第一篇：小布什第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說

小布什第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說 2006-1-17 15:05

January 20, 2001

President Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellow citizens:

The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country.With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our nation;and I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of America's leaders have come before me, and so many will follow.We have a place, all of us, in a long story.A story we continue, but whose end we will not see.It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer.It is the American story.A story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.Americans are called upon to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws;and though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea.Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along;and even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise, even the justice, of our own country.The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth;and sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country.We do not accept this, and we will not allow it.Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in every generation;and this is my solemn pledge, “I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.” I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image and we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward.America has never been united by blood or birth or soil.We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.【大 中 小】【打印】【我要糾錯】【加入收藏】

Every child must be taught these principles.Every citizen must uphold them;and every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.Today, we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion and character.America, at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility.A civil society demands from each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates appear small.But the stakes for America are never small.If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led.If we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and character, we will lose their gifts and undermine their idealism.If we permit our economy to drift and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most.We must live up to the calling we share.Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment.It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos.This commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment.America, at its best, is also courageous.Our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common dangers defined our common good.Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us.We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.Together, we will reclaim America's schools, before ignorance and apathy claim more young lives;we will reform Social Security and Medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the power to prevent;we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans;we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge;and we will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors.The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake, America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom.We will defend our allies and our interests;we will show purpose without arrogance;we will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength;and to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.America, at its best, is compassionate.In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.Whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault.Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God, they are failures of love.The proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no substitute for hope and order in our souls.Where there is suffering, there is duty.Americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but priorities, and all of us are diminished when any are hopeless.Government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common schools.Yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.Some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer.Church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can listen to those who do.I can pledge our nation to a goal, “When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.”

America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected.Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a call to conscience.Though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment.We find the fullness of life not only in options, but in commitments.We find that children and community are the commitments that set us free.Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our freedom.Sometimes in life we are called to do great things.But as a saint of our times has said, every day we are called to do small things with great love.The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.I will live and lead by these principles, “to advance my convictions with civility, to pursue the public interest with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion, to call for responsibility and try to live it as well.” In all of these ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of our times.What you do is as important as anything government does.I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort;to defend needed reforms against easy attacks;to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor.I ask you to be citizens.Citizens, not spectators;citizens, not subjects;responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves.When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it.When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson, “We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?” Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration.The years and changes accumulate, but the themes of this day he would know, “our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity.”

We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with His purpose.Yet His purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today;to make our country more just and generous;to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.This work continues.This story goes on.And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.God bless you all, and God bless America.

第二篇：1981年里根第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說-english version

里根第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說 羅納德-里根 第一次就職演說 第40任總統(tǒng)(1981年-1989年)

英文

First Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1981

Senator Hatfield, Mr.Chief Justice, Mr.President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens: To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion;and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence.The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are.In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.Mr.President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition.By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our

Republic.The business of our nation goes forward.These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions.We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history.It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike.It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity.Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and

keeps us from maintaining full productivity.But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending.For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present.To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time.Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?

We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.And let there be no misunderstanding--we are going to

begin to act, beginning today.The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades.They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away.They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people.But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no

one group singled out to pay a higher price.We hear much of special interest groups.Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected.It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines.It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick--professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers.They are, in short, “We the people,” this breed called Americans.Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination.Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work.Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs.All must share in the productive work of this “new beginning” and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy.With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the world.So, as we begin, let us take inventory.We are a nation that has a government--not the other way around.And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth.Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people.It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown

beyond the consent of the governed.It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people.All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States;the States created

the Federal Government.Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government.It is, rather, to make it work-work with us, not over us;to stand by our side, not ride on our back.Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it;foster productivity, not stifle it.If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before.Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth.The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have

never been unwilling to pay that price.It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government.It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams.We are not, as some would have us believe, loomed to an inevitable decline.I do not believe in a fate that will all on us no matter what we do.I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal.Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength.And let us renew;our faith and our

hope.We have every right to dream heroic dreams.Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don't know where to look.You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates.Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond.You meet heroes across a counter--and they are on both sides of that counter.There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity.They are individuals and families whose taxes support the Government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education.Their patriotism is quiet but deep.Their values sustain our national life.I have used the words “they” and “their” in speaking of these heroes.I could say “you” and “your” because I am addressing the heroes of whom I speak--you, the citizens of this blessed land.Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup.How can we love our country and not love our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?

Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic “yes.” To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the

dissolution of the world's strongest economy.In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity.Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government.Progress may be slow--measured in inches and feet, not miles--but we will progress.Is it time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden.And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise.On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr.Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, “Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of....On you depend the fortunes of America.You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn.Act worthy

of yourselves.”

Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children's children.And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world.We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment.We will match loyalty with loyalty.We will strive for mutually beneficial relations.We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for or own sovereignty is not for sale.As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people.We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it;we will not surrender for

it--now or ever.Our forbearance should never be misunderstood.Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will.When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that

strength.Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.It is a weapon that we as Americans do have.Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey

upon their neighbors.I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful.We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free.It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.This is the first time in history that this ceremony has been held, as you have been told, on this West Front of the Capitol.Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history.At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country.A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly.He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood.Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson.The Declaration of Independence flames

with his eloquence.And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial.Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery with its row on row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David.They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.Each one of those markers is a monument to the kinds of hero I spoke of earlier.Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called

Vietnam.Under one such marker lies a young man--Martin Treptow--who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division.There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.We are told that on his body was found a diary.On the flyleaf under the heading, “My Pledge,” he had written these words: “America must win this war.Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”

The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make.It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds;to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.God bless you, and thank you.

第三篇：1981年里根第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說-譯文

里根第一任總統(tǒng)就職演說

羅納德-里根 第一次就職演說

第40任總統(tǒng)(1981年-1989年)

中文譯文

議員海特菲爾德先生、法官先生、總統(tǒng)先生、副總統(tǒng)布什、蒙代爾先生、議員貝克先生、發(fā)言人奧尼爾先生、尊敬的摩麥先生，以及廣大支持我的美國同胞們：今天對于我們中間的一些人來說，是一個非常莊嚴(yán)隆重的時刻。當(dāng)然，對于這個國家的歷史來說，卻是一件普通的事情。按照憲法要求，政府權(quán)利正在有序地移交，我們已經(jīng)如此“例行公事”了兩個世紀(jì)，很少有人覺得這有什么特別的。但在世界上

更多人看來，這個我們已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常的四年一次的儀式，卻實在是一個奇跡。

總統(tǒng)先生，我希望我們的同胞們都能知道你為了這個傳承而付出的努力。通過移交程序中的通力合作，你向觀察者展示了這么一個事實：我們是發(fā)誓要團(tuán)結(jié)起來維護(hù)這樣一個政治體制的團(tuán)體，這樣的體制保證了我們能夠得到比其他政體更為廣泛的個人自由。同時我也要感謝你和你的伙伴們的幫助，因為

你們堅持了這樣的傳承，而這恰恰是我們共和國的根基。

我們國家的事業(yè)在繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。合眾國正面臨巨大的經(jīng)濟(jì)困難。我們遭遇到我國歷史上歷時最長、最嚴(yán)重之一的通貨膨脹，它擾亂著我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)決策，打擊著節(jié)儉的風(fēng)氣，壓迫著正在掙扎謀生的青年人和

收入固定的中年人，威脅著要摧毀我國千百萬人民的生計。

停滯的工業(yè)使工人失業(yè)、蒙受痛苦并失去了個人尊嚴(yán)。即使那些有工作的人，也因稅收制度的緣故而得不到公正的勞動報酬，因為這種稅收制度使我們無法在事業(yè)上取得成就，使我們無法保持充分的生

產(chǎn)力。

盡管我們的納稅負(fù)擔(dān)相當(dāng)沉重，但還是跟不上公共開支的增長。數(shù)十年來，我們的赤字額屢屢上升，我們?yōu)閳D目前暫時的方便，把自己的前途和子孫的前途抵押出去了。這一趨勢如果長此以往，必然引起

社會、文化、政治和經(jīng)濟(jì)等方面的大動蕩。

作為個人，你們和我可以靠借貸過一種人不敷出的生活，然而只能維持一段有限的時期，我們怎么可以認(rèn)為，作為一個國家整體，我們就不應(yīng)受到同樣的約束呢？為了保住明天，我們今天就必須行動起

來。大家都要明白無誤地懂得--我們從今天起就要采取行動。

我們深受其害的經(jīng)濟(jì)弊病，幾十年來一直襲擊著我們。這些弊病不會在幾天、幾星期或幾個月內(nèi)消失，但它們終將消失。它們之所以終將消失，是因為我們作為現(xiàn)在的美國人，一如既往地有能力去完成需要完成的事情，以保存這個最后而又最偉大的自由堡壘。

在當(dāng)前這場危機(jī)中，政府的管理不能解決我們面臨的問題。政府的管理就是問題所在。我們時常誤以為，社會已經(jīng)越來越復(fù)雜，已經(jīng)不可能憑借自治方式加以管理，而一個由杰出人物組成的政府要比民享、民治、民有的政府高明?？墒?，假如我們之中誰也管理不了自己，那么，我們之中

誰還能去管理他人呢。

我們大家--不論政府官員還是平民百姓--必須共同肩負(fù)起這個責(zé)任，我們謀求的解決辦法必須是公平的，不要使任何一個群體付出較高的代價。

我們聽到許多關(guān)于特殊利益集團(tuán)的談?wù)摚欢?。我們必須關(guān)心一個被忽視了大久的特殊利益集團(tuán)。這個集團(tuán)沒有區(qū)域之分，沒有人種之分，沒有民族之分，沒有 政黨之分，這個集團(tuán)由許許多多的男人與女人組成，他們生產(chǎn)糧食，巡邏街頭，管理廠礦，教育兒童，照料家務(wù)和治療疾病。他們是專業(yè)人員、實業(yè)家、店主、職 員、出租汽車司機(jī)和貨車駕駛員，總而言之，他們就是“我們?nèi)嗣瘛?-這個稱之為美國

人的民族。

本屆政府的日標(biāo)是必須建立一種健全的、生氣勃勃的和不斷發(fā)展的經(jīng)濟(jì)，為全體美國人民提供一種不因偏執(zhí)或歧視而造成障礙的均等機(jī)會，讓美國重新工作起 來，意味著讓全體美國人重新工作起來。制止通貨膨脹，意味著讓全體美國人從失控的生活費(fèi)用所造成的恐懼中解脫出來。人人都應(yīng)分擔(dān)“新開端”的富有成效的工 作，人人都應(yīng)分享經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇的碩果。我國制度和力量的核心是理想主義和公正態(tài)度，有

了這些，我們就能建立起強(qiáng)大、繁榮、國內(nèi)穩(wěn)定并同全世界和平相處的美國。

因此，在我們開始之際，讓我們看看實際情況。我們是一個擁有政府的國家--而不是一個擁有國家的政府。這一點使我們在世界合國中獨樹一幟，我們的政府 除了人民授予的權(quán)力，沒有任何別的權(quán)力。目

前，政府權(quán)力的膨脹已顯示出超過被統(tǒng)治者同意的跡象，制止并扭轉(zhuǎn)這種狀況的時候到了。

我打算壓縮聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)的規(guī)模和權(quán)力，并要求大家承認(rèn)聯(lián)邦政府被授予的權(quán)力同各州或人民保留的權(quán)利這兩者之間的區(qū)別。我們大家都需要提醒：不是聯(lián)邦政府創(chuàng) 立了各州，而是各州創(chuàng)立了聯(lián)邦政府。因此，請不要誤會，我的意思不是要取消政府，而是要它發(fā)揮作用--同我們一起合作，而不是凌駕于我們之上；同我們并肩 而立，而不是騎在我們的背上。政府能夠而且必須提供機(jī)會，而不是扼殺機(jī)會，它能夠

而且必須促進(jìn)生產(chǎn)力，而不是抑制生產(chǎn)力。

如果我們要探究這么多年來我們?yōu)槭裁茨苋〉眠@么大成就，并獲得了世界上任何一個民族未曾獲得的繁榮昌盛，其原因是在這片土地上，我們使人類的能力和個 人的才智得到了前所未有的發(fā)揮。在這里，個人所享有并得以確保的自由和尊嚴(yán)超過了世界上任何其他地方。為這種自由所付出的代價有時相當(dāng)高

昂，但我們從來沒 有不愿意付出這代價。

我們目前的困難，與政府機(jī)構(gòu)因為不必要的過度膨脹而干預(yù)、侵?jǐn)_我們的生活同步增加，這決不是偶然的巧合。我們是一個泱泱大國，不能自囿于小小的夢想，現(xiàn)在正是認(rèn)識到這一點的時候。我們并非注定走向衰落，盡管有些人想讓我們相信這一點。我不相信，無論我們做些什么，我們都將命該如此，但我相信，如果我們 什么也不做，我們將的確命該如此。

為此，讓我們以掌握的一切創(chuàng)造力來開創(chuàng)一個國家復(fù)興的時代吧。讓我們重新拿出決心、勇氣和力

量，讓我們重新建立起我們的信念和希望吧。我們完全有權(quán)去做英雄夢。

有人告訴我們在他的身上發(fā)現(xiàn)一本日記。扉頁上寫著這樣的標(biāo)題：“我的誓言”。他寫下了這樣的話語：“美國必須贏得這場戰(zhàn)爭。為此，我會奮斗，我會拯救，我會犧牲，我會忍受，我會并將盡我最大的努力英勇奮戰(zhàn)，就好比所有的戰(zhàn)爭問題都將由我一個人來肩負(fù)?！?/p>

第四篇：華盛頓總統(tǒng)就職演說

First Inaugural Address of George Washington

THE CITY OF NEW YORK

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1789

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month.On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years--a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time.On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who(inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration)ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected.All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated.Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge.In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either.No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States.Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency;and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil

deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed.You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence.By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President “to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given.It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them.In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world.I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness;between duty and advantage;between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity;since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained;and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them.Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good;for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be impregnably fortified

or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted.To the foregoing observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives.It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible.When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation.From this resolution I have in no instance departed;and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require.Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave;but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.【中文譯文】：

美國人民的實驗

喬治-華盛頓

第一次就職演講

紐約 星期四,1789年4月30日

參議院和眾議院的同胞們：

在人生沉浮中，沒有一件事能比本月14日收到根據(jù)你們的命令送達(dá)的通知更使我焦慮不安，一方面，國家召喚我出任此職，對于她的召喚，我永遠(yuǎn)只能肅然敬從；而隱退是我以摯愛心憎、滿腔希望和堅定的決心選擇的暮年歸宿，由于愛好和習(xí)慣，且時光流逝，健康漸衰，時感體力不濟(jì)，愈覺隱退之必要和可貴。另一方面，國家召喚我擔(dān)負(fù)的責(zé)任如此重大和艱巨，足以使國內(nèi)最有才智和經(jīng)驗的人度德量力，而我天資愚飩，又無民政管理的實踐，理應(yīng)倍覺自己能力之不足，因而必然感到難以肩此重任。懷著這種矛盾心情，我唯一敢斷言的是，通過正確估計可能產(chǎn)生影響的各種情況來克盡厥職，乃是我忠貞不渝的努力目標(biāo)。我唯一敢祈望的是，如果我在執(zhí)行這項任務(wù)時因陶醉于往事，或因由衷感激公民們對我的高度信賴，因而受到過多影響，以致在處理從未經(jīng)歷過的大事時，忽視了自己的無能和消極，我的錯誤將會由于使我誤人歧途的各種動機(jī)而減輕，而大家在評判錯誤的后果時；也會適當(dāng)包涵產(chǎn)生這些動機(jī)的偏見。

既然這就是我在遵奉公眾召喚就任現(xiàn)職時的感想，那么，在此宣誓就職之際，如不熱忱地祈求全能的上帝就極其失當(dāng)，因為上帝統(tǒng)治著宇宙，主宰著各國政府，它的神助能彌補(bǔ)人類的任何不足，愿上帝賜福，侃佑一個為美國人民的自由和幸福而組成的政府，保佑它為這些基本目的而作出奉獻(xiàn)，保佑政府的各項行政措施在我負(fù)責(zé)之下都能成功地發(fā)揮作用。我相信，在向公眾利益和私人利益的偉大締造者獻(xiàn)上這份崇敬時，這些活也同樣表達(dá)了各位和廣大公民的心意。沒有人能比美國人更堅定不移地承認(rèn)和崇拜掌管人間事務(wù)的上帝。他們在邁向獨立國家的進(jìn)程中，似乎每走一步都有某種天佑的跡象；他們在剛剛完成的聯(lián)邦政府體制的重大改革中，如果不是因虔誠的感恩而得到某種回報，如果不是謙卑地期待著過去有所預(yù)示的賜福的到來，那么，通過眾多截然不同的集團(tuán)的平靜思考和自愿贊同來完成改革，這種方式是不能與大多數(shù)政府的組建方式同日而語的。在目前轉(zhuǎn)折關(guān)頭，我產(chǎn)生這些想法確實是深有所感而不能自已，我相信大家會和我懷有同感，即除了仰仗上帝的力量，一個新生的自由政府別無他法能一開始就事事順利。根據(jù)設(shè)立行政部門的條款，總統(tǒng)有責(zé)任“將他認(rèn)為必要而妥善的措施提請國會審議”。但在目前與各位見面的這個場合，恕我不進(jìn)一步討論這個問題，而只提一下偉大的憲法，它使各位今天聚集一堂，它規(guī)定了各位的權(quán)限，指出了各位應(yīng)該注意的目標(biāo)。在這樣的場合，更恰當(dāng)、也更能反映我內(nèi)心激情的做法是不提出具體措施，而是稱頌將要規(guī)劃和采納這些措施的當(dāng)選者的才能、正直和愛國心。我從這些高貴品格中看到了最可靠的保證：其一，任何地方偏見或地方感情，任何意見分歧或黨派敵視，都不能使我們偏離全局觀點和公平觀點，即必須維護(hù)這個由不同地區(qū)和利益所組成的大聯(lián)合；因此，其二，我國的政策將會以純潔而堅定的個人道德原則為基礎(chǔ)，而自由政府將會以那贏得民心和全世界尊敬的一切特點而顯示其優(yōu)越性。我對國家的一片熱愛之心激勵著我滿懷喜悅地展望這幅遠(yuǎn)景，因為根據(jù)自然界的構(gòu)成和發(fā)展趨勢，在美德與幸福之間，責(zé)任與利益之間，恪守誠實寬厚的政策與獲得社會繁榮幸福的碩果之間，有著密不可分的統(tǒng)一；因為我們應(yīng)該同樣相信，上帝親自規(guī)定了水恒的秩序和權(quán)利法則，它決不可能對無視這些法則的國家慈祥地加以贊許；因為人們理所當(dāng)然地、滿懷深情地、也許是最后一次把維護(hù)神圣的自由之火和共和制政府的命運(yùn)，系于美國人所遵命進(jìn)行的實驗上。

我已將有感于這一聚會場合的想法奉告各位，現(xiàn)在我就要向大家告辭；但在此以前，我要再一次以謙卑的心情祈求仁慈的上帝給予幫助。因為承蒙上帝的恩賜，美國人有了深思熟慮的機(jī)會，以及為確保聯(lián)邦的安全和促進(jìn)幸福，用前所未有的一致意見來決定政府體制的意向；因而，同樣明顯的是，上帝將保佑我們擴(kuò)大眼界，心平氣和地進(jìn)行協(xié)商，并采取明智的措施，而這些都是本屆政府取得成功所必不可少的依靠。

第五篇：老布什總統(tǒng)就職演說

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1989

Mr.Chief Justice, Mr.President, Vice President Quayle, Senator Mitchell, Speaker Wright, Senator Dole, Congressman Michel, and fellow citizens, neighbors, and friends:

There is a man here who has earned a lasting place in our hearts and in our history.President Reagan, on behalf of our Nation, I thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for America.I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his.It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country.And he would, I think, be gladdened by this day;for today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began.We meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends.For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended.And my first act as President is a prayer.I ask you to bow your heads:

Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love.Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely.Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: “Use power to help people.” For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name.There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people.Help us to remember it, Lord.Amen.I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise.We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better.For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn;for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over.The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree.A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on.There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken.There are times when the future seems thick as a fog;you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right path.But this is a time when the future seems a door you can walk right through into a room called tomorrow.Great nations of the world are moving toward democracy through the door to freedom.Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity.The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows.We know what works: Freedom works.We know what's right: Freedom is right.We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections, and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state.For the first time in this century, for the first time in perhaps all history, man does not have to invent a system by which to live.We don't have to talk late into the night about which form of government is better.We don't have to wrest justice from the kings.We only have to summon it from within ourselves.We must act on what we know.I take as my guide the hope of a saint: In crucial things, unity;in important things, diversity;in all things, generosity.America today is a proud, free nation, decent and civil, a place we cannot help but love.We know in our hearts, not loudly and proudly, but as a simple fact, that this country has meaning beyond what we see, and that our strength is a force for good.But have we changed as a nation even in our time? Are we enthralled with material things, less appreciative of the nobility of work and sacrifice?

My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions.They are not the measure of our lives.In our hearts we know what matters.We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account.We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it.What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship?

No President, no government, can teach us to remember what is best in what we are.But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference;if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls;if he can do these things, then he must.America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle.We as a people have such a purpose today.It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world.My friends, we have work to do.There are the homeless, lost and roaming.There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy.There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction——drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums.There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets.There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love.They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life.The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems.But we have learned that is not so.And in any case, our funds are low.We have a deficit to bring down.We have more will than wallet;but will is what we need.We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety.And then we will do the wisest thing of all: We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows——the goodness and the courage of the American people.I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands-on and involved, that gets the job done.We must bring in the generations, harnessing the unused talent of the elderly and the unfocused energy of the young.For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation, but so is stewardship.And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age.I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good.We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding.We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies.I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved.The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress.The challenges before us will be thrashed out with the House and the Senate.We must bring the Federal budget into balance.And we must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace, and fiscally sound.But, of course, things may be difficult.We need compromise;we have had dissension.We need harmony;we have had a chorus of discordant voices.For Congress, too, has changed in our time.There has grown a certain divisiveness.We have seen the hard looks and heard the statements in which not each other's ideas are challenged, but each other's motives.And our great parties have too often been far apart and untrusting of each other.It has been this way since Vietnam.That war cleaves us still.But, friends, that war began in earnest a quarter of a century ago;and surely the statute of limitations has been reached.This is a fact: The final lesson of Vietnam is that no great nation can long afford to be sundered by a memory.A new breeze is blowing, and the old bipartisanship must be made new again.To my friends——and yes, I do mean friends——in the loyal opposition——and yes, I mean loyal: I put out my hand.I am putting out my hand to you, Mr.Speaker.I am putting out my hand to you Mr.Majority Leader.For this is the thing: This is the age of the offered hand.We can't turn back clocks, and I don't want to.But when our fathers were young, Mr.Speaker, our differences ended at the water's edge.And we don't wish to turn back time, but when our mothers were young, Mr.Majority Leader, the Congress and the Executive were capable of working together to produce a budget on which this nation could live.Let us negotiate soon and hard.But in the end, let us produce.The American people await action.They didn't send us here to bicker.They ask us to rise above the merely partisan.“In crucial things, unity”——and this, my friends, is crucial.To the world, too, we offer new engagement and a renewed vow: We will stay strong to protect the peace.The “offered hand” is a reluctant fist;but once made, strong, and can be used with great effect.There are today Americans who are held against their will in foreign lands, and Americans who are unaccounted for.Assistance can be shown here, and will be long remembered.Good will begets good will.Good faith can be a spiral that endlessly moves on.Great nations like great men must keep their word.When America says something, America means it, whether a treaty or an agreement or a vow made on marble steps.We will always try to speak clearly, for candor is a compliment, but subtlety, too, is good and has its place.While keeping our alliances and friendships around the world strong, ever strong, we will continue the new closeness with the Soviet Union, consistent both with our security and with progress.One might say that our new relationship in part reflects the triumph of hope and strength over experience.But hope is good, and so are strength and vigilance.Here today are tens of thousands of our citizens who feel the understandable satisfaction of those who have taken part in democracy and seen their hopes fulfilled.But my thoughts have been turning the past few days to those who would be watching at home to an older fellow who will throw a salute by himself when the flag goes by, and the women who will tell her sons the words of the battle hymns.I don't mean this to be sentimental.I mean that on days like this, we remember that we are all part of a continuum, inescapably connected by the ties that bind.Our children are watching in schools throughout our great land.And to them I say, thank you for watching democracy's big day.For democracy belongs to us all, and freedom is like a beautiful kite that can go higher and higher with the breeze.And to all I say: No matter what your circumstances or where you are, you are part of this day, you are part of the life of our great nation.A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don't seek a window on men's souls.In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life.There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance.The most obvious now is drugs.And when that first cocaine was smuggled in on a ship, it may as well have been a deadly bacteria, so much has it hurt the body, the soul of our country.And there is much to be done and to be said, but take my word for it: This scourge will stop.And so, there is much to do;and tomorrow the work begins.I do not mistrust the future;I do not fear what is ahead.For our problems are large, but our heart is larger.Our challenges are great, but our will is greater.And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless.Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that.But I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning.The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds.And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity——shared, and written, together.Thank you.God bless you and God bless the United States of America.