Washington: Riding to power with a message of hope and promise of change, US President Barack Obama today said that the nation is in the middle of a crisis and there are serious challenges which will be met.
"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood," Obama said in his inaugural address after being sworn in as the US President, before a sea of humanity overlooking the National Mall.
"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," said Obama, the first black President of the US.
"Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," Obama said in an apparent reference to two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which has created anti-US sentiment in major parts of the world.
"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," Obama said in his reference to the current economic recession.
"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," he said.
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," Obama said.
"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," he promised addressing a crowd, which was estimated to be more than a million and a half.
On this day, Obama said: "we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."
On this day, said the 44th President of the US: "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."
Obama said 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," he said.
Arguing that greatness is always earned and never comes, Obama said: "Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."
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