决堤时，是人们的善心，让他们 招待陌生人。是工作人员的无私，让他们宁可减工时，也不愿看到朋友失业，陪伴我们度过最黑暗时期。是消防员的勇气，让他们冲进满是浓烟的楼梯间。是父母心 甘情愿培育孩子，最终决定我们的命运。
我们的挑战也许是新的，我们迎接挑战的工具也许是新的，但我们赖以成功的价值观─辛勤工作和诚实、勇气 和公平竞争、容忍和好奇心、忠实和爱国心─这些都是固有的。这些价值是真实的，是我们历史上进步的沉默力量。我们有必要找回这些真实价值。我们现在需要一 个勇於负责的新时代，每一个美国人都体认到我们对自己、对国家、对世界负有责任，我们不是不情愿地接受这些责任，而是欣然接受，坚信没有什麽比全力以赴完 成艰难的工作，更能得到精神上的满足，更能找到自我。这是公民的代价和承诺。
这是我们信心的来源，体认上帝召唤我们创造不确定的命运。
这是我们的自由和信条的真谛，为什麽不同种族和信仰的男女老幼能在这个大草坪上共同庆祝，为什麽一个人的父亲在不到六十年前也许还不能进当地的餐厅用餐，现在却能站在你们面前做最神圣的宣誓。
让我们记住这一天，记住我们是谁、我们走了多远。在美国诞生这一年，在最寒冷的几个月，在结冰的河岸，一群爱国人士抱着垂死的同志。首都弃守，敌人进逼，雪沾了血。在那时，我们革命的成果受到质疑，我们的国父下令向人民宣读这段话：
“让这段话流传后世，在深冬，只剩下希望和美德，这个城市和这个国家，面临共同危险，站起来迎向它。”
美国，面对我们共同的危险，在这个艰困的冬天，让我们记得这些永恒的话语。怀着希望和美德，让我们再度 冲破结冰的逆流，度过接下来可能来临的暴风雪。让我们孩子的孩子继续流传下去，说我们受到考验时，我们拒绝让旅程结束，我们不回头，也不踌躇；眼睛注视着 远方，上帝的恩典降临我们，我们带着自由这个伟大的礼物，安全送达未来的世世代代。
President Bush: Thank you all.Thank you all for coming.We had a long night--(laughter)--and a great night.(Cheers, applause.)The voters turned out in record numbers and delivered an historic victory.(Cheers, applause.)Earlier today, Senator Kerry called with his congratulations.We had a really good phone call.He was very gracious.Senator Kerry waged a spirited campaign, and he and his supporters can be proud of their efforts.(Applause.)Laura and I wish Senator Kerry and Teresa and their whole family all our best wishes.America has spoken, and I'm humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens.With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans, and I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day as your president.(Cheers, applause.)There are many people to thank, and my family comes first.(Cheers, applause.)Laura is the love of my life.(Cheers, applause.)I'm glad you love her, too.(Laughter.)
I want to thank our daughters, who joined their dad for his last campaign.(Cheers, applause.)I appreciate the hard work of my sister and my brothers.I especially want to thank my parents for their loving support.(Cheers, applause.)I'm grateful to the vice president and Lynne and their daughters, who have worked so hard and been such a vital part of our team.(Cheers, applause.)The vice president serves America with wisdom and honor, and I'm proud to serve beside him.(Cheers, applause.)I want to thank my superb campaign team.I want to thank you all for your hard work.(Cheers, applause.)I was impressed every day by how hard and how skillful our team was.I want to thank Chairman Mark Racicot and--(cheers, applause)--the campaign manager Ken Mehlman--(cheers, applause)– the architect, Karl Rove.(Cheers, applause.)I want to thank Ed Gillespie for leading our party so well.(Cheers, applause.)
I want to thank the thousands of our supporters across our country.I want to thank you for your hugs on the rope lines.I want to thank you for your prayers on the rope lines.I want to thank you for your kind words on the rope lines.I want to thank you for everything you did to make the calls and to put up the signs, to talk to your neighbors, and to get out the vote.(Cheers, applause.)
And because you did the incredible work, we are celebrating today.(Cheers, applause.)There's an old saying, 'Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks.' In four historic years, America has been given great tasks and faced them with strength and courage.Our people have restored the vigor of this economy and shown resolve and patience in a new kind of war.Our military has brought justice to the enemy and honor to America.(Cheers, applause.)Our nation--our nation has defended itself and served the freedom of all mankind.I'm proud to lead such an amazing country, and I am proud to lead it forward.(Applause.)Because we have done the hard work, we are entering a season of hope.We will continue our economic progress.We will reform our outdated tax code.We will strengthen the Social Security for the next generation.We will make public schools all they can be, and we will uphold our deepest values of family and faith.We will help the emerging democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan--(cheers, applause)--so they can--so they can grow in strength and defend their freedom, and then our servicemen and-women will come home with the honor they have earned.(Cheers, applause.)With good allies at our side, we will fight this war on terror with every resource of our national power so our children can live in freedom and in peace.(Cheers, applause.)Reaching these goals will require the broad support of Americans, so today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent.To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support and I will work to earn it.I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation.We have one country, one Constitution, and one future that binds us.And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.(Cheers, applause.)Let me close with a word to the people of the state of Texas.(Cheers, applause.)We have known each other the longest, and you started me on this journey.On the open plains of Texas, I first learned the character of our country;sturdy and honest, and as hopeful as the break of day.I will always be grateful to the good people of my state.And whatever the road that lies ahead, that road will take me home.A campaign has ended, and the United States of America goes forward with confidence and faith.I see a great day coming for our country, and I am eager for the work ahead.God bless you.And may God bless America.(Cheers, applause.)
布什:
此次选民的投票率创下了历史新高，带来了历史性的胜利。今天早些时候，克里参议员打电话祝贺我竞选成功。我们在电话中谈得挺好，他非常亲切。克里参议员发起了猛烈的竞选攻势，他和他的支持者可以为此感到自豪。劳拉和我向克里、特里萨以及他们全家表示最衷心的祝愿。
美国做出了选择。对于同胞们的信任，我很感激。这种信任意味着我将承担为所有美国公民服务的义务。作为你们的总统，我每天都将竭尽全力。
我需要感谢许多人，首先是我的家人。劳拉是我一生的挚爱，我对你们也爱她感到高兴。我还要感谢在竞选后期加入竞选团的女儿，感谢兄弟姐妹们付出的努力，特别感谢严父慈母的支持。
我感谢副总统、（他的夫人）莱尼和他们的女儿。他们付出了努力，是竞选团的重要成员。副总统聪明睿智、正直高贵，我为跟他共事感到自豪。
我感谢优秀的竞选团，感谢你们所有人付出的努力。你们的勤奋和智慧每天都给我留下了深刻的印象。
我感谢全国上下成千上万名支持者，感谢你们在竞选集会上的拥抱、祈祷和亲切言语，感谢你们想方设法打出标语，呼吁邻居前去投票。
正是由于你们付出了惊人的努力，我们今天才能庆祝胜利。
俗话说，不要祈求能力所能胜任的任务，要祈求能胜任任务的能力。在四年历史性时期，美国被赋予了伟大的任务，并以实力和勇气面对这些任务。我国人民使经济活力复苏，并在新型战争中显示出决心和耐心。我军已经将敌人绳之以法，给美国带来了荣誉。我国保卫了自己，维护了全人类的自由。领导这样出色的国家，我感到自豪；带领这个国家前进，我感到自豪。
我们已经完成了艰难的任务，进入了充满希望的时期。我们将继续推动经济增长，改革落后的税法，为下一代加强社会保障。我们将尽量改善公立学校，维护在家庭和信仰方面的核心价值观。
我们将帮助伊拉克和阿富汗建立民主制度„„，以便他们增强实力和维护自由。然后，我军官兵将带着他们获得的荣誉回国。在优秀盟国的支持下，我们将动用美国的一切力量打赢这场反恐战争，确保我们的孩子们的自由与和平。
要实现这些目标，美国公民的广泛支持是必不可缺的。因此今天，我要对支持对手的所有人说，为了让美国变得更强大更美好，我需要你们的支持，我也将努力获得你们的支持，并将竭尽所能以担当得起你们的支持。
新一届任期使我有机会影响整个国家。正是同一个国家、同一部宪法和同一个未来把我们联系到了一起。当我们一起努力的时候，美国的前途无可限量。
作为结束语，请允许我向得克萨斯州人民讲几句话：我们彼此认识的时间最长，你们是我旅程的起点。在得州广阔无垠的平原上，我初次学到了美国的特点：强壮有力、真诚坦率，充满了黎明般的希望。我将永远感谢这个州的优秀人民。不管前方的路怎么样，这条路都将带我回家。
选举已经结束，美利坚合众国将充满自信地前进。我看到我们的国家正迎来伟大的日子，很期待下一周的开始。
愿上帝保佑你们，保佑美国！
“在希望中欢乐，在苦难中忍耐”
—肯尼迪总统 1961 年就职演讲词（节选）
导语： 2005 年 1 月 20 日，美国将举行隆重盛大的总统就职典礼，届时小布什将宣誓连任总统并发表演说。就职演说已成为历届总统宣誓就职典礼中的一道亮丽的风景线，其中不乏激励人心、催人奋进的精彩之作，1961年肯尼迪总统发表的就职演说就是一例。他那句最为人称道的名言“不要问国家能为你们做些什么，而是要问你们能为国家做些什么”仍回响在一代美国人的心中。
“Rejoicing in Hope, Patient in Tribulation”
— John F.Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961(Excerpts)We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change.我们今天庆祝的并不是一次政党的胜利，而是一次自由的庆典；它象征着结束，也象征着开始；它意味着更新，也意味着变革。
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered 1 by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing 2 of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.今天我们不敢忘记，我们是第一次革命的继承人。此时此地，让我们的朋友和敌人都知道，这支火炬已传交新一代的美国人，他们出生在本世纪，经历过战争的锻炼，受到过严酷而艰苦的和平的熏陶；他们为我们的古老传统而骄傲，而不愿目睹或容许人权逐步被剥夺。我国一向致力于保护人权，今天在国内和全世界我们仍将如此。
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.让每一个国家知道，不管它是祝福我们还是心存敌意，我们愿不惜一切代价，承担任何重任，忍受任何艰辛，支持任何朋友，反对任何敌人，以确保自由的生存与实现。
This much we pledge--and more.对此我们郑重承诺——而且还不止此。
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends.United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures.Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds 3 and split asunder 4.对于那些和我们拥有共同文化和精神渊源的昔日盟友，我们保证以挚友之诚相待。只要团结，我们共同的事业则无往而不利。倘若分裂，我们则无可作为，因为我们在意见分歧、各行其是的情况下，是不敢应付强大挑战的。
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny.We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view.But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.对于那些新加入自由行列的国家，我们保证，一种殖民统治形式的消失决不是为了被另一种更为残酷的暴政取而代之。我们不能指望他们会一直认同我们的观点，但我们始终希望他们能坚决维护自身的自由——不要忘记，过去那些骑在虎背上耀武扬威的人，结果反落虎口。
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required.If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.对于那些住在布满半个地球的茅舍和乡村中、奋力打破普遍贫困桎梏的人们，我们保证尽最大努力帮助其自救，不管需要多长时间——自由社会若不能帮助众多的穷人，也就不能保全少数的富人。
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf 5 all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.最后，对于那些敌对国家，我们所要提供的不是保证，而是请求：双方重新着手寻求和平，不要等到科学释放出的毁灭性力量在有意或无意中使全人类沦于自我毁灭。
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days.Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.But let us begin.凡此种种不会在最初的一百天中完成，不会在最初的一千天中完成，不会在本届政府任期中完成，甚至也不会在我们的有生之年完成。但让我们从现在开始。
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.同胞们，我们事业的最终成败，主要不是掌握在我手里，而是取决于你们手中。自建国以来，每一代美国人都曾受到召唤，宣誓效忠祖国。而应召入伍的美国军人的坟冢遍布全球。
Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation 6 ”--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.现在那号角正再度召唤我们——不是号召我们拿起武器，尽管武器是必不可少的；不是号召我们投入战斗，尽管我们正严阵以待；那是号召我们年复一年肩负起漫长黎明前的斗争重任，“在希望中欢乐，在苦难中忍耐”；这是一场对抗人类公敌——暴政、贫困、疾病以及战争本身——的斗争。
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
我们能否结成一个全球性的大联盟——其成员遍及东西南北——来对付这些敌人，来确保全人类享有更为富裕的生活 ? 你们是否愿意参与这项历史性的壮举 ? In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it.I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.在世界悠久历史中，只有少数几代人被赋予了在自由面临最大危险时捍卫自由的使命。我不会在这种责任面前临阵退缩；我欢迎它。我相信我们当中没有人会和任何其他人或一代人调换位置。我们在这场努力中所献出的精力、信念与献身精神将照亮我们的国家以及所有为国家服务的人，而这团火焰所发出的光辉必能照亮全世界。
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.所以，同胞们：不要问国家能为你们做些什么，而要问你们能为国家做些什么。
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.全世界的公民：不要问美国能为你们做些什么，而应问我们一起能为人类的自由做些什么。
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.最后，不管你是美国公民或别国公民，请用我们要求你们贡献力量与做出牺牲的同样的高标准来要求我们。我们唯一可回报的是问心无愧，让历史来最后裁决我们的行为吧，让我们一同向前，领导我们挚爱的国家，企求上帝的保佑与扶携，但我们知道，在这个世界上，上帝的任务是我们所应肩负的真正使命。
第三篇：肯尼迪总统就职演讲
今天我们庆祝的不是政党的胜利，而是自由的胜利。这象征着一个结束，也象征着一个开端；意味着延续也意味着变革。因为我已在你们和全能的上帝面前，宣读了我们的先辈在170多年前拟定的庄严誓言。
现在的世界已大不相同了。人类的巨手掌握着既能消灭人间的各种贫困，又能毁灭人间的各种生活的力量。但我们的先辈为之奋斗的那些革命信念，在世界各地仍然有着争论。这个信念就是：人的权利并非来自国家的慷慨，而是来自上帝恩赐。
今天，我们不敢忘记我们是第一次革命的继承者。让我们的朋友和敌人同样听见我此时此地的讲话：火炬已经传给新一代美国人。这一代人在本世纪诞生，在战争中受过锻炼，在艰难困苦的和丅平时期受过陶冶，他们为我国悠久的传统感到自豪－－他们不愿目睹或听任我国一向保证的、今天仍在国内外作出保证的人权渐趋毁灭。
让每个国家都知道－－不论它希望我们繁荣还是希望我们衰落－－为确保自由的存在和自由的胜利，我们将付出任何代价，承受任何负担，应付任何艰难，支持任何朋友，反抗任何敌人。
这些就是我们的保证－－而且还有更多的保证。
对那些和我们有着共同文化和精神渊源的老盟友、我们保证待以诚实朋友那样的忠诚。我们如果团结一致，就能在许多合作事业中无往不胜；我们如果分歧对立，就会一事无成－－因为我们不敢在争吵不休、四分五裂时迎接强大的挑战。
对那些我们欢迎其加入到自由丅行列中来的新国家，我们格守我们的誓言：决不让一种更为残酷的暴政来取代一种消失的殖民统治。我们并不总是指望他们会支持我们的观点。但我们始终希望看到他们坚强地维护自己的自由－－而且要记住，在历史上，凡愚蠢地狐假虎威者，终必葬身虎口。
对世界各地身居茅舍和乡村、为摆脱普遍贫困而斗争的人们，我们保证尽最大努力帮助他们自立，不管需要花多长时间－－之所以这样做，并不是因为共丅产党可能正在这样做，也不是因为我们需要他们的选票，而是因为这样做是正确的。自由社会如果不能帮助众多的穷人，也就无法挽救少数富人。
对我国南面的姐妹共和国，我们提出一项特殊的保证－－在争取进步的新同盟中，把我们善意的话变为善意的行动，帮助自由的人们和自由的政丅府摆脱贫困的枷锁。但是，这种充满希望的和丅平革命决不可以成为敌对国家的牺牲品。我们要让所有邻国都知道，我们将和他们在一起，反对在美洲任何地区进行侵略和颠覆活动。让所有其他国家都知道，本半球的人仍然想做自己家园的主人。
对联合国，主丅权国家的世界性议事机构，我们在战争手段大大超过和丅平手段的时代里最后的、最美好的希望所在，我们重申予以支持：防止它仅仅成为谩骂的场所；加强它对新生国家和弱小国家的保护；扩大它的行使法令的管束范围。
最后，对那些与我们作对的国家，我们提出一个要求而不是一项保证：在科学释放出可怕的破坏力量，把全人类卷入预谋的或意外的自我毁灭的深渊之前，让我们双方重新开始寻求和丅平。
我们不敢以怯弱来引诱他们。因为只有当我们毫无疑问地拥有足够的军备，我们才能毫无疑问地确信永远不会使用这些军备。
但是，这两个强大的国家集团都无法从目前所走的道路中得到安慰－－发展现代武器所需的费用使双方负担过重，致命的原子武器的不断扩散理所当然使双方忧心忡忡，但是，双方却争着改变那制止人类发动最后战争的不稳定的恐怖均势。
因此，让我们双方重新开始－－双方都要牢记，礼貌并不意味着怯弱，诚意永远有待于验证。让我们决不要由于畏惧而谈判。但我们决不能畏惧谈判。
让双方都来探讨使我们团结起来的问题，而不要操劳那些使我们分裂的问题。
让双方首次为军备检查和军备控制制订认真而又明确的提案，把毁灭他国的绝对力量置于所有国家的绝对控制之下。
让双方寻求利用科学的奇迹，而不是乞灵于科学造成的恐怖。让我们一起探索星球，征服沙漠，根除疾患，开发深海，并鼓励艺术和商业的发展。
让双方团结起来，在全世界各个角落倾听以赛亚的训令－－“解下轭上的索，使被欺压的得自由。”（注：《圣经·旧约全书·以塞亚书》第58章6节。）
如果合作的滩头阵地能逼退猜忌的丛林，那么就让双方共同作一次新的努力；不是建立一种新的均势，而是创造一个新的法治世界，在这个世界中，强者公正，弱者安全、和丅平将得到维护。
所有这一切不可能在今后一百天内完成，也不可能在今后一千天或者在本届政丅府任期内完成，甚至也许不可能在我们居住在这个星球上的有生之年内完成。但是，让我们开始吧。
公民们，我们方针的最终成败与其说掌握在我手中，不如说掌握在你们手中。自从合众国建立以来，每一代美国人都曾受到召唤去证明他们对国家的忠诚。响应召唤而献身的美国青年的坟墓遍及全球。
现在，号角已再次吹响－－不是召唤我们拿起武器，虽然我们需要武器；不是召唤我们去作战，虽然我们严阵以待。它召唤我们为迎接黎明而肩负起漫长斗争的重任，年复一年，从希望中得到欢乐，在磨难中保持耐性，对付人类共同的敌人－－专制、社团、疾病和战争本身。
为反对这些敌人，确保人类更为丰裕的生活，我们能够组成一个包括东西南北各方的全球大联盟吗？你们愿意参加这一历史性的努力吗？
在漫长的世界历史中，只有少数几代人在自由处于最危急的时刻被赋予保卫自由的责任。我不会推卸这一责任，我欢迎这一责任。我不相信我们中间有人想同其他人或其他时代的人交换位置。我们为这一努力所奉献的精力、信念和忠诚，将照亮我们的国家和所有为国效劳的人，而这火焰发出的光芒定能照亮全世界。
因此，美国同胞们，不要问国家能为你们做些什么，而要问你们能为国家做些什么。
全世界的公民们，不要问美国将为你们做些什么，而要问我们共同能为人类的自由做些什么。
最后，不论你们是美国公民还是其他国家的公民，你们应要求我们献出我们同样要求于你们的高度力量和牺牲。问心无愧是我们唯一可靠的奖赏，历史是我们行动的最终裁判，让我们走向前去，引导我们所热爱的国家。我们祈求上帝的福佑和帮助，但我们知道，确切地说，上帝在尘世的工作必定是我们自己的工作
第四篇：卡特总统就职演讲
1977年美国总统卡特就职演说 Inaugural Address by Jimmy Carter
(January 20, 1977)
For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land.In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation.As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”
Here before me is the Bible used in the inauguration of our first President, in 1789, and I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me a few years ago, opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”(Micah 6:8)
This inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new dedication within our Government, and a new spirit among us all.A President may sense and proclaim that new spirit, but only a people can provide it.Two centuries ago our Nation's birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom, but the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders of this Nation still awaits its consummation.I have no new dream to set forth today, but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream.Ours was the first society openly to define itself in terms of both spirituality and of human liberty.It is that unique self-definition which has given us an exceptional appeal, but it also imposes on us a special obligation, to take on those moral duties which, when assumed, seem invariably to be in our own best interests.You have given me a great responsibility--to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are.Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust.Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the right.The American dream endures.We must once again have full faith in our country and in one another.I believe America can be better.We can be even stronger than before.Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our Nation, for we know that if we despise our own government we have no future.We recall in special times when we have stood briefly, but magnificently, united.In those times no prize was beyond our grasp.But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory.We cannot afford to drift.We reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality of life for any person.Our Government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity.Our commitment to human rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved;the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.We have learned that “more” is not necessarily “better,” that even our great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems.We cannot afford to do everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future.So, together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home.And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others.We will not behave in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home, for we know that the trust which our Nation earns is essential to our strength.The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit.Peoples more numerous and more politically aware are craving and now demanding their place in the sun--not just for the benefit of their own physical condition, but for basic human rights.The passion for freedom is on the rise.Tapping this new spirit, there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this day of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane.We are a strong nation, and we will maintain strength so sufficient that it need not be proven in combat--a quiet strength based not merely on the size of an arsenal, but on the nobility of ideas.We will be ever vigilant and never vulnerable, and we will fight our wars against poverty, ignorance, and injustice--for those are the enemies against which our forces can be honorably marshaled.We are a purely idealistic Nation, but let no one confuse our idealism with weakness.Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere.Our moral sense dictates a clearcut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights.We do not seek to intimidate, but it is clear that a world which others can dominate with impunity would be inhospitable to decency and a threat to the well-being of all people.The world is still engaged in a massive armaments race designed to ensure continuing equivalent strength among potential adversaries.We pledge perseverance and wisdom in our efforts to limit the world's armaments to those necessary for each nation's own domestic safety.And we will move this year a step toward ultimate goal--the elimination of all nuclear weapons from this Earth.We urge all other people to join us, for success can mean life instead of death.Within us, the people of the United States, there is evident a serious and purposeful rekindling of confidence.And I join in the hope that when my time as your President has ended, people might say this about our Nation:
that we had remembered the words of Micah and renewed our search for humility, mercy, and justice;
that we had torn down the barriers that separated those of different race and region and religion, and where there had been mistrust, built unity, with a respect for diversity;that we had found productive work for those able to perform it;
that we had strengthened the American family, which is the basis of our society;
that we had ensured respect for the law, and equal treatment under the law, for the weak and the powerful, for the rich and the poor;
and that we had enabled our people to be proud of their own Government once again.I would hope that the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting peace, built not on weapons of war but on international policies which reflect our own most precious values.These are not just my goals, and they will not be my accomplishments, but the affirmation of our Nation's continuing moral strength and our belief in an undiminished, ever-expanding American dream.
第五篇：林肯总统的就职演讲
林肯总统的就职演讲
First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1861
Fellow-Citizens of the United States:
In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President before he enters on the execution of this office.“
I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered.There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension.Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection.It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you.I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that--
I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them;and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend;and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration.I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause--as cheerfully to one section as to another.There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor.The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:
No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves;and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution--to this provision as much as to any other.To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause ”shall be delivered up“ their oaths are unanimous.Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?
There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one.If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done.And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that ”the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States“?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules;and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution.During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government.They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success.Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty.A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual.Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments.It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination.Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as acontract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it--break it, so to speak--but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself.The Union is much older than the Constitution.It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774.It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776.It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778.And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was ”to form a more perfect Union.“
But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union;that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and Ishall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary.I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority.The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts;but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere.Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object.While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union.So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection.The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny;but if there be such, I need address no word to them.To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained.Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not.Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this.Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied.If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution;certainly would if such right were a vital one.But such is not our case.All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them.But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration.No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions.Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say.May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities.If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease.There is no other alternative, for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other.If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority.For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession?
Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy.A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism.Unanimity is impossible.The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible;so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government.And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice.At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges.It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended.This is the only substantial dispute.The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself.The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each.This, I think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before.The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.Physically speaking, we can not separate.We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them.A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this.They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them.Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always;and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended.While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself;and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it.I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse.I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution--which amendment, however, I have not seen--has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service.To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States.The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do with it.His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.By the frame of the Government under which we live this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals.While the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject.Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time;but no good object can be frustrated by it.Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it;while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either.If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action.Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.The Government will not assail you.You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ”preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close.We are not enemies, but friends.We must not be enemies.Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.【中文译文】：
永久联邦与总统权力
亚伯拉罕-林肯
第一次就职演讲
星期一,1861年3月4日
我今天正式宣誓时，并没有保留意见，也无意以任何苛刻的标准来解释宪法和法律，尽管我不想具体指明国会通过的哪些法案是适合施行的•但我确实要建议，所有的人，不论处于官方还是私人的地位，都得遵守那些未被废止的法令，这比泰然自若地认为其中某个法案是违背宪法的而去触犯它，要稳当得多。
自从第一任总统根据我国宪法就职以来已经72年了。在此期间，有15位十分杰出的公民相继主持了政府的行政部门。他们在许多艰难险阻中履行职责，大致说来都很成功。然而，虽有这样的先例，我现在开始担任这个按宪法规定任期只有短暂4年的同一职务时，却处在巨大而特殊的困难之下。联邦的分裂，在此以前只是一种威胁，现在却已成为可怕的行动。
从一般法律和宪法角度来考虑，我认为由各州组成的联邦是永久性的。在合国政府的根本法中，永久性即使没有明确规定，也是不盲而喻的。我们有把握说，从来没有哪个正规政府在自己的组织法中列入一项要结束自己执政的条款。继续执行我国宪法明文规定的条款，联邦就将永远存在，毁灭联邦是办不到的，除非采取宪法本身未予规定的某种行动。再者：假如合众国不是名副其实的政府，而只是具有契约性质的各州的联盟，那么，作为一种契约，这个联盟能够毫无争议地由纬约各方中的少数加以取消吗？缔约的一方可以违约——也可以说毁约——但是，合法地废止契约难道不需要缔约各方全都同意吗？从这些一般原则在下推，我们认为，从法律上来说，联邦是永久性的这一主张已经为联邦本身的历史所证实。联邦的历史比宪法长久得多。事实上，它在1774年就根据《联合条款》组成了。1776年，《独立宣言》使它臻子成熟并持续下来。1778年《邦联条款》使联邦愈趋成熟，当时的13个州都信誓旦旦地明确保证联邦应该永存，最后，1787年制定宪法时所宣市的日标之一就是“建设更完善的联邦”。
但是，如果联邦竟能由一个州或几个州按照法律加以取消的话，那么联邦就不如制宪前完善了，因为它丧失了永久性这个重要因素。
根据这些观点，任何一个州都不能只凭自己的动仪就能合法地脱离联邦；凡为此目的而作出的决议和法令在法律上都是无效的，任何一个州或几个州反对合众国当局的暴力行动都应根据憎况视为叛乱或革命。因此，我认为，根据宪法和法律，联邦是不容分裂的；我将按宪法本身明确授予我的权限，就自己能力所及，使联邦法律得以在各州忠实执行。我认为这仅仅是我份内的职责，我将以可行的方法去完成，除非我的合法主人——美国人民，不给予我必要的手段，或以权威的方式作出相反的指示，我相信大家下会把这看作是一种威胁，而只看作是联邦已宣布过的目标：它将按照宪法保卫和维护它自身。
以自然条件而言，我们是不能分开的，我们无法把各个地区彼此挪开，也无法在彼此之间筑起一堵无法逾越的墙垣。夫妻可以离婚，不再见面，互不接触，但是我们国家的各个地区就不可能那样做。它们仍得面对面地相处，它们之间还得有或者友好或者敌对的交往。那么，分开之后的交往是否可能比分开之前更有好处，更令人满意呢？外人之间订立条约难道还比朋友之间制定法律容易吗？外人之间执行条约难道还比朋友之间执行法律忠实吗？假定你们进行战争•你们不可能永远打下去；在双方损失惨重，任何一方都得不到好处之后，你们就会停止战斗，那时你们还会遇到诸如交往条件之类的老问题。
总统的一切权力来自人民，但人民没有授权给他为各州的分离规定条件。如果人民有此意愿，那他们可以这样做，而作为总统来说，则不可能这样做。他的责任是管理交给他的这一届政府，井将它完整地移交给他的继任者。
为什么我们不能对人民所具有的最高的公正抱有坚韧的信念呢？世界上还有比这更好或一样好的希望吗？在我何日前的分歧中，难道双方都缺乏相信自己正确的信心吗？如果万国全能的主宰以其永恒的真理和正义支持你北方这一边，或者支持你南方这一边，那么，那种真理和那种正义必将通过美国人民这个伟大法庭的裁决而取得胜利。
就是这些美国人民，通过我们现有的政府结构，明智地只给他们的公仆很小的权力，使他们不能力害作恶，并且同样明智地每隔很短的时间就把那小小的权力收回到自己手中。只要人民保持其力量和警惕，无论怎样作恶和愚蠢的执政人员都不能在短短4年的任期内十分严重地损害政府。我的同胞们，大家平静而认真地思考整个这一问题吧。任何宝贵的东西都下会因为从容对待而丧失，假使有一个目标火急地催促你们中随便哪一位采取一个措施，而你决不能不慌不忙，那么那个目标会因从容对待而落空；但是，任何好的目标是不会因为从容对待而落空的，你们现在感到不满意的人仍然有着原来的、完好元损的宪法，而且，在敏感问题上，你们有着自己根据这部宪法制定的各项法律；而新的一届政府即使想改变这两种情况，也没有直接的权力那样做。那些不满意的人在这场争论中即使被承认是站在正确的一边，也没有一点正当理由采取鲁莽的行动。理智、爱国精神、基行教义以及对从不抛弃这片幸福土地的上帝的信仰，这些仍然能以最好的方式来解决我们目前的一切困难。不满意的同胞们，内战这个重大问题的关键掌握在你们手中，而不掌握在我手中，政府不会对你们发动攻击。你们不当挑衅者，就下会面临冲突。你们没有对天发誓要毁灭政府，而我却要立下最庄严的誓言：“坚守、维护和捍卫合众国宪法。”我不愿意就此结束演说。我们不是敌人，而是朋友。我们一定不要成为敌人。尽管情绪紧张，也决不应割断我们之间的感情纽带。记忆的神秘琴弦，从每一个战场和爱国志上的坟墓伸向这片广阔土地上的每一颗跳动的心和家庭，必将再度被我们善良的夭性所拨响，那时就会高奏起联邦大团结的乐章。
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